25 August, 2005

Bourne takes two Cape League awards

Bourne may have lost the Cape Cod Baseball League championship game, but the Braves took away two of the top honors - the Commissioner's Cup and the Robello 10th Player Award.

The Commissioner's Cup is given to the team "that demonstrates the highest level of integrity and professionalism on and off the field, ensuring and enhancing the championship caliber of the Cape Cod Baseball League."

Last season, the Wareham Gatemen and Falmouth Commodores shared the first-time award.

"There are many objective and subjective factors that go into the decision making process of this award," says Commissioner Paul Galop. "On-field issues such as team behavior, professionalism, ejections and aggressive posture on our anti-tobacco stance all play a part in our review process. Additionally, off-field issues such as player behavior, administrative deadlines with CCBL documentation and community involvement also contribute to our award assessment," adds Galop.

The Braves, who finished the season with a 26-17 record and clinched their first Western Division title since 2003, made a huge impact on and off the field this season - something GM Mike Carrier predicted would happen at the end of last season.

"After last season during one of our board meetings we set the goal for our franchise to win the 2005 Commissioner's Cup," says Carrier. "We started out with a goal to improve ourselves as an organization, and this is truly the icing on the cake."

Carrier credits his coaching staff, led by Harvey Shapiro, for delivering a competitive team that put the principles of sportsmanship, honor and respect above everything else. This philosophy speaks for itself, as the Braves had no ejections or suspensions during the 2005 season.

Lincoln 10th Player Award winner

He's often the player who makes the biggest difference on a team; he's often the player who comes out of nowhere to lead his team to what has infinitely been dubbed the "Promised Land." Some will call him a five-tool player, and others, simply put, refer to him as the guy who can do just about anything on the baseball field.

Any of these perceptions could be attributed to Brad Lincoln, who won the league's Manny Robello 10th Player Award.

After being recruited to the Braves mainly as a pitcher, Lincoln's role quickly changed as it was determined that a dual role would be far more advantageous on a club that was in desperate need of offense.

Lincoln, a University of Houston standout, finished with a 3-1 record and a 1.32 ERA in nine games started. Lincoln allowed no home runs and recorded 10 walks and 56 strikeouts - good enough for a 1:5 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

Orleans' Wright top relief pitcher

Steven Wright (Hawaii) anchoring Orleans' bullpen all season and was named the Russ Ford Award winner as the league's best relief pitcher.

Wright, a sophomore, finished the regular season with a perfect 3-0 record and a microscopic 0.63 earned run average. He averaged more than one strikeout per inning, fanning 41 batters in his 28.2 innings pitched. Wright allowed only two runs throughout the course of the regular season.

Chatham's Longoria is MVP

Although many Chatham Athletic players posted mind-boggling numbers this summer, Evan Longoria - a legitimate Triple-crown candidate for much of the year - stood out the most and thus won the Pat Sorenti Award for Most Valuable Player.

Although Longoria (Long Beach State) led the league in both home runs (8) and RBI (35), he fell out of contention in the batting average category, finishing with a .299 average after spending much of the season in the top five of this category as well.

During a six-game stretch in June, Longoria hit .440 and had an amazing slugging percentage over .800. Then, the week of July 11-17, Longoria hit .400 with an .883 slugging percentage.

Stories by Michael Kydd, CCBL Intern, kydd@capecodbaseball.org and Colin Reed, CCBL Intern, reed@capecodbaseball.org. 

Position Player Team College

1B Aaron Bates Brewster North Carolina St.

2B Evan Longoria Chatham Long Beach St.

SS Emmanuel Burriss Orleans Kent State

3B Chris Coghlan Chatham Mississippi

INF UT Scott Sizemore Harwich Virginia Comm.

OF Alex Presley Chatham Mississippi

OF Colin Curtis Orleans Arizona State

OF Baron Frost Chatham So. California

OF Chris Emanuele Harwich Northeastern

DH Mark Hamilton Falmouth Tulane

DH Jeff Kindel Y-D Georgia Tech

C Jon Still Falmouth Stetson

C Sean Gaston Cotuit Notre Dame

SP Andrew Miller Chatham North Carolina

SP Daniel Bard Wareham North Carolina

SP Jared Hughes Chatham Long Beach St.

SP Tim Norton Falmouth Connecticut

SP Jon Lalor Wareham Mississippi St.

CLOSER Derrick Lutz Chatham George Washington

CLOSER Tim Lincecum Harwich Washington

UTILITY Brad Lincoln Bourne Houston