6 July, 2004

Mariner Musings

     Despite the weather, nothing rained on the Mariners parade this past week. They have won four out of their last five and have climbed above .500 at 8-7. During that span they outscored opponents 22-9 and the bats finally caught up with the pitching. The winning ways were only slowed by rainouts on Friday and Monday. Friday's rainout against Hyannis will be made up Wednesday, July 7, at Hyannis at 5 p.m. 

     On June 30, the Mariners scored a big 2-1 victory over top West team Bourne. They rode the hot bat of catcher John Slone who had three hits and scored the game-winning run. He motored home all the way from second on a John Lewis wild pitch in the fourth that proved to be the difference. On the mound Harwich got a combined two hitter from starter Dan Brauer and relievers Kevin Lynch (Florida State) and Craig Hansen (St. John's). Brauer baffled the Braves through six innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out 13. Lynch rolled through the seventh and eighth, and Hansen pitched a perfect ninth striking out two for his second save. 

     After an off day and a rainout, Harwich took advantage of five errors to drop Western Division cellar dweller Wareham 7-4. For the Gatemen the loss upped their losing streak to eight in a row after a solid 5-2 start. The teams traded four run innings in the sixth, but Harwich added an unearned run in the seventh and two in the ninth to escape with the victory. Slone had two hits and an RBI and second baseman Jon Aughey was three for three. Lynch picked up his first win of the season pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and Hansen collected his third save. Hansen has been automatic as the closer, pitching 7.2 innings of scoreless relief. In seven appearances he has been touched for three hits while striking out 14, and is averaging two strikeouts per inning pitched. 

     They started a ninth inning rally but the Mariners bats couldn't provide enough fireworks and fell 2-1 to Brewster on July Fourth. The game served as redemption for Brewster starter Adam Gold who was shelled by Harwich six days earlier in a 10-1 loss. This time around the Cal-Berkeley righty pitched seven scoreless innings and held the Mariners to four hits. Tim Sabo (Seton Hall) was the hard luck loser pitching six solid innings giving up two runs on six hits. The Mariners trailed 2-0 going into the ninth. Clete Thomas (Auburn) hit an RBI triple, but was left stranded at third.

Slone selected Coca-Cola Player of the Week 

     The Cape Cod Baseball League has announced that Cincinnati native John Slone, who attends Miami University, was named the Player of the Week after hitting .478 in five games for the Mariners. The right-handed hitting catcher had 11 hits in 23 at bats, scored four runs, drove in three and had two doubles. In the Mariners 10-1 win over Brewster on June 28, he was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He scored the winning run in the 2-1 win over Bourne on the 30th as he scored from second on a wild pitch. 

     Brewster ace Matt Goyen of Georgia College was tabbed as Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. He was overpowering as he limited Orleans to two hits and struck out a season-high 18 batters June 30. The two singles came in the first inning and another Cardinal did not reach base as he retired the final 26 batters. He also struck out the final seven batters. Goyen set a Brewster record for strikeouts and was three shy of the league record held by Jim Jachym (Falmouth). 

     Goyen leads the league with 36 strikeouts and has given up just five hits in 22 innings. He is 3-0. 

Mariners doing good work 

     Some of the Mariners off to a good start include Jon Aughey who is batting .281 with 9 hits in 32 at bats and 8 runs scored. 

     Drew Davidson was batting .297 with 11 hits in 37 at bats while Eric Eymann is hitting .277. Tim Grogan has been solid at .268. Brent Lillibridge leads the Mariners with three homers in 49 at bats. 

     Dan Brauer has been the ace of the staff at 3-0. He sports a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings of work. He's whiffed 27. 

     Craig Hanson has pitched 7.2 shutout frames so far. Ryan LaMotta has a 2.20 ERA in 16 innings. Kevin Lynch has six shutout innings to his credit. Tim Sabo has a 2.95 ERA in 18 innings although he is 0-2. Anthony Varvaro has a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings while Zach Ward is 1.35 in 13 frames. 

     Harwich as a team has a 2.60 ERA and they're hitting .214 as a team. 

Mariners baseball clinics 

     The Mariners baseball clinic for players ages 5 to 17 have begun and will run weekly until Aug. 6. Clinics are at Whitehouse Field with sessions for ages 5 to 9 from 9 to 10:30 a.m.; for 10 to 14 from 10:30 to noon; and two sessions for 15 to 17 from 9 to 10:30 and 10:30 to noon. Registration is $55 per session for ages 5 to 14 and $125 per session for ages 15 to 17 and takes place each Monday morning. 

Around the base paths 

     If pitching wins championships the Whitecaps are a clear frontrunner as the midpoint of the season approaches. The Caps have the best ERA in the league at 1.76 and boast a dominant starting rotation. Josh Cribb (Clemson) and Matt Goyen (Georgia College) were Coca-Cola pitchers of the week for week two of the season. Both are 3-0 and have a complete game shutout and ERAs of 0.00. Brewster has depth at the position as starters Adam Gold and Matt Avery (Virginia) help round out a strong rotation. Avery is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA and Gold is 1-1 and has an ERA of 2.74. As of July 6 they were on a four-game winning streak and sat atop the East at 10-6. 

Battle for second is on 

     Two wins separate second place and last place in the East Division. At press time Y-D sat in second at 9-7, but the seat was not that safe. The Red Sox bats have been hot and they lead the East with 11 team home runs and a .236 batting average. Two Y-D players stand in the top five in batting as Frank Curreri (UMass) leads the league at .360. University of Florida slugger Matt LaPorta is fifth in batting average (.317), second in homers (5) and third in RBIs (11). 

     Chatham and Orleans are still both hovering around the .500 mark. The A's are 7-9 and the defending champion Cardinals are 7-10. On July 5 the two teams battled to see who would take a step closer to .500 and who would tumble more in the standings. The game was one of two played on a sloppy Monday in Orleans behind the strong pitching of Chris Nicoll. The Cal Irvine righty went six innings to up his record to 3-0 on the season.