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Game 29 Preview: Chatham vs. Hyannis
CHATHAM, Mass. — It’s been just five days since Chatham last squared off against Hyannis, and a lot has happened for the A’s in that span.
First and foremost, the Anglers’ season-worst five-game losing streak was snapped with an emphatic walk-off home run from Junior Lauaki (Georgia). Then, the A’s continued to avoid a loss by walking out of Brewster’s Stony Brook Field with a tie under their belt. And finally, Chatham saw five players represented in the rain-shortened Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, with Angel Cervantes (UCLA) getting the start for the East Division.
Now, with the All-Star break in the rearview mirror, Chatham hosts the Harbor Hawks, albeit in a much better position than it was five days ago. Here’s everything to know before Chatham (11-14-3, East) hosts Hyannis (13-15, West) Monday.
Kaysen Raineri (Texas Tech) is next in the line of bullpen arms to make a start for Chatham. He’s slated to make his first of the campaign for the Anglers Monday. The right-hander has made just one appearance thus far, but was lights-out, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six.
Michael Meckna (Oregon) has appeared in two games for the Harbor Hawks, started both, and picked up the loss in both of those outings as well. Chatham hopes to continue that trend Monday. He’s only tossed five innings so far, but given up four runs in his outings for a 7.20 earned run average. Meckna has also walked five batters to six strikeouts, leading to a subpar 2.00 WHIP on the season.
Anglers fans won’t be thrilled to see Charlie Bates (Stanford) Monday. The Hyannis shortstop leads qualified Harbor Hawks with a .745 OPS, and he gave the A’s plenty of trouble when these squads last faced off. Bates scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly, and he drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth by lining a double into left, setting up the A’s 6-2 loss at McKeon Park.
And Chatham fans probably won’t want to see Jax Gimenez (Oregon) at Veterans Field, either. He hasn’t had the best summer thus far, with a .224 average and a .589 OPS, but he saved his best game of the season for Chatham. He was the one who drove Bates in with a sacrifice fly in the third. He drove Bates in again in the eighth, this time with a two-run homer that sealed Hyannis’ win over the Anglers.
Junior Lauaki (Georgia) laid bare his power for everyone to see Saturday, when he participated in the Cape League’s Home Run Hitting Contest. He didn’t make it out of the first round, but he gave Falmouth’s Ben Slanker everything he could handle, hitting six homers and forcing a double tiebreaker to decide who would move on. He’ll have a chance to display that power again at Veterans Field Monday.
If fans keep their eyes on Lauaki, they can see the future of Georgia baseball live in action. If fans keep their eyes on Ty Peeples (Florida State), they can see the past of Georgia baseball live in action, as the former Bulldog has been getting stronger and stronger as the summer has gone on. He’s appeared in four games over the past week, taking 12 at bats, and hit for a .333 batting average and a .833 OPS in that span — marks that rank first and second among the A’s.
The Cape’s worst batting average now officially belongs to the Chatham Anglers. The A’s currently sit at a .214 mark through 28 games this summer, just a few points behind Wareham (.216) and Hyannis (.217) for dead-last.
It’s a particularly recent development, and one that has been accelerated by Chatham’s underperformance at the plate as of late. In the A’s four games over the past week, they have hit for a .172 mark, which is last in the CCBL by 18 points in that span.\
As previously mentioned, it wasn’t long ago that Chatham last faced off against Hyannis. The Anglers entered McKeon Park riding a four-game losing streak on July 15, and they left McKeon Park having added a fifth loss to their dubious streak.
The A’s got off to a strong start, beginning the game by scoring two runs in the top of the first, and maintaining that early lead all the way through the top of the eighth, thanks to a strong five-inning outing from starter Jack Gleason (Mississippi State). But when the Harbor Hawks came up in the bottom of the eighth, they blew the game open with five runs to retake the lead, handing Chatham a 6-2 road loss.
First and foremost, the Anglers’ season-worst five-game losing streak was snapped with an emphatic walk-off home run from Junior Lauaki (Georgia). Then, the A’s continued to avoid a loss by walking out of Brewster’s Stony Brook Field with a tie under their belt. And finally, Chatham saw five players represented in the rain-shortened Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, with Angel Cervantes (UCLA) getting the start for the East Division.
Now, with the All-Star break in the rearview mirror, Chatham hosts the Harbor Hawks, albeit in a much better position than it was five days ago. Here’s everything to know before Chatham (11-14-3, East) hosts Hyannis (13-15, West) Monday.
Probable Starters
Kaysen Raineri (Texas Tech) is next in the line of bullpen arms to make a start for Chatham. He’s slated to make his first of the campaign for the Anglers Monday. The right-hander has made just one appearance thus far, but was lights-out, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six.
Michael Meckna (Oregon) has appeared in two games for the Harbor Hawks, started both, and picked up the loss in both of those outings as well. Chatham hopes to continue that trend Monday. He’s only tossed five innings so far, but given up four runs in his outings for a 7.20 earned run average. Meckna has also walked five batters to six strikeouts, leading to a subpar 2.00 WHIP on the season.
Hyannis Players To Watch
Anglers fans won’t be thrilled to see Charlie Bates (Stanford) Monday. The Hyannis shortstop leads qualified Harbor Hawks with a .745 OPS, and he gave the A’s plenty of trouble when these squads last faced off. Bates scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly, and he drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth by lining a double into left, setting up the A’s 6-2 loss at McKeon Park.
And Chatham fans probably won’t want to see Jax Gimenez (Oregon) at Veterans Field, either. He hasn’t had the best summer thus far, with a .224 average and a .589 OPS, but he saved his best game of the season for Chatham. He was the one who drove Bates in with a sacrifice fly in the third. He drove Bates in again in the eighth, this time with a two-run homer that sealed Hyannis’ win over the Anglers.
Chatham Players To Watch
Junior Lauaki (Georgia) laid bare his power for everyone to see Saturday, when he participated in the Cape League’s Home Run Hitting Contest. He didn’t make it out of the first round, but he gave Falmouth’s Ben Slanker everything he could handle, hitting six homers and forcing a double tiebreaker to decide who would move on. He’ll have a chance to display that power again at Veterans Field Monday.
If fans keep their eyes on Lauaki, they can see the future of Georgia baseball live in action. If fans keep their eyes on Ty Peeples (Florida State), they can see the past of Georgia baseball live in action, as the former Bulldog has been getting stronger and stronger as the summer has gone on. He’s appeared in four games over the past week, taking 12 at bats, and hit for a .333 batting average and a .833 OPS in that span — marks that rank first and second among the A’s.
Number To Know: .214
The Cape’s worst batting average now officially belongs to the Chatham Anglers. The A’s currently sit at a .214 mark through 28 games this summer, just a few points behind Wareham (.216) and Hyannis (.217) for dead-last.
It’s a particularly recent development, and one that has been accelerated by Chatham’s underperformance at the plate as of late. In the A’s four games over the past week, they have hit for a .172 mark, which is last in the CCBL by 18 points in that span.\
Last Time They Played
As previously mentioned, it wasn’t long ago that Chatham last faced off against Hyannis. The Anglers entered McKeon Park riding a four-game losing streak on July 15, and they left McKeon Park having added a fifth loss to their dubious streak.
The A’s got off to a strong start, beginning the game by scoring two runs in the top of the first, and maintaining that early lead all the way through the top of the eighth, thanks to a strong five-inning outing from starter Jack Gleason (Mississippi State). But when the Harbor Hawks came up in the bottom of the eighth, they blew the game open with five runs to retake the lead, handing Chatham a 6-2 road loss.
