CHATHAM, Mass. — It’s easy to move on in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Win, lose or draw, scouts will be there the next day. There’s always something crucial to lace your cleats for.

So, Chatham first-year manager Dennis Cook didn’t say much to his team following the Anglers’ lopsided 9-2 loss at Yarmouth-Dennis. Other than the obvious: they played very poorly.

“Lazy, lackadaisical, uninspired baseball,” Cook said of the A’s performance.

A lengthy meeting ensued postgame Friday among Chatham’s players and coaches. What that amounted to will be determined on Saturday at Veterans Field, where the Anglers host Bourne looking to avoid a two-game losing streak. The Braves’ lone victory of the summer so far occurred over the A’s six days ago. Their .200 winning percentage is the second-lowest in the CCBL. On paper, they’re ripe for the Anglers to devour and get back in the win column.

Here’s what to know before Chatham (2-3-1, East) squares off with Bourne (1-4-1, West) for the second time this summer.

Probable Starters

JT Quinn (Georgia) will make his second start of the young season Saturday. The 6-foot-6 right-hander could not be touched in his Cape League debut back on June 14. In the A’s season opener, he torched Falmouth’s lineup for a five-inning, 10-strikeout performance, with his only blemishes being a hit and run allowed. Quinn showed off his deadly slider and high-90s fastball in a dominant night against the Commodores. Since the UGA product is MLB Draft eligible this summer, Anglers fans will have to enjoy Quinn while they can.

On the opposite side, Bourne is electing to send Joey Colucci (Virginia) out to face the A’s lineup. Colucci is also making his second appearance of the year after tossing four frames of one-run ball in his Braves’ starting debut. Another tall righty, standing at 6-foot-5, Colucci has bounced around colleges, beginning at Maryland before spending 2024 at Harford Community College (Maryland). He transferred to UVA last offseason, and accumulated a brutal 9.17 earned run average in 17.2 innings of work with the Cavaliers.

Bourne Players To Watch

A standout infielder from Wake Forest, Kade Lewis ranks at the top of virtually every Bourne hitting statistic thus far. Lewis is slashing .421/.542/.579 with eight total hits and four RBI. His 1.121 OPS leads the Braves and is the fourth-best mark in the CCBL. The 6-foot-3 sophomore proved his potential this spring at WFU, posting a .375 batting average, three homers and 1.087 OPS in just 13 games. Lewis, the 2024 Big East Freshman of the Year at Butler, is a relatively unknown but rising star in the ACC.

In the 2024 CCBL campaign, the Braves went the first three weeks without hitting a home run. This year, though, Logan Hughes (Texas Tech) quickly put an end to a possible second consecutive homer drought, blasing a ninth-inning solo shot in Bourne’s season-opener against Harwich. Hughes stands out as one of the Braves’ best bats, slugging .500 through six games with a .958 OPS. The sophomore Red Raider product was dominant this past spring, leading the Big 12 with 11 home runs in conference play.

Chatham Players To Watch

Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer) delivered the A’s lone bright spot Friday when he hammered a two-run opposite field homer, which tied Chatham 2-2 with Y-D in the top of the fourth. It was Ford’s first-ever home run on the Cape. The former UVA star is currently in the transfer portal as he undergoes the MLB Draft process, so he’s looking to create a big splash this summer. Ford is batting .227 with five hits and four RBI, though his long ball against the Red Sox could be a sign he’s beginning a hot streak.

Someone that’s in deep need of good fortune at the plate is A’s first baseman Jake Hanley (Indiana). The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year has struggled to adjust to Cape League arms and wooden bats, hitting .091 with a .427 OPS in six games. Hanley has flexed his muscles a few times with Chatham, namely on a double against Wareham Monday and a triple in Bourne last Sunday. But no homers and a measly .227 slugging percentage mean Hanley is due for a breakout — eventually.

Number To Know: 70

Through just over an eighth of the 2025 regular season, it’s clear the Anglers love the strikeout — on both ends of the ball. Chatham batters have struck out 70 times, the highest number for any team in the CCBL thus far.

Averaging over 11 Ks per game at the dish isn’t a recipe for success. If you’re going to strike out a lot, slugging the ball with proficiency is necessary. Yet, Chatham isn’t doing that either, registering a .269 team slugging percentage (the third-worst mark on the Cape). If the A’s can’t balance their swings and misses with extra-base hits, their offensive struggles will persist.

Last Time They Played

The Anglers and Braves battled in an East-West showdown last Sunday, June 15, at Bourne’s Doran Park. Chatham suffered an offensive lull, notching just five hits in an eventual 4-2 loss. The Braves pounced on A’s starting pitcher Ryan Borberg (Dallas Baptist), plating three runs across the third and fourth frames. Though, only one of Borberg’s three runs was earned, as a Duncan Mathews (South Alabama) error allowed two unearned runs to score.

Chatham bullpen hurlers Ethan Calder (Baylor) and Duke Stone (Mississippi State) combined for 4.2 innings of one-run ball, but their efforts were ultimately in vain.