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Chatham gets eliminated from 2025 playoffs after falling to Falmouth 4-3
FALMOUTH, Mass. — In the wake of Chatham’s 4-3 loss to Falmouth Thursday, Dennis Cook could only beam with pride when speaking on Duke Stone and Josh Swink, the two junkyard dogs of his pitching staff.
Stone (Mississippi State) and Swink (Liberty) are two of three pitchers who have been in Chatham since the start of the 2025 season. If Cook’s been outspoken about anything in his first year in the manager’s chair, it’s his vehement disdain for players who leave early. He understands if there’s an injury or coach-mandated-return home, but he expects all others to stay the full year.
On Thursday, Stone and Swink served as evidence to support Cook’s claims about the benefits of sticking it out a whole summer.
Stone, in his fourth start and ninth appearance of the season, twirled 6.0 scoreless frames while striking out eight. And even though Swink didn’t have his best stuff, allowing four runs in the bottom of the eighth — which Cook called Swink’s “only bad outing” — it capped off the lefty’s stellar Cape League All-Star campaign which earned his skipper’s respect.
“They made a commitment. They stuck to their commitment. So that speaks volumes about the kids,” Cook said of Stone and Swink. “They’ll have an opportunity to come back next summer if they want to.”
The two are the epitome of the ideal player Cook wants to recruit year in and year out as the Anglers’ manager.
He hopes the next crop of them results in more wins, though.
Chatham (15-19-3, East) was eliminated from Cape Cod Baseball League playoff contention after losing to Falmouth (15-21-1, West) 4-3 Thursday at Guv Fuller Field. On a night where the A’s cruised for most of the game off the right arm of Stone, their lack of offense down the stretch came back to bite them. The Anglers scored zero runs past the third inning.
The game was lost when Swink allowed four earned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving up three hits and six baserunners in the frame.
“We still love him,” Cook said with a smile.
Because of Brewster’s 7-1 win over Wareham Thursday, the Anglers trail by eight points with three regular-season games left. It is impossible for them to make the playoffs; their season will end on August 3.
The A’s entered Thursday’s road bout against Falmouth rostering six of their day-one players: two pitchers and four position players. They’re down to just nine true position players, with left-handed pitcher Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma) getting selected by Cook as an emergency bat during these trying times. Add desperately fighting for a playoff spot to the long list of things working against the A’s in the final few days of the regular season.
Yet, you would’ve thought the group residing in the visitor’s dugout at Guv Fuller Field had been together the entire summer. The Anglers were raucous early, bellowing screams of encouragement that pierced the brisk Falmouth air and eagerly swarming together to break down each new pitcher’s arsenal.
Between Wednesday night’s finish, where Chase Fralick (Auburn) earned a walk-off-esque reception after his RBI single to clinch Chatham’s 10-0 win over Brewster in eight innings, and how Thursday’s game began — a third-inning 3-0 A’s lead courtesy of three straight RBI singles — the Anglers were riding as high as they have all year.
But fast forward to Thursday’s aftermath, as Chatham reeled after Falmouth took the lead late with Swink on the mound, and all the rhythm the A’s generated was washed away.
Regardless of the season’s outcome, Stone’s development is something Cook can take pride in. The 6-foot-5 SEC right-hander entered the Cape following an up and down freshman year at Mississippi State. His summer in Chatham has brought its own peaks and valleys. He started the year as one of the Anglers’ best bullpen arms, then moved to the rotation, where he went from tossing a six-inning shutout to getting pulled midway into the fourth of another start.
Duke Stone (Mississippi State), one of two Chatham pitchers remaining from the A's Opening Day roster, was dominant across six shutout innings in their 4-3 loss to Falmouth. Photograph by Ella Tovey
But in what could’ve been his last start of the season, Stone was dominant, mowing down the Commodores’ order for six scoreless frames. In the first five alone, he only surrendered one hit. He often worked his fastball high and tight early in counts and induced two-strike whiffs with his changeup and curveball. Stone didn’t walk a soul and only gave up two hits all night.
It’s clear Stone’s improved his stock just as much, if not more, than anyone else on Chatham this summer. He’s now logged 26.0 innings pitched and struck out 33 while only walking six — along with his elite size, what’s there not to like about him?
Cook has stated he cares more about how his players progress throughout the year than how the standings are aligned at the end of the season. He got to see the best of both words Thursday, with players from the Anglers’ new and original roster paying major dividends.
Chatham unleashed a flurry on Falmouth starter Laif Palmer in the third, kickstarted by Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) wearing a hit-by-pitch and a walk taken by Daniel Jackson (Georgia). The A’s methodically picked apart the Commodores in the inning, as Roman Martin (UCLA), Isaiah Lane (San Diego) and Trace Mazon (Coastal Carolina) belted successive RBI singles to give Stone a heaping plate of help a few frames in.
From there, Stone feasted off the Anglers’ early offensive foundation and made life miserable for Commodore hitters. He was fittingly replaced by his fellow day-one-rostered hurler in Swink.
However, by the time the Liberty righty left the bump after the bottom of the eighth, Chatham’s advantage was gone.
Swink loaded the bases by issuing two walks and a hit by pitch, then let in two runs off an RBI bunt single from Morales and a one-run 4-3 groundout to Carl Schmidt. Schmidt’s brother, Kent, stepped to the plate with two outs in the eighth and smacked an infield single that brought home a third run, tying the game at 3-3. One at-bat later, Falmouth’s Gavin Greger roped an RBI base knock into shallow left field.
Chatham pitching coach Jay Powell subbed out Swink after that, and as the reliever exited the diamond at Guv Fuller Field, the Anglers’ playoff pipe dream went with him.
But Cook was more focused on what Swink had shown previously — that he was indeed a big-time Division I long reliever — instead of the fact that Chatham’s season now has an expiration date.
“Of course we’d like to win a little bit more,” Cook said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about sending them back to school better than they came. And I think we’ve done that.”
Stone (Mississippi State) and Swink (Liberty) are two of three pitchers who have been in Chatham since the start of the 2025 season. If Cook’s been outspoken about anything in his first year in the manager’s chair, it’s his vehement disdain for players who leave early. He understands if there’s an injury or coach-mandated-return home, but he expects all others to stay the full year.
On Thursday, Stone and Swink served as evidence to support Cook’s claims about the benefits of sticking it out a whole summer.
Stone, in his fourth start and ninth appearance of the season, twirled 6.0 scoreless frames while striking out eight. And even though Swink didn’t have his best stuff, allowing four runs in the bottom of the eighth — which Cook called Swink’s “only bad outing” — it capped off the lefty’s stellar Cape League All-Star campaign which earned his skipper’s respect.
“They made a commitment. They stuck to their commitment. So that speaks volumes about the kids,” Cook said of Stone and Swink. “They’ll have an opportunity to come back next summer if they want to.”
The two are the epitome of the ideal player Cook wants to recruit year in and year out as the Anglers’ manager.
He hopes the next crop of them results in more wins, though.
Chatham (15-19-3, East) was eliminated from Cape Cod Baseball League playoff contention after losing to Falmouth (15-21-1, West) 4-3 Thursday at Guv Fuller Field. On a night where the A’s cruised for most of the game off the right arm of Stone, their lack of offense down the stretch came back to bite them. The Anglers scored zero runs past the third inning.
The game was lost when Swink allowed four earned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving up three hits and six baserunners in the frame.
“We still love him,” Cook said with a smile.
Because of Brewster’s 7-1 win over Wareham Thursday, the Anglers trail by eight points with three regular-season games left. It is impossible for them to make the playoffs; their season will end on August 3.
The A’s entered Thursday’s road bout against Falmouth rostering six of their day-one players: two pitchers and four position players. They’re down to just nine true position players, with left-handed pitcher Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma) getting selected by Cook as an emergency bat during these trying times. Add desperately fighting for a playoff spot to the long list of things working against the A’s in the final few days of the regular season.
Yet, you would’ve thought the group residing in the visitor’s dugout at Guv Fuller Field had been together the entire summer. The Anglers were raucous early, bellowing screams of encouragement that pierced the brisk Falmouth air and eagerly swarming together to break down each new pitcher’s arsenal.
Between Wednesday night’s finish, where Chase Fralick (Auburn) earned a walk-off-esque reception after his RBI single to clinch Chatham’s 10-0 win over Brewster in eight innings, and how Thursday’s game began — a third-inning 3-0 A’s lead courtesy of three straight RBI singles — the Anglers were riding as high as they have all year.
But fast forward to Thursday’s aftermath, as Chatham reeled after Falmouth took the lead late with Swink on the mound, and all the rhythm the A’s generated was washed away.
Regardless of the season’s outcome, Stone’s development is something Cook can take pride in. The 6-foot-5 SEC right-hander entered the Cape following an up and down freshman year at Mississippi State. His summer in Chatham has brought its own peaks and valleys. He started the year as one of the Anglers’ best bullpen arms, then moved to the rotation, where he went from tossing a six-inning shutout to getting pulled midway into the fourth of another start.
Duke Stone (Mississippi State), one of two Chatham pitchers remaining from the A's Opening Day roster, was dominant across six shutout innings in their 4-3 loss to Falmouth. Photograph by Ella Tovey
But in what could’ve been his last start of the season, Stone was dominant, mowing down the Commodores’ order for six scoreless frames. In the first five alone, he only surrendered one hit. He often worked his fastball high and tight early in counts and induced two-strike whiffs with his changeup and curveball. Stone didn’t walk a soul and only gave up two hits all night.
It’s clear Stone’s improved his stock just as much, if not more, than anyone else on Chatham this summer. He’s now logged 26.0 innings pitched and struck out 33 while only walking six — along with his elite size, what’s there not to like about him?
Cook has stated he cares more about how his players progress throughout the year than how the standings are aligned at the end of the season. He got to see the best of both words Thursday, with players from the Anglers’ new and original roster paying major dividends.
Chatham unleashed a flurry on Falmouth starter Laif Palmer in the third, kickstarted by Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) wearing a hit-by-pitch and a walk taken by Daniel Jackson (Georgia). The A’s methodically picked apart the Commodores in the inning, as Roman Martin (UCLA), Isaiah Lane (San Diego) and Trace Mazon (Coastal Carolina) belted successive RBI singles to give Stone a heaping plate of help a few frames in.
From there, Stone feasted off the Anglers’ early offensive foundation and made life miserable for Commodore hitters. He was fittingly replaced by his fellow day-one-rostered hurler in Swink.
However, by the time the Liberty righty left the bump after the bottom of the eighth, Chatham’s advantage was gone.
Swink loaded the bases by issuing two walks and a hit by pitch, then let in two runs off an RBI bunt single from Morales and a one-run 4-3 groundout to Carl Schmidt. Schmidt’s brother, Kent, stepped to the plate with two outs in the eighth and smacked an infield single that brought home a third run, tying the game at 3-3. One at-bat later, Falmouth’s Gavin Greger roped an RBI base knock into shallow left field.
Chatham pitching coach Jay Powell subbed out Swink after that, and as the reliever exited the diamond at Guv Fuller Field, the Anglers’ playoff pipe dream went with him.
But Cook was more focused on what Swink had shown previously — that he was indeed a big-time Division I long reliever — instead of the fact that Chatham’s season now has an expiration date.
“Of course we’d like to win a little bit more,” Cook said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about sending them back to school better than they came. And I think we’ve done that.”
