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Chatham falls to Wareham 5-1, snapping 2-game win streak
CHATHAM, Mass. — Partially due to circumstances out of his control, Chatham manager Dennis Cook has had to get quite creative in his quest to fill innings, unabashedly erasing the lines between the A’s bullpen and rotation.
Early on, there was a semblance of an established rotation. Top arms such as Nate Taylor (Vanderbilt), JT Quinn (Georgia), Luke Jackson (Dallas Baptist) and Tate Carey (Michigan) started 12 of their 14 combined appearances in Chatham, giving the A’s a sense of consistency with their starters.
Then they all left.
Quinn departed after his June 28 start, after which he was selected in the second round of the MLB Draft. Taylor made his final start of the season on July 11 against Harwich, and the following day, he was in attendance with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at a UFC event in Nashville during his first visit to his newest home. While Jackson was going to stay for the summer, his unexpected 11th-round selection forced him to leave early. And yesterday, Carey said his goodbyes during Chatham’s batting practice at Cotuit, effectively emptying the cupboards for Chatham’s rotation.
After his team’s 6-4 Monday win over the Kettleers, Cook couldn’t even name a starter for Tuesday’s contest against Wareham. He said he had to converse with Chatham pitching coach Jay Powell in order to decide.
Ultimately, they settled on Bowling Green righty Jacob Turner to face the Gatemen Tuesday. But his first start in the Cape Cod Baseball League was far from picturesque.
Across three innings against Wareham, Jacob Turner allowed three runs — two unearned — and gave up a two-run homer to Colby Turner, which sank Chatham (13-14-3, East) in its 5-1 loss to Wareham (16-14, West). After notching 11 hits in their triumph over Cotuit Monday, the Anglers’ offense only mustered up two hits against the Gatemen, striking out 11 times on the night. In the field, the A’s racked up a ghastly five errors — a season-worst.
“(The team) just was flat tonight,” Cook said. “Didn’t play good defense, didn’t hit. Just one of those games where it was ugly.”
It was tough sledding for Chatham almost instantly.
On the first pitch of the game, Wareham second baseman Brayden Randle smoked a single into center. However, he got a bit too adventurous in his efforts to snag an extra 90 feet, and A’s center fielder Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) threw him out at second fairly easily.
It was supposed to be a welcome sign for Jacob Turner, who had essentially seen a hit erased on the first pitch of his first start on the Cape.
Then he gave up a single to Colby Turner. Chatham’s starter attempted to pick Wareham’s right fielder off at first, but his wayward toss skipped past Reed Stallman (Mississippi State), moving Colby Turner into scoring position. Once Jacob Turner gave up his third consecutive hit — another single, this time to Chris McHugh — the Gatemen pulled ahead instantly.
But just as quickly as Wareham claimed an advantage, the Anglers were given a tailor-made opportunity to respond. Gateman righty Cooper Consiglio — who allowed four runs in Wareham’s 9-2 loss to Chatham on June 16 — loaded the bases with three consecutive walks.
Ashton Larson (Texas), the hero in the A’s win over Cotuit Monday, all of a sudden had another chance to come through with two outs and runners on.
The eventual outcome was much more anticlimactic. Hayden Yost had eons to settle under Larson’s fly ball to center field, ending a shutout frame by wrapping his mitt around the ball.
“We swung at a lot of bad pitches tonight,” Cook said. “We had a chance to put them in some offensive counts, but we swung at bad pitches.”
After a scoreless second inning, Randle gave the Gatemen another prime scoring chance in the top of the third. His ground ball down the first base line just deflected off Stallman’s mitt, and after Larson struggled to corral it in right, Randle advanced to third, standing just 90 feet away from home.
It’s not like Randle’s position on the basepaths mattered in the slightest, however. Thanks to Colby Turner’s two-run blast to left, Randle would’ve scored even if he had only managed to make it to first. After three innings, the Gatemen had already established a three-run lead.
A's reliever Cam Johnson gave up one earned run across 3.0 innings pitched in Chatham's contest against Wareham. The lefty walked four, but struck out three and allowed just one hit as the Anglers search to find consistent roles for their pitchers. Photograph by Ella Tovey
That spelled the end of Jacob Turner's outing. Once the Bowling Green product finished his third inning of work, he was hooked from the game for Cam Johnson (Oklahoma).
As Chatham’s offense continued to struggle — Chase Fralick (Auburn) had the Anglers’ only hit through four innings of play — Wareham’s bats showed zero signs of cooling. On the first pitch of the fifth, Caden McDonald demolished another home run to left, putting the Gatemen up 4-0.
Johnson escaped the remainder of the fifth without allowing another run, and new Anglers’ second baseman Trace Mazon (Coastal Carolina) started the bottom of the frame by slapping the second of Chatham’s hits with a liner to left field. It begged the question: What could possibly go wrong?
The answer is just about everything, as it turns out. Mazon got caught stealing at second, ensuring Chatham wouldn’t score in the fifth.
And Johnson’s command issues continued to plague him in the top of the sixth. His walk to Christopher Ramirez — his fourth of the contest — quickly came back to harm him, as Ramirez stole second and subsequently advanced to third on a throwing error. Randle’s groundout to first was all Ramirez needed to cross home, putting the Gatemen up 5-0.
“I don’t know the cause,” Cook said when discussing Chatham’s poor defense. “I just know we stunk defensively.”
On the Anglers Extra Pregame Show, Cook said that he was going to return to more defined roles within his pitching staff. Instead of randomly shuffling arms between the bullpen and the rotation, he wants to have five set starters — akin to a Major League Baseball team.
Postgame, he said that he’s already constructed his rotation for the foreseeable future, though he wasn’t yet ready to tip his hand. But in the current state of the Cape League, where players can inexplicably leave at any point in the summer, it remains to be seen how long he can maintain his new patchwork rotation.
Early on, there was a semblance of an established rotation. Top arms such as Nate Taylor (Vanderbilt), JT Quinn (Georgia), Luke Jackson (Dallas Baptist) and Tate Carey (Michigan) started 12 of their 14 combined appearances in Chatham, giving the A’s a sense of consistency with their starters.
Then they all left.
Quinn departed after his June 28 start, after which he was selected in the second round of the MLB Draft. Taylor made his final start of the season on July 11 against Harwich, and the following day, he was in attendance with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at a UFC event in Nashville during his first visit to his newest home. While Jackson was going to stay for the summer, his unexpected 11th-round selection forced him to leave early. And yesterday, Carey said his goodbyes during Chatham’s batting practice at Cotuit, effectively emptying the cupboards for Chatham’s rotation.
After his team’s 6-4 Monday win over the Kettleers, Cook couldn’t even name a starter for Tuesday’s contest against Wareham. He said he had to converse with Chatham pitching coach Jay Powell in order to decide.
Ultimately, they settled on Bowling Green righty Jacob Turner to face the Gatemen Tuesday. But his first start in the Cape Cod Baseball League was far from picturesque.
Across three innings against Wareham, Jacob Turner allowed three runs — two unearned — and gave up a two-run homer to Colby Turner, which sank Chatham (13-14-3, East) in its 5-1 loss to Wareham (16-14, West). After notching 11 hits in their triumph over Cotuit Monday, the Anglers’ offense only mustered up two hits against the Gatemen, striking out 11 times on the night. In the field, the A’s racked up a ghastly five errors — a season-worst.
“(The team) just was flat tonight,” Cook said. “Didn’t play good defense, didn’t hit. Just one of those games where it was ugly.”
It was tough sledding for Chatham almost instantly.
On the first pitch of the game, Wareham second baseman Brayden Randle smoked a single into center. However, he got a bit too adventurous in his efforts to snag an extra 90 feet, and A’s center fielder Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) threw him out at second fairly easily.
It was supposed to be a welcome sign for Jacob Turner, who had essentially seen a hit erased on the first pitch of his first start on the Cape.
Then he gave up a single to Colby Turner. Chatham’s starter attempted to pick Wareham’s right fielder off at first, but his wayward toss skipped past Reed Stallman (Mississippi State), moving Colby Turner into scoring position. Once Jacob Turner gave up his third consecutive hit — another single, this time to Chris McHugh — the Gatemen pulled ahead instantly.
But just as quickly as Wareham claimed an advantage, the Anglers were given a tailor-made opportunity to respond. Gateman righty Cooper Consiglio — who allowed four runs in Wareham’s 9-2 loss to Chatham on June 16 — loaded the bases with three consecutive walks.
Ashton Larson (Texas), the hero in the A’s win over Cotuit Monday, all of a sudden had another chance to come through with two outs and runners on.
The eventual outcome was much more anticlimactic. Hayden Yost had eons to settle under Larson’s fly ball to center field, ending a shutout frame by wrapping his mitt around the ball.
“We swung at a lot of bad pitches tonight,” Cook said. “We had a chance to put them in some offensive counts, but we swung at bad pitches.”
After a scoreless second inning, Randle gave the Gatemen another prime scoring chance in the top of the third. His ground ball down the first base line just deflected off Stallman’s mitt, and after Larson struggled to corral it in right, Randle advanced to third, standing just 90 feet away from home.
It’s not like Randle’s position on the basepaths mattered in the slightest, however. Thanks to Colby Turner’s two-run blast to left, Randle would’ve scored even if he had only managed to make it to first. After three innings, the Gatemen had already established a three-run lead.
A's reliever Cam Johnson gave up one earned run across 3.0 innings pitched in Chatham's contest against Wareham. The lefty walked four, but struck out three and allowed just one hit as the Anglers search to find consistent roles for their pitchers. Photograph by Ella Tovey
That spelled the end of Jacob Turner's outing. Once the Bowling Green product finished his third inning of work, he was hooked from the game for Cam Johnson (Oklahoma).
As Chatham’s offense continued to struggle — Chase Fralick (Auburn) had the Anglers’ only hit through four innings of play — Wareham’s bats showed zero signs of cooling. On the first pitch of the fifth, Caden McDonald demolished another home run to left, putting the Gatemen up 4-0.
Johnson escaped the remainder of the fifth without allowing another run, and new Anglers’ second baseman Trace Mazon (Coastal Carolina) started the bottom of the frame by slapping the second of Chatham’s hits with a liner to left field. It begged the question: What could possibly go wrong?
The answer is just about everything, as it turns out. Mazon got caught stealing at second, ensuring Chatham wouldn’t score in the fifth.
And Johnson’s command issues continued to plague him in the top of the sixth. His walk to Christopher Ramirez — his fourth of the contest — quickly came back to harm him, as Ramirez stole second and subsequently advanced to third on a throwing error. Randle’s groundout to first was all Ramirez needed to cross home, putting the Gatemen up 5-0.
“I don’t know the cause,” Cook said when discussing Chatham’s poor defense. “I just know we stunk defensively.”
On the Anglers Extra Pregame Show, Cook said that he was going to return to more defined roles within his pitching staff. Instead of randomly shuffling arms between the bullpen and the rotation, he wants to have five set starters — akin to a Major League Baseball team.
Postgame, he said that he’s already constructed his rotation for the foreseeable future, though he wasn’t yet ready to tip his hand. But in the current state of the Cape League, where players can inexplicably leave at any point in the summer, it remains to be seen how long he can maintain his new patchwork rotation.
