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5 August, 2004 |
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Advice to West
Don’t Go South if You Want to Meet East
Remember the “Too Fat Polka”?
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The Race for the West
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Cotuit |
Falmouth |
Hyannis |
Wareham |
| June 24 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
10 |
| July 1 |
17 |
11 |
12 |
10 |
| July 9 |
23 |
23 |
18 |
14 |
| July 17 |
25 |
31 |
28 |
28 |
| July 26 |
31 |
35 |
34 |
30 |
| Aug 3 |
37 |
47 |
39 |
38 |
Points for each team at various stages of the season.
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Call it a stretch, but I’m taking the literary license to convert it to:
“I don’t want it,
you can have it,
it’s no good for me
It could be the theme song in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Western Division this season.
Regular-season play ends Sunday and the playoffs are scheduled to begin Tuesday. The Eastern Division has been a two-team race between Yarmouth-Dennis and Brewster, but the West could have been a relay race, with all the handoffs and lead changes.
Wareham got off to a 4-1 start, held the league lead until June 27, then swooned into a nine-game losing streak, falling twice to Harwich and dropping games to everyone except Yarmouth-Dennis and Falmouth.
Cotuit took the handoff from the Gatemen, blanking Harwich 2-0 June 27 and holding or sharing the lead until July 12, before free-falling with three separate three-game losing streaks and plummeting to fourth place.
Falmouth took a share of the lead July 7 with a 6-0 whitewash of Chatham and held it until July 20, when Hyannis took over on the strength of a 7-1 victory over Bourne while the Commodores were dropping their third straight in a five-game losing streak, 3-2 to the Kettleers.
But the Mets couldn’t stand prosperity, and gave back the top spot to Falmouth July 26.
The Commodores could change their name to the Comets this year with all the streaks they’ve experienced. They got off to what could kindly be termed a sluggish 0-5 start before running off four wins, and had another five-game losing streak in mid-July before going on an eight-game winning streak through Tuesday.
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Members of the Cotuit’s pitching staff clown it up during a practice in mid-July, when they were second in the Western Division race. The Kettleers have ranged from first to fourth in the topsy-turvy division. In the back row from left are Adam Daniels, Kyle
Marlatt, Matt Luca with coach Paul Poplin on his shoulders, Cody Evans and Jordan Faircloth. In front, from left, are Casey Hudspeth, Ken
Egleton, Saunders Ramsey, Mike Koehler (tipped over) and Ryan Cahalan.
Photo by Bill Delorey
Staff photo by Merrily Lunsford / 2004
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The East showed its superiority with a 13-0 domination of the West in this year’s all-star game and the next four days will determine the two teams that will square off and qualify for the unenviable task of meeting the East champions.
There may be a couple of previews of the championship series. The two leaders, Falmouth and Brewster, hook up Friday as do Hyannis and Yarmouth-Dennis. The Commodores take on the Red Sox Sunday in another potential title series matchup.
Meanwhile, Wareham and Hyannis are paired tonight, the Gatemen take on the Kettleers and Falmouth plays the Mets Saturday, before the Kettleers and Mets collide Sunday in possible make-or-break games.
It’s hard to believe that another Cape League season is heading into the home stretch. Take advantage of it before it’s too late.
By Don Sherlock
dsherloc@cnc.com
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