CHATHAM — On the final day of the Cape Cod Baseball League regular season, teams are often jockeying for playoff positions, but the only “race” that occurred this year was for last place, between the Chatham A’s and Harwich Mariners. 

Chatham, which won its last three games, including a 7-1 triumph over Orleans (22-21-1) in Sunday’s finale, secured a fourth place finish with a 21-22-1 record. Harwich, which fell to Brewster 11-5 on the final day, ends the year with a 20-24 mark, dead last in the East Division. 

Y-D (28-16) won the East and enters the playoffs seeking to claim its second Cape League crown since 2004, while wild-card winner Brewster (24-18-2) is aiming for its first CCBL title since 2000. 

“It was a season of could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” summarized Chatham Field Manager John Schiffner. “We just didn’t put it together at the right time, and I think we underachieved a little bit.”

The A’s offense was particularly lacking. Chatham hit just .227 (tied for second worst in the 10-team league), and struck out a league-high 414 times. That said, Chatham’s downfall, ultimately, was their 13 one-run losses. 

“But the one positive thing about that, was that the kids came out and played hard the next day,” said Schiffner. “There was never any quit in them. Some of those one-run losses were such because after being down by two, three or four runs, we came back. That shows the character of this team. I think we were only beaten solidly three or four times, so we were in almost every game we played. But overall the execution could’ve been better offensively.”

No one was complaining about the final three days however, as the A’s scored 20 runs over that stretch, defeating Brewster 10-4 and 3-0 before the aforementioned victory over Orleans. 

“The kids really started to figure things out offensively, and our hope is that they take what they’ve learned here and bring it back to school to be better players.”

They’re likely to do that, and some of them may take their new-fangled knowledge and return to the Cape. Schiffner said all four of the team’s freshmen players – Danny Espinosa, Allan Dykstra, Matt Giannini and Vance Worley – have been invited back, which could bode well for next year’s team, seeing as each of those players made a significant impact. 

Giannini, a middle reliever, logged 22.1 innings with a 4.03 ERA; Worley, a starter, went 3-2 with a 3.03 ERA; Espinosa, the A’s short stop, hit a solid .252 with a team-best two triples; and Dykstra, a power hitting first baseman, led the A’s with seven home runs and the entire Cape League with 29 RBIs.

Team pitching was Chatham’s strong point this season, as the A’s staff combined for a 2.70 ERA (tied for second best), while surrendering a league-low 311 hits. 

Starter Ricky Hargrove headlined the staff, recording a 1.03 ERA (second best among all CCBL pitchers), and struck out 35 batters in 43.2 innings. Robert Woodard added a capable arm, going 3-3 with 2.32 ERA and team-best 39 strikeouts, and Rich Sirois (2-2, 3.86 ERA), Elliott Cribby (3-2, 1.61 ERA), Justin Segal (0.84 ERA), also played an integral role.

Closer Paul Koss, who was 2-0 with four saves and did not allow an earned run in 13.2 innings, was named the A’s pitcher of the year. Third baseman Reid Fronk, who hit a team-best .284, was named the A’s hitter of the year. Woodard and catcher Nick Derba were also honored with the Veteran’s award for their two-and-a-half summers of service. 

Others who made their presence felt were Chris Carrara, Edward Easley, and Matt Rizzotti. Carrara hit .264, led the team with hits (33) and stolen bases (17), Easley, who arrived for the second half of the season, hit .269 in 16 games, and Rizzotti smashed four home runs and drove in 27 runs. 

Of final note, Schiffner now has 313 career victories and needs 22 more wins to surpass former Y-D and Wareham skipper Don Reed, who retired in 1999 with 334 victories, as the Cape League’s all-time winningest field manager.

Meanwhile for Harwich, which lost a few top recruits to Team USA and was forced to wait on others involved in the College World Series, the summer was a tale of two teams.

“The first 15 games we didn’t have all our guys, and we had to cut nine guys on July 5,” Harwich Field Manager Steve Englert said. “As a result, we got off to a tough start and were never able to make up those lost games. I might have to change my recruiting philosophy and not take as many high-profile guys. You love to take three or four of them, but you might not see them until July.” 

Season-ending injuries to pitcher Dan McDonald, who sported a 1.04 ERA in 10 games, and second-year Harwich slugger Chad Flack, a .205 hitter, also played a factor in the Mariners missing the post-season for the ninth straight year. 

“We had a couple of bad bounces here and there and came up a little short,” said Englert, who also lamented the fact his team was forced to play three double headers over the final week. “That was really taxing on our pitching staff, and in the end we didn’t have enough pitching to get back into contention.”

Englert said he plans to address the need for pre-determined double headers at the league’s meeting, and will also call for seven inning twin bills. 

“In college baseball and triple A ball they don’t play nine inning double headers,” said Englert. “These kids will have to play nine inning double headers at the major league level, but they’re not there yet, so hopefully we’ll get enough franchises to see that our way.”

Englert said third baseman Johnny Giavotella, who hit .153 and “played tremendous defensively,” is the only Mariner invited back for next summer.

Among those who made a name for themselves this season were team MVP Josh Donaldson, Pitcher of the Year Dan Merklinger, 10th player award winner Josh Ellis, and ace Tony Watson.

Donaldson hit .302 (fifth best of all Cape Leaguers), and led the team in hits (45), RBIs (21), doubles (11) and home runs (4). Merklinger, a starter, went 4-1 with a 1.21 ERA, and struck out 47 in 44.2 innings. Ellis, a middle and late inning reliever, logged a 1.60 ERA with 41 Ks in 33.2 innings, and Watson went 5-2 with a 2.44 ERA and fanned 46 in 49 innings. 

Also of note were sportsmanship award winner Eric Fryer, who hit .252, and Andrew D’Alessio who hit .344 in 22 games. 

by Eric Adler
Eric Adler