1 Aug 2007

Pickler has the right ingredients to win another title

By George Kostinas
GateHouse News Service

Cape Cod - Jason Castro blasted a 3-run homer and Scott Green pitched six shutout innings to lead the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to a 9-1 win over the Orleans Cardinals Monday, picking up right where they left off before the All-Star break.

     It was the fifth win in a row for the Cape Cod Baseball League’s hottest team.

     They started the season with six straight wins, then cruised through the next 32 games to put together a remarkable 27-10-1 record. 

     What has been most amazing is the team’s consistency. They have lost two in a row just twice and three straight once while putting together a 4-game and several 3-game winning skeins.

     “To do that, you’ve got to play good defense and get some good pitching. You can’t always count on hitting. It’s a balance of good pitching, hitting and playing defense that keeps you out of slumps,” says Red Sox field manager Scott Pickler.

     Scott Green (Kentucky) kept the ball low and mixed in his changeup to baffle Orleans’ hitters. He gave up only two hits, one an infield hit, walked only one batter and struck out nine in six scoreless innings.

     Meanwhile the offense, after a slow start, exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

     Buster Posey (Florida State) singled in the first run of the inning and Gordon Beckham (Georgia), who had driven in a run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly, followed with another RBI single.

     Then Castro (Stanford) topped it off with a 3-run line drive home run to right field that gave Y-D a big 7-0 lead. Posey added a 2-run shot in the eighth inning to close out the scoring. Aaron Luna (Rice) also homered.

     “We talk about having quality at-bats every night. These kids, if they are going to play professional ball, are going to have to perform every night,” says Pickler. “They’re learning to deal with the kind of adversity this league gives you, putting the bat in a kid’s hands against the best pitching in the country.”

     Prior to the All-Star break, Y-D had five players batting better than .300, and with his 2-for-3 performance Monday, Castro became the league’s top hitter at .373. He also leads the league in runs scored with 29.

     Beckham is batting .308, leads the league in home runs with eight and is second in RBI with 31. Although Sean Ochinko (LSU) went 0 for 4 against Orleans and dropped below .300 for the first time this season, he is second in the league with 7 homers.

     As a team the Red Sox lead the league in hitting (.278), home runs (38), hits (341) and runs (206), and no other team in the league is close in any of those categories.

     The pitching staff has also done a fine job.

     Green has quietly become one of the Red Sox top pitchers. At 3-1, he improved his ERA to 1.64, having given up only seven earned runs in 38 1/3 innings.

     Eddie Burns (Georgia Tech) and Terry Doyle (Boston College) lead the league in wins at 5-0.

     Trevor Holder (Georgia) leads the team with a 1.16 earned run average and is 3-1, and Bobby Gagg who left the team a few weeks ago with a sore arm was 3-0.

     Nick Cassavechia (Baylor) who has a league leading 10 saves, along with one win and a 0.83 earned run average in 14 appearances.

     As a team the Red Sox are third in the league with a 2.97 ERA, and, of course, they have the best record in the league, which is what counts the most.

     The Red Sox look to be on track to win their second Cape League championship in a row and their third in the last four years.

     “It’s a crap shoot when you go out to get players,” says Pickler, who points out that many players originally recruited are lost to Team USA or to injuries or to any number of variables.

     “Recruiting is a big part, but getting the right guys, with the right matchups and the right chemistry is more important. Getting the kids to realize how important what they are doing here is, what the scouts are looking for, how they will hold up for a 44-game season,” Pickler says is what he tries to get across.

     “I know these kids have their own goals, their personal goals, but they’ve got to be able to put the team before personal goals,” he says. “So it’s about getting the right kid and making him understand that it is not all about him, but it is about his team and his teammates.”