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Chatham ignites for 10-0 run-rule victory over Brewster to stave off elimination
CHATHAM, Mass. — Before Chatham’s home contest against Wareham on July 22, first-year manager Dennis Cook said on the Anglers Extra Pregame Show that he was planning on establishing a static, “MLB-style” pitching staff, with more defined roles between the bullpen and the rotation.
It took him six games to break from that strategy.
Over the past week, he had accomplished his goal of constructing a stable rotation, alternating between Duke Stone (Mississippi State), Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma), Kaden Smith (USF), Jacob Turner (Bowling Green) and Charlie Foster (Mississippi State) to open Chatham’s contests. But facing Harwich on July 24, Foster gave up six runs across two frames in what proved to be the final start of his summer in Chatham.
The Anglers initially got away with not adjusting their rotation in the wake of Foster’s departure, as his turn in the rotation hadn’t come up. But Wednesday, he was due.
With Chatham potentially facing elimination, the stakes couldn’t have been clearer. And just days before the A’s faced Brewster, Cook scrambled to find a starter.
Ultimately, he landed on Will Girardi (Dallas Baptist), who was utterly dominant in the first start of his Cape Cod Baseball League career. Girardi blanked the Whitecaps (19-16-1, East) across five shutout innings, and thanks to Chatham’s (15-18-3, East) seven-run outburst in the second inning, the A’s coasted to a 10-0 eight-inning run-rule victory to stave off elimination from CCBL postseason contention. However, after Orleans’ 2-1 walk-off win over Yarmouth-Dennis Wednesday, the Anglers are now six points behind Brewster for the East Division's No. 4 seed.
A Brewster win and a Chatham loss would eliminate the Anglers from the playoffs.
“I honestly don’t even look at (the standings),” Cook said. “I just want them to play hard, compete hard … After that, we live with the results.”
It wasn’t long before Girardi took control of the game. He got Whitecaps speedster Adam Magpoc to lead off the contest by striking out, and he worked around a Brendan Lawson single by getting Brody DeLamielleure and Ryan Martin to fly out to end the first frame.
But Chatham’s bats couldn’t do the same against Brewster starter Brady Louck (Arizona State). He struck out two Anglers in a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. That frame continued Chatham’s offensive futility, extending its streak to 21 consecutive batters retired dating back to the fourth inning of its 9-0 loss to Wareham on July 29.
Fortunately for the A’s, Girardi got the best of Louck in the second. He struck out two Whitecaps in a 1-2-3 top of the second, while Roman Martin (UCLA) led off the bottom of the frame by lining a single into center.
When Isaiah Lane (San Diego) scored Martin by blooping a single into right, the Veterans Field crowd erupted in cheers, overjoyed at any sign of life in the A’s bats. It had been 12 innings since the Anglers had scored a run. It had been 19 since they held a lead.
“They were loose, and they were having fun,” Cook said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to get them to do all year.”
Chase Fralick (pictured, center) celebrates on the field with his Anglers teammates after hitting an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning against Brewster, which clinched a run-rule victory for Chatham. Photograph by Ella Tovey
Those exaltations only intensified a few batters later. Jake Hanley (Indiana) moved Lane to third with a single into right, and a walk to Cade Arrambide (LSU) put ducks on the pond for Jackson Freeman (Northwestern).
Freeman had been having a rough go of it as of late. The East Division’s starting right fielder in the Cape League All-Star Game entered Wednesday with a .376 OPS in the previous week. He had fallen far from the near-1.000 OPS hitter he was on July 4.
But that version of Freeman briefly reappeared against Brewster. After working a full count, he laced a single into right, driving in both Lane and Hanley to extend Chatham’s lead to 3-0. Arrambide extended Chatham’s advantage to four soon after, as he scampered home due to an ill-advised throw by Brewster backstop Jacob Jarrell on an A’s double steal.
Jackson followed with a walk, and Fralick cleared the bases by crushing a double into left. Martin — who led off the frame with a single — put the cherry on top of Chatham’s offensive reawakening, driving in Fralick to make it 7-0 Anglers by the time the third rolled around.
“(They) competed hard every at bat, and we had guys with multiple hits,” Cook said. “I’m happy for them.”
With a fresh cushion to work with, the third was smooth sailing for Girardi, who struck out one Whitecap to work around a Lawson single. But the fourth was a little rockier, as he loaded the bases for Jarrell with two outs on the board.
Jackson came out to the mound before Jarrell’s at-bat, hoping to give Girardi a chance to reset. The game slowed down. It became a duel between the Chatham starter and the Brewster catcher, and Girardi wasn’t going to lose.
“(Jackson) said, ‘Just take a deep breath, I’m just giving you some time. Go attack him, and get strike one,’” Girardi said.
He got Jarrell to ground out back to him, escaping the fourth unscathed. In the following frame, he erased an early walk by getting Lawson to line out into a double play, concluding his start with five shutout innings.
“I’d say my changeup (worked especially well),” Girardi said. “With that, I could play it off the fastball, curveball. Just kind of everything off the changeup today.”
The effectiveness of Cook’s decision to move to an “MLB-style” rotation is up for debate. On one hand, Chatham had won just two of its seven games since he declared he was making the change. On the other hand, it led to the emergence of Smith, Stone and Jones as legitimate starting options for the Anglers.
But with their backs against the wall — a Chatham loss and an Orleans win would’ve ended its postseason hopes — the Anglers saw heightened success when Cook departed from that strategy.
It took him six games to break from that strategy.
Over the past week, he had accomplished his goal of constructing a stable rotation, alternating between Duke Stone (Mississippi State), Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma), Kaden Smith (USF), Jacob Turner (Bowling Green) and Charlie Foster (Mississippi State) to open Chatham’s contests. But facing Harwich on July 24, Foster gave up six runs across two frames in what proved to be the final start of his summer in Chatham.
The Anglers initially got away with not adjusting their rotation in the wake of Foster’s departure, as his turn in the rotation hadn’t come up. But Wednesday, he was due.
With Chatham potentially facing elimination, the stakes couldn’t have been clearer. And just days before the A’s faced Brewster, Cook scrambled to find a starter.
Ultimately, he landed on Will Girardi (Dallas Baptist), who was utterly dominant in the first start of his Cape Cod Baseball League career. Girardi blanked the Whitecaps (19-16-1, East) across five shutout innings, and thanks to Chatham’s (15-18-3, East) seven-run outburst in the second inning, the A’s coasted to a 10-0 eight-inning run-rule victory to stave off elimination from CCBL postseason contention. However, after Orleans’ 2-1 walk-off win over Yarmouth-Dennis Wednesday, the Anglers are now six points behind Brewster for the East Division's No. 4 seed.
A Brewster win and a Chatham loss would eliminate the Anglers from the playoffs.
“I honestly don’t even look at (the standings),” Cook said. “I just want them to play hard, compete hard … After that, we live with the results.”
It wasn’t long before Girardi took control of the game. He got Whitecaps speedster Adam Magpoc to lead off the contest by striking out, and he worked around a Brendan Lawson single by getting Brody DeLamielleure and Ryan Martin to fly out to end the first frame.
But Chatham’s bats couldn’t do the same against Brewster starter Brady Louck (Arizona State). He struck out two Anglers in a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. That frame continued Chatham’s offensive futility, extending its streak to 21 consecutive batters retired dating back to the fourth inning of its 9-0 loss to Wareham on July 29.
Fortunately for the A’s, Girardi got the best of Louck in the second. He struck out two Whitecaps in a 1-2-3 top of the second, while Roman Martin (UCLA) led off the bottom of the frame by lining a single into center.
When Isaiah Lane (San Diego) scored Martin by blooping a single into right, the Veterans Field crowd erupted in cheers, overjoyed at any sign of life in the A’s bats. It had been 12 innings since the Anglers had scored a run. It had been 19 since they held a lead.
“They were loose, and they were having fun,” Cook said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to get them to do all year.”
Chase Fralick (pictured, center) celebrates on the field with his Anglers teammates after hitting an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning against Brewster, which clinched a run-rule victory for Chatham. Photograph by Ella Tovey
Those exaltations only intensified a few batters later. Jake Hanley (Indiana) moved Lane to third with a single into right, and a walk to Cade Arrambide (LSU) put ducks on the pond for Jackson Freeman (Northwestern).
Freeman had been having a rough go of it as of late. The East Division’s starting right fielder in the Cape League All-Star Game entered Wednesday with a .376 OPS in the previous week. He had fallen far from the near-1.000 OPS hitter he was on July 4.
But that version of Freeman briefly reappeared against Brewster. After working a full count, he laced a single into right, driving in both Lane and Hanley to extend Chatham’s lead to 3-0. Arrambide extended Chatham’s advantage to four soon after, as he scampered home due to an ill-advised throw by Brewster backstop Jacob Jarrell on an A’s double steal.
Jackson followed with a walk, and Fralick cleared the bases by crushing a double into left. Martin — who led off the frame with a single — put the cherry on top of Chatham’s offensive reawakening, driving in Fralick to make it 7-0 Anglers by the time the third rolled around.
“(They) competed hard every at bat, and we had guys with multiple hits,” Cook said. “I’m happy for them.”
With a fresh cushion to work with, the third was smooth sailing for Girardi, who struck out one Whitecap to work around a Lawson single. But the fourth was a little rockier, as he loaded the bases for Jarrell with two outs on the board.
Jackson came out to the mound before Jarrell’s at-bat, hoping to give Girardi a chance to reset. The game slowed down. It became a duel between the Chatham starter and the Brewster catcher, and Girardi wasn’t going to lose.
“(Jackson) said, ‘Just take a deep breath, I’m just giving you some time. Go attack him, and get strike one,’” Girardi said.
He got Jarrell to ground out back to him, escaping the fourth unscathed. In the following frame, he erased an early walk by getting Lawson to line out into a double play, concluding his start with five shutout innings.
“I’d say my changeup (worked especially well),” Girardi said. “With that, I could play it off the fastball, curveball. Just kind of everything off the changeup today.”
The effectiveness of Cook’s decision to move to an “MLB-style” rotation is up for debate. On one hand, Chatham had won just two of its seven games since he declared he was making the change. On the other hand, it led to the emergence of Smith, Stone and Jones as legitimate starting options for the Anglers.
But with their backs against the wall — a Chatham loss and an Orleans win would’ve ended its postseason hopes — the Anglers saw heightened success when Cook departed from that strategy.
