15 July, 2005

Cards cruise into first place

It's better to be 15-9 than 9-15, so Orleans Cardinals manager Kelly Nicholson can shake off losses on Tuesday (1-0 to Wareham) and Wednesday (5-3 to Brewster) and stay pleased with his spot atop the East Division of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Orleans (15-9) leads Chatham (12-10), Y-D (11-11-1), Brewster (10-13) and Harwich (9-15) in the East. Wareham (14-8-1), Bourne (14-9-1) and Cotuit (13-10-1) top the West.

"We have played well," Nicholson said. "We've been hitting well. We've been playing good defense. We've been scoring some runs. It's different guys every night."

The biggest run-scorer on the Cards has been third baseman Emmanuel Burriss, who has scored 17 runs while smacking 28 hits in 97 at bats (.289). Most importantly, Burriss has stolen 29 bases. The league record is 48 by Roy Marsh of Wareham.

"He's been hitting the ball. He can really run. He's been making good defensive plays," said Nicholson. "He loves to play and he plays hard. He causes a lot of problems when he gets on base."

Burriss stole two bases without a throw Wednesday when the ball got away form the catcher.

The Cards are carrying 11 position players and 12 pitchers, which doesn't give them much depth in the field, but they've got pitching depth.

"We use six starters and six guys in the pen," Nicholson said. "Steven Wright is leading the league in saves (with six). He has good command and a good breaking ball."

Wright has a 1.29 ERA. Andy Graham is the only Cardinal with three wins, beating Harwich Monday with seven innings of four-hit ball. Graham's record is 3-1 with a glittering 0.81 ERA.

Everett Teaford has the most starts with five, going 2-1. Brad Meyers is 2-1 with a 0.75 ERA. Starter Lee Hyde (2-0) has a 1.82 ERA. As a team Orleans ERA is 2.18.

The Cardinals haven't torn the cover off the ball, batting .233 as a club with just eight home runs, but Orleans can boast three men batting over .290: Colin Curtis (.300), David Uribes (.297) and Chris Pettit (.295). Burriss and Matt Camp are each hitting .289. 

Pettit also has four home runs and 14 RBI.

Brett Pill is batting only .156, but he has crushed two tremendous home runs in the past three games, pulling the ball far over the left field fence in both Harwich and Brewster.

"He's starting to swing the bat well," said Nicholson. "So far so good. It's still early. I like the way they battle to the end and never quit."