22 June, 2005


Mariners come out of the gate strong

 

The Harwich Mariners could hardly ask for a much better Cape Cod Baseball League start. 

They were the last of the unbeatens before losing 7-4 to the Brewster Whitecaps Monday night in Harwich. As of Monday, the Mariners sat atop the East with a 4-1 record, tied with Brewster. Orleans and Chatham were both 3-2, and Y-D was 2-3. 


Arman Sidhu of the Harwich Mariners is caught in a rundown and chased by Chatham A's second baseman Zak Farkes. (Merrily Lunsford photo)

"For the first 10 games, you try and stay in the winning column so you don't have an uphill grind all season," manager Steve Englert said. "If you get off to a good start when the other guys get here, that makes it a lot easier." 

Harwich beat Chatham 6-3 in last Thursday's opener and followed that with an 8-3 win over Bourne Friday, a 3-0 shutout of Bourne back home at Whitehouse Field Saturday and a 2-1 win in Falmouth Sunday. 

Catcher J.P. Lowen of Kentucky got the season off to a good start Thursday, belting home runs in his first two at-bats of the year, one a two-run shot and the other a three-run blast. Both cleared the right field fence. 

Lowen was a late recruit. He signed with the Mariners days before his debut and drove from Kentucky. He was named the Cape League Player of the Week for his efforts. 

"We were just looking for another catcher," rookie general manager John Reid said. "He's a junior. We heard good things about him, and he drove up here last Friday." 

The homers are Lowen's only hits of the season, as he started 2-for-9. Lowen is alternating as the team's catcher with Chad Durakis of Maryland. Neither of the two catchers listed in the Mariners' yearbook, Jordan Newton of Western Kentucky and Brian Jerolman of Florida, are here. 

Reid is a longtime summer resident of Chatham who used to play Babe Ruth baseball for Lower Cape. He attends Boston College as a graduate student and is a volunteer team manager with BC's baseball nine. 

Mariners field manager Steve Englert, an assistant coach at BC, invited Reid down for the summer. Reid was also an intern for two years with the Chatham A's and played baseball with the son of A's GM Charlie Thoms

"It's been a fun experience so far," Reid said. 

Harwich got some more hot hitting in the second game, when Scott Sizemore of Virginia Commonwealth had hits in his first four at-bats and narrowly missed a home run in his fifth. Leadoff man Jake Dugger had three hits and knocked in two runs. 

"It's like a different guy steps up every night," Englert said. "Sizemore had four hits. Arman (Sidhu) had a big hit. Lowen started us off well. Chad Flack yesterday had the home run. That's what it takes." 

Adam Ottavino held Bourne to three hits over seven innings Saturday to pick up the 3-0 win. Kyle Parker pitched two hitless innings of relief, while slick-fielding shortstop Arman Sidhu of Northeastern drove in two runs. 

"We have good pitchers," Englert said. "The guys are throwing strikes. We've gotten good defense and timely hitting. Today (Monday) we struggled in the field (three errors). But that's to be expected." 

Harwich's fourth win, 2-1 over Falmouth, was credited to hometown ace Cody Crowell of Vanderbilt, who pitched two shutout innings of relief with two strikeouts. George Kontos held Falmouth to one run over the first six frames. Chad Flack hit a solo homer in the 10th inning for the win. 

The winning streak ended on a cold Monday night. The Mariners took a 4-2 lead in the second over hard-hitting Brewster, which was batting .311 as a team entering the evening, with the benefit of just two hits -- RBI singles from Jonathon Wyatt and Sidhu. Brewster starter Ryan Turner walked seven men in his three-plus innings of work. 

But the Mariners wound up with only four hits in the game, and Brewster started hitting. Both Matt Cusick and Matt Morizio had three safeties for the Whitecaps, who finished with 11 hits. 

The Caps also got great relief work from Brian Donahue of Amherst, who was the winning pitcher, and Harris Honeycutt, who pitched three one-hit frames. 

Cody Crowell off the good start 

Cody Crowell holds the Harwich High record for career victories and was the iron man of the staff, but at Vanderbilt he has become a closer. That's a role he has kept with the Mariners, picking up a save in one inning of work against Bourne on Friday and the victory over Falmouth Sunday. 

It is a big change," he said. "But my stats were real good (at Vandy). "(The coach) just wants upperclassmen to start. Hopefully I'll fall into one of those positions the next few years." 

Crowell was a redshirt freshman last year, so he has three years of eligibility left with the Commodores. 

"For now, I like the closing job. I did it last summer (in the New England College Baseball League), and I'm looking forward to the chance to have the game in my hands," Crowell said. "Basically it's getting into the zone and getting ahead of the batters early on. As a starter you can pace yourself, but as a closer, you have to get in the zone right away." 

He said he has enjoyed Nashville, where Vanderbilt is, and pitching in the Southeastern Conference. 

"Every day is just a dogfight," Crowell said. 'The SEC is a tough conference. The crowds are amazing. It's a great experience to be in the best baseball conference in the country." 

Now he's in the best baseball summer league in the country, pitching in his hometown on his high school field. 

"It was an awesome chance to come here. It's what I had dreamt about," he said. "It's nice to be home with the guys and my family. I feel confident here. It's good to be in my own bed and doing that every night. The support level here is good." 

Crowell is also back to pitching against wood bats, too. 

"Obviously, it's good for a pitcher," he said. "If you get ahead, it's tough for the batters."

By Rich Eldred
reldred@cnc.com