5 August, 2005


Cards set to deal A's a tough time

The season isn't over for Orleans Cardinals (27-14) -- with games at Wareham Friday, home against Hyannis Saturday and at Chatham (25-14-1) Sunday -- but their fans can already look ahead to the playoffs.

Orleans and Chatham are still battling for first place in the East Division, but both clubs have clinched a playoff spot over Y-D (20-20-1), Harwich (19-22) and Brewster (17-24).

The playoffs begin Tuesday, with the first game at the home of the division winner. Bourne (24-16-1) has clinched a spot in the West Division playoffs, while Cotuit (20-18-3), Wareham (20-19-2) and Falmouth (20-20-1) all battling for second place. Hyannis (7-32-1) is far behind.

"We've had good pitching," said Cards manager Kelly Nicholson. "And we've played good defense all summer. And we have good team speed, which puts pressure on teams. Good pitching and good defense wins games."

The Cards indeed have good team speed, leading the Cape League in stolen bases thanks to Manny Burriss (35), David Uribes (15), Chris Pettit (13), Matt Camp (11) and Colin Curtis (10).

Burriss has also helped out in the field at short.

"He's really very good defensively, and when he gets on base, he really disrupts the game," Nicholson said.

Orleans has a deep staff, with Everett Teaford (5-1, 1.84), Andy Graham (4-2, 1.64), Brad Meyers (4-2, 1.61), Lee Hyde (2-1, 2.87), Dustin Evans (2-2, 2.27), Dan Albritton (2-1, 2.30), Hunter Jones (11 scoreless innings in 8 games), Steven Wright (2-0, 0.69, 11 saves) and Brant Rustich (1-0, 2.11 in 12 games).

Teaford was the winning pitcher in Wednesday night's 2-1 win over Harwich.

"Our starting pitching has done a nice job," Nicholson said. "Chris Beck, our pitching coach, has done a magnificent job with these guys this summer."

The Cards also have solid hitting.

"Chris Pettit, David Uribes and Manny were all hitting over .300 three to four weeks into the season, and Colin Curtis has hit the ball well. Robert Perry has been on fire," Nicholson said. "It seems like it's someone different every night." 

Curtis is batting .311, Burriss .287, Camp .271, Pettit .261 with four homers and 20 RBI and Uribes .278. Brett Pill leads the club with five homers.

"It's exciting. It's been a great group of guys. They've played hard all summer and my assistants have done a tremendous job this summer," Nicholson said.

Chatham will be a tough opponent.

"Those guys are loaded. They have very good pitching. They had eight guys on the all-star team. (Evan) Longoria, (Chris) Coghlan, (Alex) Presley and (Baron) Frost are all well over .300," said Nicholson, although Longoria's average is actually .289. "We definitely have our work cut out for us. (John) Schiffner has done a great job, like he always does. It'll be fun, Chatham and Orleans." 

By Rich Eldred
reldred@cnc.com