Cape League All-Stars shine at Spillane and Fenway
Best of the best play hard, then celebrate in style

 August 3, 2007


 

  
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com  


Kathleen Szmit Photo

BLACK LINE – Members of the CCBL All-Star teams, wearing CCBL black jerseys, which stand out against the sea of Red Sox red, enjoy Wednesday’s Red Sox/Orioles game after being honored in a pre-game ceremony. 

     It’s been quite a week for the Cape Cod Baseball League Western Division All-Stars. On Saturday more than 5,500 fans turned out for the big game in Wareham, which was also televised Monday on NESN, while on Wednesday night both the East and West teams were feted at a special ceremony at Fenway Park in Boston.

    The All-Star excitement began at 1 p.m. Saturday when the gates opened at Spillane Field. Fans began streaming in to attend a variety of pre-game events including batting practice, autograph sessions and the ever-popular home run contest, this year won by Luke Murton of the Gatemen who hit 22 over the fence.

    At 6 p.m. the game got underway. After Falmouth’s Aaron Crow struck out the first three East batters, 

    Cotuit’s Reese Havens recorded the first hit of the game, a beautiful line drive all the way to the right-field wall. 

    After that, bats were flat until the fourth when the East scored twice, once on a double from Y-D’s Gordon Beckham to bring in Yonder Alonso, before Beckham scored on a wild pitch. Dennis Raben then clocked a homer that would prove to be the winning run for the East, who defeated the West 3-2 in regular innings.

    Falmouth’s Matt Hague scored for the West after singling and then being brought in on another single from Ben Guez of the Bourne Braves, followed by the Hyannis Mets’ James Darnell who smacked a gorgeous homer in the sixth that caused folks to wonder why he wasn’t in the earlier contest.

    Recognition of the infield fly rule saved the West from a precarious situation in the ninth, but it didn’t offer the boys enough momentum to overtake the reigning East Division who claimed the win for the fifth year in a row, with a final score of 3-2. 

    Bearing no hard feelings whatsoever, the two All-Star teams reunited Wednesday night for a special trip to the famed Fenway Park in Boston for the annual CCBL All-Star Tribute.

    With eyes and smiles wide the players lined up along the third base line to be recognized by former Cape Leaguers Eric Hinske and Doug Mirabelli, who presented each player with a commemorative plaque. 

    Earlier in the day the players had taken in Red Sox batting practice, during which several were able to snag practice home run balls. Caleb Joseph ended the evening having garnered 34 autographs, a ball from Dice-K and a batting glove from Hinske, leaving the Cotuit catcher grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

    It certainly helped that the Sox didn’t disappoint. After being down 3-1 to the Baltimore Orioles, Kevin Youklis stepped up and put the Sox into a 4-3 lead with a two-run double in the seventh to bring in Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, who received a thunderous standing ovation from the Fenway crowd, and new Celtics player Kevin Garnett, watching from his own sky box. 

    Sox captain and former Hyannis Mets catcher Jason Varitek added an RBI single to bring the tally to 5-3 before Jonathan Papelbon sealed the deal with strikeouts to end the game.

    The only fans in the stands that may have been conflicted about the win would be Cotuit coach Mike Roberts and his wife whose son, Brian, is the shortstop for Baltimore and was Papelbon’s last out. 

    As the Cape Leaguers boarded the buses for home just before midnight, all of their talk was about the “awesome” win and how someday, maybe, it will be them that the next round of All-Stars come to see.
 


 


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