Game 26 Preview: Brewster at Chatham
by Graham Dietz
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Two consecutive road games resulted in two consecutive losses for Chatham. In both, the Anglers’ pitching staff allowed double-digit runs. Chatham’s offense, meanwhile, produced six runs in each contest along with eight hits at Hyannis on Friday and seven hits at Falmouth on Saturday—plenty to be able to win a game in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Brewster visits the A’s Sunday night at Veterans Field. The two sides make up fourth and fifth place in the Cape League’s East Division. Chatham is vying to make up a hole of seven points in the standings which could put them into the playoff race. The Anglers have also played four less games than the Whitecaps, due to a series of postponed contests due to inclement weather.
Here are the pregame notes for the A’s (7–17–1 East) Sunday-night showdown with the visiting Whitecaps (10–17–2 East).
Probable Starters
Tommy Molsky (Penn State): Molsky has not made a start this season but has strung together 13.1 innings of relief for the Anglers, establishing an 8.77 ERA. In his last outing on July 9, during a 7–6 loss at Harwich, Molsky allowed just one run in 4.1 innings and fanned two batters.
Javyn Pimental (Missouri Columbia): Pimental shines through on the Whitecaps’ roster. With 23.0 total innings pitched under his belt this season, his 3.52 ERA is a good measure of his ability to control games. In his last performance, however, the six-foot-three lefty allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in four innings.
Chatham Players To Watch
Deric Fabian (Florida): You couldn’t turn on a hydraulic power hose to extinguish Fabian’s fire right now. Chatham’s primary shortstop is riding a four-game hitting streak with nine total barrels. Chatham acting manager Marty Lees keeps the Gator in the nine-hole to give the top of the lineup a boost and Fabian has done his job nearly flawlessly.
Aiden Jimenez (Oregon State): Jimenez acts as the closer for the Anglers and for good reason. Rarely does the six-foot-three, 220-pound righty give up a single hit in his typical one or two innings of work. Jimenez picked up a save in his last showing, a 1.2 inning relief appearance in Chatham’s 3–0 shutout of Yarmouth-Dennis on Thursday, and hasn’t allowed more than one hit in his last two games played combined.
Brewster Players To Watch
Ike Irish (Auburn): In 64 at-bats this season, Irish has garnered 18 hits for a .281 batting average along with 10 walks and five RBIS. Irish has only struck out eight times this season, too, which gives him a strikeout rate lower than anybody on the Whitecaps’ roster.
Mason White (Arizona): White is coming off a two-hit day in three plate appearances against Harwich on Saturday. White helped guide Brewster to that 4–3 win. His .197 batting average doesn’t jump off the page, and he’s struck out 19 times this season, but White’s a lefty who’s got power which can be a major advantage at Veterans Field. White is expected to face Molsky, a righty, and will certainly try to use the short porch to his advantage.
Number To Know: 7
Seven times this season, Chatham has relinquished double-digit scores to the opposing team. The Anglers did so in their last two games, road matchups with Hyannis and Falmouth, and cycled through eight total pitchers in the process.
Last Time They Played
Chatham hasn’t suited up against the Whitecaps since July 2, when it fell 6–3 at Stony Brook Field.
The A’s starter, Hayden Durke, allowed four runs and fanned only one batter in 4.2 innings, providing Brewster with an early breakthrough which it capitalized on.
Despite the loss, Chatham reliever Jack Brodsky pitched the final 1.1 innings of the game and notched two strikeouts while allowing no runs, hits or walks. Not a single Angler batter recorded more than one hit in the defeat.