8 July, 2005

Chatham A's chase the Cardinals

Harwich High School's baseball team isn't the only local squad in the news. The Harwich Mariners open play this week along with the rest of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Although a three-game losing streak contributed to only having a 9-7 record before Wednesday night's game against Wareham was rained out, Chatham A's manager John Schiffner was pleased when his team's 8-4 start.

The A's are second in the Eastern Division with 18 points, trailing Orleans' 24 points.

"I think we're all right," said Schiffner. "We're where we want to be. We still have things to work on, but these kids are playing well. We are pleased with just about everything, but we still left some guys on base. We have to cut down on strikeouts, but everybody is working hard."

Jared Hughes of Long Beach State nearly pitched a perfect game June 26 against Falmouth, not allowing a baserunner until the ninth inning.

"Watching him take the mound in the ninth inning with the crowd and the players was fantastic," Schiffner said. "His fastball was tremendous. He started the hitters off with a breaking ball and moved from there."

Hughes wound up with a two-hitter, striking out 12. He was named the Cape Cod League Pitcher of the Week for that effort. He improved to 3-0 when the A's beat Hyannis 2-1 Tuesday night.

In a 6-1 win over Harwich June 30, Schiffner brought his setup man, Brooks Brown of Georgia, and closer Derrick Lutz of George Washington in for one inning each.

"Both guys are fantastic. Brown is setting up for Lutz," Schiffner said. "We like where we are. We're in the second quarter of the season. We're hitting the ball, making contact. On a different night a different player is picking us up at bat."

Lutz relieved Hughes for the final three innings against Hyannis, striking out seven. The two pitchers combined for 14 Ks on the evening.

Shortstop Evan Longoria of Long Beach State had an eight-game hitting streak snapped against Harwich but was still named the Cape League Player of the Week. He hit .440 over the week.

"He's been playing great. He's made some great plays at shortstop. The beauty of it is our versatility. (Todd) Frazier can play shortstop. (Aaron) Reza can play shortstop. We're moving guys around because that exposes them to the scouts," Schiffner said.

Miller wins first two 

The A's got good work from Andrew Miller, who won his first two games. He held Harwich to four hits over seven innings while striking out six to pick up his second win.

"He's pretty good," Schiffner said. "It's nice to have such a high-profile guy as him. He's a nice guy to work with. His velocity is in the mid-90s, and he has a breaking ball to back it up. He changes speeds, but he doesn't throw a lot of change-ups, just enough to plant the seed in the mind of the batter."

Miller was with the A's last year, when he was also 2-0.

"I did pretty good," he said. "I had a good time. The same thing brought me here this year. Last year was a good experience. I didn't see any reason not to come. I just want to keep it going."

Last year's lessons will help.

"I have a little more experience against wood bats, although I kind of had an idea," Miller said. "I throw strikes. I got ahead of a lot of batters (against Harwich). When you do that, you don't have to throw many pitches."

And that makes for a lot of easy innings.

"It was a quick game," Miller said. "You can get inside them a little bit with the wood bats. The fastball is a more effective pitch than against metal bats. The bat is heavier and they have slower swings."

Miller is looking forward to July.

"I just want to have a good time and pitch well and keep getting better," he said. "I was here last year, and I know what to expect. Chatham is a great place to be for the summer."

Miller is from Gainesville, Fla., and attends North Carolina. He will be a junior next year after going 8-3 this spring with 15 games started and a 2.74 ERA.

"You can get an idea here how baseball will be when you face wood bats," he said. "Everybody's goal is to play professional baseball, and this prepares me for the future."

Coghlan off to good start

Another player preparing for the future is third baseman Chris Coghlan of Mississippi, who is another Florida product, from Palm Harbor.

Coghlan had eight hits in his first 18 at bats, scored six runs, homered and knocked in four runs.

"I go up and look for a good pitch in the zone, like everyone," he said. "Hopefully, you get the good part of the wood on it. In college, I swung batting practice with wood. You just get the barrel of the bat on it and it will go just as far, but you don't have as much to work with if you get jammed or something."

Coghlan is looking forward to the rest of the summer.

"I'd like the team to win the division and hopefully win it all," he said. "Individually, I'd like to hit above .300, which I've heard is hard to do in this league. I want to make some plays in the field and limit the amount of errors."