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Bino Watters’ 4-RBI day powers Chatham to 4-1 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass. — Jay Powell doesn’t want to take any sort of credit. The Anglers’ acting manager isn’t the one swinging the bat out there, and he isn’t the one who gave Bino Watters the preternatural talents at the plate that have led the LSU commit to all the success he’s had. It’s not right for him to toot his own horn about it, so he won’t.
“Yeah, it was all my doing,” Powell sarcastically joked as he stood on Yarmouth-Dennis’ Red Wilson Field Sunday evening, grinning while he discussed Watters’ performance.
But Powell did do something. Against Harwich Saturday, Powell gave Watters an off-day, something the A’s have rarely, if ever, done since Watters brought himself to the Cape. It was scheduled after Chatham clinched its playoff spot with a 9-0 win over Brewster. Watters had played a lot this past spring at Notre Dame, and he’s played a lot more in Chatham, currently leading the Anglers with 35 games played and 132 at bats.
So, he wanted to give his star outfielder a breather. Before that contest against Harwich, Powell told Watters that — unless someone got injured — he wouldn’t be pinch-hitting. He didn’t even want to see the outfielder in cleats. He wanted Watters to take batting practice, clear his mind, and use the rest of the game to reset.
“He needs it,” Powell said postgame Saturday. “He needs a day to just kind of recover.”
Whether or not it had a direct effect on Watters’ performance is another thing. Powell’s stance on it: “No, it was just a planned off-day.” Watters’ rebuttal: “Yeah, absolutely.” It’s cliché to say numbers don’t lie, but clichés are clichés because they’re universal maxims. And if one were to consult the numbers — two doubles, four RBIs — for their take after Chatham’s (19-18-3, East) 4-1 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis (28-11-1, East), it’s easy to imagine they’d agree with Watters.
“I think five games in three days is a lot of baseball,” Watters said postgame Sunday. “So, our coaches did a great job navigating my body. They've done great all summer, looking out for me.”
Yes, that is correct. Five games in three days, as Watters mentions, is a lot of baseball.
The final two were contested Sunday. First, the A’s trekked to Lowell Park, where they shutout the Kettleers for a 2-0 victory behind Brady Coe’s (Houston) five-inning effort. Then, the Anglers made their way to Red Wilson Field, where they defeated the Red Sox 4-1 to end their season on a three-game win streak.
But in between those events, Watters and the rest of the Anglers reset with a trip to Domino’s, as well as a gas station run in South Dennis. If one was observant enough, they could’ve even spotted A’s righty Angel Cervantes (UCLA) standing outside the Seasons Corner Market just a few hours before the game as they passed through Dennis.
“(It was) pretty crazy,” Watters said postgame, referring to the A’s rapid turnaround. “We spent some time in a gas station, and tried to chill out and get off our feet as much as possible.”
Bino Watters (left) chats with two of his Angler teammates during Chatham's 4-1 win over Yarmouth-Dennis. Watters had Domino's and spent time in a gas station between games of the A's doubleheader, bonding with his teammates. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
The action of “chilling out,” as Watters aptly put it, has been a crucial point of emphasis for the Anglers. The pregame Pepper games have been discussed to death amid this hot stretch for Chatham, where it ended the regular season winning eight of its last nine games. Having fun has been a common refrain for the A’s this summer, and that’s what Watters was able to do with his off-day against Harwich.
The outfielder said it allowed him to view the game through a different lens. “Playing every day is important to me,” Watters said postgame, “but also resting my body, and making sure I'm able to go out and perform my best every day is something I value.”
He wasn’t at his best against Cotuit in the first leg of Chatham’s Sunday doubleheader, and the 0-for-3 day reflected that. But in the second leg, fully well-rested and fueled by the culinary stylings of Domino’s Pizza, he was certainly at his best in Chatham’s win over Yarmouth-Dennis.
Scott Pickler, Y-D’s manager, tossed seven pitchers in seven innings against the A’s — “I mean, it's just different ways of doing it, I guess,” said Powell, who utilized two — but he still couldn’t find a way to shut down Watters entirely.
Watters blasted two doubles against Y-D, one in the second and one in the seventh, and the plays felt identical. Both hits probably would’ve been out of the park a summer ago, before the Red Sox moved their fences back. Both hits came off a righty, with Tyler Howe (North Carolina) and Aidan Eshelman (UTSA) on base. Both were hard-hit fly balls that soared over Brock Ketelsen’s (Stanford) head in center field, hitting off the wall the exact same way in the exact same spot, driving in exactly two runs.
That was the entirety of Chatham’s scoring output Sunday. It was all the A’s needed, thanks to the efforts of Austin Shirley (UT Arlington) and Derek Desarnais (Tufts) on the mound.
“I've told all these guys, ‘If you throw strikes and land a secondary pitch, you can get outs,’” Powell said. “And that's exactly what both of those guys did.”
But their debuts, as strong as they were, were overshadowed by Watters’ performance. A batter notching two doubles and four runs batted in tends to have that effect. Powell loves Watters. He’s a Mississippi State alum — in the university’s Hall of Fame, too — and he hates to give credit to an SEC rival’s players, especially LSU, almost as much as he hates taking credit for their success. This is the same feeling he had last summer, when he watched Georgia’s Daniel Jackson lead the A’s in virtually every offensive category.
You know how that story ends: 32 homers, 26 steals, a Golden Spikes Award, etc.
Powell thinks he knows how this one will end, too.
“I look at what Daniel Jackson did up here last year, and how I really think it kind of translated into what he did with Georgia,” Powell said postgame, reflecting on Watters’ summer. “And I think he's gonna be the same type of player.”
“Yeah, it was all my doing,” Powell sarcastically joked as he stood on Yarmouth-Dennis’ Red Wilson Field Sunday evening, grinning while he discussed Watters’ performance.
But Powell did do something. Against Harwich Saturday, Powell gave Watters an off-day, something the A’s have rarely, if ever, done since Watters brought himself to the Cape. It was scheduled after Chatham clinched its playoff spot with a 9-0 win over Brewster. Watters had played a lot this past spring at Notre Dame, and he’s played a lot more in Chatham, currently leading the Anglers with 35 games played and 132 at bats.
So, he wanted to give his star outfielder a breather. Before that contest against Harwich, Powell told Watters that — unless someone got injured — he wouldn’t be pinch-hitting. He didn’t even want to see the outfielder in cleats. He wanted Watters to take batting practice, clear his mind, and use the rest of the game to reset.
“He needs it,” Powell said postgame Saturday. “He needs a day to just kind of recover.”
Whether or not it had a direct effect on Watters’ performance is another thing. Powell’s stance on it: “No, it was just a planned off-day.” Watters’ rebuttal: “Yeah, absolutely.” It’s cliché to say numbers don’t lie, but clichés are clichés because they’re universal maxims. And if one were to consult the numbers — two doubles, four RBIs — for their take after Chatham’s (19-18-3, East) 4-1 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis (28-11-1, East), it’s easy to imagine they’d agree with Watters.
“I think five games in three days is a lot of baseball,” Watters said postgame Sunday. “So, our coaches did a great job navigating my body. They've done great all summer, looking out for me.”
Yes, that is correct. Five games in three days, as Watters mentions, is a lot of baseball.
The final two were contested Sunday. First, the A’s trekked to Lowell Park, where they shutout the Kettleers for a 2-0 victory behind Brady Coe’s (Houston) five-inning effort. Then, the Anglers made their way to Red Wilson Field, where they defeated the Red Sox 4-1 to end their season on a three-game win streak.
But in between those events, Watters and the rest of the Anglers reset with a trip to Domino’s, as well as a gas station run in South Dennis. If one was observant enough, they could’ve even spotted A’s righty Angel Cervantes (UCLA) standing outside the Seasons Corner Market just a few hours before the game as they passed through Dennis.
“(It was) pretty crazy,” Watters said postgame, referring to the A’s rapid turnaround. “We spent some time in a gas station, and tried to chill out and get off our feet as much as possible.”
Bino Watters (left) chats with two of his Angler teammates during Chatham's 4-1 win over Yarmouth-Dennis. Watters had Domino's and spent time in a gas station between games of the A's doubleheader, bonding with his teammates. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
The action of “chilling out,” as Watters aptly put it, has been a crucial point of emphasis for the Anglers. The pregame Pepper games have been discussed to death amid this hot stretch for Chatham, where it ended the regular season winning eight of its last nine games. Having fun has been a common refrain for the A’s this summer, and that’s what Watters was able to do with his off-day against Harwich.
The outfielder said it allowed him to view the game through a different lens. “Playing every day is important to me,” Watters said postgame, “but also resting my body, and making sure I'm able to go out and perform my best every day is something I value.”
He wasn’t at his best against Cotuit in the first leg of Chatham’s Sunday doubleheader, and the 0-for-3 day reflected that. But in the second leg, fully well-rested and fueled by the culinary stylings of Domino’s Pizza, he was certainly at his best in Chatham’s win over Yarmouth-Dennis.
Scott Pickler, Y-D’s manager, tossed seven pitchers in seven innings against the A’s — “I mean, it's just different ways of doing it, I guess,” said Powell, who utilized two — but he still couldn’t find a way to shut down Watters entirely.
Watters blasted two doubles against Y-D, one in the second and one in the seventh, and the plays felt identical. Both hits probably would’ve been out of the park a summer ago, before the Red Sox moved their fences back. Both hits came off a righty, with Tyler Howe (North Carolina) and Aidan Eshelman (UTSA) on base. Both were hard-hit fly balls that soared over Brock Ketelsen’s (Stanford) head in center field, hitting off the wall the exact same way in the exact same spot, driving in exactly two runs.
That was the entirety of Chatham’s scoring output Sunday. It was all the A’s needed, thanks to the efforts of Austin Shirley (UT Arlington) and Derek Desarnais (Tufts) on the mound.
“I've told all these guys, ‘If you throw strikes and land a secondary pitch, you can get outs,’” Powell said. “And that's exactly what both of those guys did.”
But their debuts, as strong as they were, were overshadowed by Watters’ performance. A batter notching two doubles and four runs batted in tends to have that effect. Powell loves Watters. He’s a Mississippi State alum — in the university’s Hall of Fame, too — and he hates to give credit to an SEC rival’s players, especially LSU, almost as much as he hates taking credit for their success. This is the same feeling he had last summer, when he watched Georgia’s Daniel Jackson lead the A’s in virtually every offensive category.
You know how that story ends: 32 homers, 26 steals, a Golden Spikes Award, etc.
Powell thinks he knows how this one will end, too.
“I look at what Daniel Jackson did up here last year, and how I really think it kind of translated into what he did with Georgia,” Powell said postgame, reflecting on Watters’ summer. “And I think he's gonna be the same type of player.”
