20 July 2006

Farmer cultivates success on the Cape

Arriving on the baseball crazy peninsula that is Cape Cod, Tom Farmer felt instantly at home. The Cleveland native and University of Akron standout immediately discovered that playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League is a singular sensation.

"True story," he says. "Freshman year, I had an RA [resident assistant] who didn't even know where the baseball field at our school was. That should be a requirement, wouldn't you think? Up here, people are so passionate about the game and it shows. You have little kids asking for your autograph every night and everyone is into the game. It's fantastic."

Farmer's pleasure in being part of the Bourne Braves this summer is evident not only in what he says, but what he does. While the Braves have struggled to string wins together this season, the soon-to-be junior remains focused on playing baseball to the best of his ability and then some.

"My pitching philosophy is pretty simple. One pitch at a time, one hitter at a time, one game at a time," says Farmer. "It's great to set goals, but I like to take it one step at a time and not get too far ahead of myself.

"My first goal when I got here was to pitch, to get as many innings as I could. Then I wanted to become a starter and excel," he continues.

And excel Farmer has, despite the Braves owning the highest ERA in the league at 4.48. With five starts and 28 innings to his credit, Farmer has remained in the top 10 of Cape League pitchers with a 1.26 ERA. The righthander threw six innings of shutout ball against Wareham Sunday only to see his team lose 2-0.

"You don't want to seem selfish, but really, if everyone just concentrated on his own game and played their best ball, the wins would come. You can't worry about what other guys are doing. No one would be here if they didn't deserve to be and that's probably the hardest part about the losses this season. We have a very good team and great camaraderie."

As a pitcher, Farmer says that playing in the Cape League has been especially eye-opening since there is no letdown near the bottom of the order.

"Usually when you get to the 8-9 batters in college, you can sort of catch a break. There's usually a couple of weaker hitters. Up here, 1 through 9 is solid. It's humbling, but it's very gratifying when you pitch well against them."

When he's not at the ballfield, Farmer can be found coaching at the Braves' clinics in Sandwich. A typical day includes working with the kids, then getting to the new Braves' field to prepare for the evening's match-up.

Despite the tight schedule, Farmer has had a chance to absorb some of the Cape atmosphere and has played tour guide to his parents and grandparents who have all visited. Noting he has been kept well fed by his host mother, Terri Carrier, Farmer says that in addition to trying out the local fare he gets to the beach where he and a few teammates have taken up fishing.

"When my coach told me I had a chance to play here, I jumped at it, of course. Everyone who plays college baseball knows the goal is to get to the Cape," he says. "For me it was especially exciting, coming from a small school.

"Now that I'm here, I can't believe there's only three weeks left," he adds. "I really do love it up here. I'm having a blast, there's great baseball, and it's fun to watch so many great players play the game. Baseball is a great game to watch, especially when players are doing everything right."