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Chatham bats struggle as Anglers fall at Bourne 4-2
BOURNE, Mass. — It feels like a pop quiz.
You walk into a classroom, the teacher announces a nightmarish piece of information and you suddenly find yourself as far out of your element as a fish out of water. You didn’t bother to study, because who would? It’s asinine. A pop quiz is the absolute worst-case scenario — which no one ever prepares for.
But now it’s here. The quiz is on your desk, and the questions on the page are staring daggers into you. Flustered, you pick up your pencil, put graphite to paper and just start circling answers. There’s no logic or reason behind your guesses, but at least a few of them have to be right. A broken clock is right twice a day, isn’t it?
Scenarios like that conjure up a unique sense of desperation, a feeling nearly everyone has experienced at least once. The Anglers are especially familiar with that feeling. It has essentially defined their offensive approach through this season. To them, every plate appearance might as well be a quiz that they didn’t study for.
“I think they’re guessing too much,” Chatham manager Dennis Cook said. “I think they’re sitting (on the) breaking ball, and if you sit (on the) breaking ball, you can’t adjust to the fastball.”
Throughout the Chatham Anglers’ (0-2, East) 4-2 road loss to the Bourne Braves (1-1, West), the A’s struggled to find an adequate sense of aggression in their offensive approach. Too much aggression, and you end up with performances like Chatham’s 1-0 Opening Day loss to Falmouth, where it notched just two hits and struck out 17 times. Too little aggression, and you end up with a performance like Sunday’s, where the Anglers drew seven walks but struck out ten times — five of which came looking.
“It just needs to be the opposite,” Cook said. “We need to sit fastball, hunt fastballs and fight off breaking balls.”
Initially, the Anglers’ renewed approach was a welcome sight. Chatham came out of the gate looking more disciplined, working counts more effectively and resisting the temptation to chase pitches out of the zone.
In the first at-bat of the game, A’s second baseman Ethan Mendoza (Texas) worked a full count and ultimately earned a walk. Two innings later, Isaiah Lane (San Diego) did the same to load the bases, bringing up Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer portal) with a chance to give Chatham its first run of the season.
So, what did Ford do? He patiently worked the count full against Braves starter Zane Petty, and he calmly took ball four to drive in Chatham’s first run of the season, giving the A’s a 1-0 lead.
“I think (we) did a better job with two strikes than we did last night,” Cook said. “Last night, we were just freelancing, swinging and struck out way too much.”
Patience can be a virtue. It leads to a more methodical, measured approach — especially at the plate.
But there’s two sides to every coin.
Chatham first baseman Jake Hanley (pictured, blue jersey) dives headfirst while sliding into third base in the fifth inning against Bourne on Sunday. Hanley struck out in each of his first two at-bats before answering the call with an RBI triple. Photograph by Ella Tovey
After Mendoza’s first-inning walk, Lane moved him into scoring position with a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Ford subsequently struck out, bringing up Jake Hanley (Indiana) with two outs and a runner in scoring position.
Hanley swung through the first pitch he saw, took the next pitch for a strike, and then fouled off the next two offerings he saw to prolong his plate appearance. Petty’s next offering — a fastball — just barely caught the outside edge of the plate, and home plate umpire Sam Finn punched him out for the first of Chatham’s five strikeouts looking.
It wasn’t the last time Hanley found himself in that position. After Ford’s bases-loaded walk in the third, he came up with the bases loaded, one out and a chance to redeem himself. As one of the Anglers’ best power hitters, he could have blown the game wide-open with his first extra-base hit of the season.
Yet, it never materialized. After fouling off the first pitch he saw, Hanley took two strikes for his second consecutive strikeout looking, giving Petty his third of six punchouts against Chatham.
“I took two pitches that I thought weren’t there,” Hanley said. “I’m going to accept that if the umpire calls it a strike. I’m not gonna expand my zone unless the umpire shows it consistently.”
Finn’s strike zone didn’t come without controversy. As Anglers starter Ryan Borberg (Dallas Baptist) faced off against Kade Lewis in the first, he threw a 2-2 sinker on the inside edge of the plate. When Finn called it a ball, Cook exclaimed in shock from the first-base dugout.
But Finn’s inconsistencies weren’t the sole reason behind Chatham’s offensive struggles.
After Hanley’s strikeout, Daniel Jackson (Georgia) came up with the bases loaded and two outs. He took two strikes and flew out to right soon after, killing the Anglers’ only sustained rally.
With Chatham failing to capitalize on in the third, the Braves immediately punished its mistake, with Cal Sefcik, Jon LeGrande, Justin Lebron and Braden Holcomb crossing the plate while the Anglers floundered over the rest of the game.
By the time Hanley got a third plate appearance in the top of the fifth, he carried a renewed sense of confidence in the box. With lefty relief pitcher Matthew Storey replacing Petty, he swung on an inside fastball, belting a deep triple into left and driving in Ford for Chatham’s second run of the game.
“It was more just the approach of, ‘I’m kind of just letting go, and not fearing about something that could happen,’” Hanley said. “I was just playing baseball.”
Prior to his arrival in Chatham, Hanley hadn’t seen live pitching for three weeks, as is the case for the Anglers’ top hitters. Yet, it took just one mental adjustment for him to shake off the rust.
Diagnosing the A’s offensive issues this season isn’t simple. But prescribing a remedy is.
Just play baseball.
You walk into a classroom, the teacher announces a nightmarish piece of information and you suddenly find yourself as far out of your element as a fish out of water. You didn’t bother to study, because who would? It’s asinine. A pop quiz is the absolute worst-case scenario — which no one ever prepares for.
But now it’s here. The quiz is on your desk, and the questions on the page are staring daggers into you. Flustered, you pick up your pencil, put graphite to paper and just start circling answers. There’s no logic or reason behind your guesses, but at least a few of them have to be right. A broken clock is right twice a day, isn’t it?
Scenarios like that conjure up a unique sense of desperation, a feeling nearly everyone has experienced at least once. The Anglers are especially familiar with that feeling. It has essentially defined their offensive approach through this season. To them, every plate appearance might as well be a quiz that they didn’t study for.
“I think they’re guessing too much,” Chatham manager Dennis Cook said. “I think they’re sitting (on the) breaking ball, and if you sit (on the) breaking ball, you can’t adjust to the fastball.”
Throughout the Chatham Anglers’ (0-2, East) 4-2 road loss to the Bourne Braves (1-1, West), the A’s struggled to find an adequate sense of aggression in their offensive approach. Too much aggression, and you end up with performances like Chatham’s 1-0 Opening Day loss to Falmouth, where it notched just two hits and struck out 17 times. Too little aggression, and you end up with a performance like Sunday’s, where the Anglers drew seven walks but struck out ten times — five of which came looking.
“It just needs to be the opposite,” Cook said. “We need to sit fastball, hunt fastballs and fight off breaking balls.”
Initially, the Anglers’ renewed approach was a welcome sight. Chatham came out of the gate looking more disciplined, working counts more effectively and resisting the temptation to chase pitches out of the zone.
In the first at-bat of the game, A’s second baseman Ethan Mendoza (Texas) worked a full count and ultimately earned a walk. Two innings later, Isaiah Lane (San Diego) did the same to load the bases, bringing up Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer portal) with a chance to give Chatham its first run of the season.
So, what did Ford do? He patiently worked the count full against Braves starter Zane Petty, and he calmly took ball four to drive in Chatham’s first run of the season, giving the A’s a 1-0 lead.
“I think (we) did a better job with two strikes than we did last night,” Cook said. “Last night, we were just freelancing, swinging and struck out way too much.”
Patience can be a virtue. It leads to a more methodical, measured approach — especially at the plate.
But there’s two sides to every coin.
Chatham first baseman Jake Hanley (pictured, blue jersey) dives headfirst while sliding into third base in the fifth inning against Bourne on Sunday. Hanley struck out in each of his first two at-bats before answering the call with an RBI triple. Photograph by Ella Tovey
After Mendoza’s first-inning walk, Lane moved him into scoring position with a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Ford subsequently struck out, bringing up Jake Hanley (Indiana) with two outs and a runner in scoring position.
Hanley swung through the first pitch he saw, took the next pitch for a strike, and then fouled off the next two offerings he saw to prolong his plate appearance. Petty’s next offering — a fastball — just barely caught the outside edge of the plate, and home plate umpire Sam Finn punched him out for the first of Chatham’s five strikeouts looking.
It wasn’t the last time Hanley found himself in that position. After Ford’s bases-loaded walk in the third, he came up with the bases loaded, one out and a chance to redeem himself. As one of the Anglers’ best power hitters, he could have blown the game wide-open with his first extra-base hit of the season.
Yet, it never materialized. After fouling off the first pitch he saw, Hanley took two strikes for his second consecutive strikeout looking, giving Petty his third of six punchouts against Chatham.
“I took two pitches that I thought weren’t there,” Hanley said. “I’m going to accept that if the umpire calls it a strike. I’m not gonna expand my zone unless the umpire shows it consistently.”
Finn’s strike zone didn’t come without controversy. As Anglers starter Ryan Borberg (Dallas Baptist) faced off against Kade Lewis in the first, he threw a 2-2 sinker on the inside edge of the plate. When Finn called it a ball, Cook exclaimed in shock from the first-base dugout.
But Finn’s inconsistencies weren’t the sole reason behind Chatham’s offensive struggles.
After Hanley’s strikeout, Daniel Jackson (Georgia) came up with the bases loaded and two outs. He took two strikes and flew out to right soon after, killing the Anglers’ only sustained rally.
With Chatham failing to capitalize on in the third, the Braves immediately punished its mistake, with Cal Sefcik, Jon LeGrande, Justin Lebron and Braden Holcomb crossing the plate while the Anglers floundered over the rest of the game.
By the time Hanley got a third plate appearance in the top of the fifth, he carried a renewed sense of confidence in the box. With lefty relief pitcher Matthew Storey replacing Petty, he swung on an inside fastball, belting a deep triple into left and driving in Ford for Chatham’s second run of the game.
“It was more just the approach of, ‘I’m kind of just letting go, and not fearing about something that could happen,’” Hanley said. “I was just playing baseball.”
Prior to his arrival in Chatham, Hanley hadn’t seen live pitching for three weeks, as is the case for the Anglers’ top hitters. Yet, it took just one mental adjustment for him to shake off the rust.
Diagnosing the A’s offensive issues this season isn’t simple. But prescribing a remedy is.
Just play baseball.
