June 19 for June 18 Update

I went to a rainy Wareham on Thursday night where they were trying hard to get the game between Wareham and Harwich in at all costs.

It wasn't a comfortable situation, and there were only about 100 people at Spillane Field, but the field was in good shape and they played through a steady rain. Wareham cruised to a 7-0 win.

Left-handed starter Eric Pfisterer from Duke had his second consecutive stellar start of the season for the Gatemen. He was taken out after the seventh inning with a no-hitter going, having faced only one hitter past the minimum. Pfisterer throws three good pitches, hits his spots and mixes his pitches well, but last night was yet another situation where a good but not outstanding starter simply outperformed his stuff. If he is able to continue his success over the course of the season I will take greater notice, but for now I'm not sure he will.

Shortstop Derek Dietrich from Georgia Tech put on a show again for Wareham. The left-handed hitter took the first pitch he saw, an outside fastball, way over the fence in left field, then turned on an inside fastball and cranked a home run to right in his second at-bat. He finished 3-for-5. Dietrich has a very smooth stroke, and the ball just flies off his bat when he connects. He moves well in the field and has a Major League-caliber arm. I have now seen each team in the league at least once, and while there are plenty of big-time players still scheduled to arrive, Dietrich is by far the most impressive prospect playing on the Cape so far.

A few other Wareham hitters put on a power display during batting practice. George Springer from UConn hit a couple balls into the bleachers beyond the leftfield fence but then struggled against breaking pitches during the game. Jake Lemmerman from Duke swung hard and hit a couple bombs during BP. Ryan LaMarre from Michigan has a smooth stroke and some pop, and Alex Dickerson from Indiana hit some majestic moon shots with his powerful, slightly uppercut swing.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Chatham 2 Bourne 0: Right-handed starter Mike Dennhardt from Boston College allowed just one hit over eight innings pitched for Chatham.

Hyannis 13 Falmouth 5: Designated hitter Cody Hawn from Tennessee hit a grand slam and went 2-for-5 for Hyannis. Second baseman Nick Crawford from UAB and third baseman Dustin Harrington from East Carolina each had two hits for Hyannis. First baseman Ryan Cuneo from Delaware and Hyannis and designated hitter Murray Watts from Arkansas State and Falmouth each hit home runs.

Orleans 6 Cotuit 1: Left-handed starter Rob Rasmussen from UCLA allowed one unearned run on two hits in six innings for Orleans. He struck out 10 and walked 1. First baseman Jaren Matthews from Rutgers and centerfielder Kevin Muno from the University of San Diego each had two hits for Orleans.

Brewster 4 Y-D 1: Brewster scored four runs in the ninth inning to spoil another strong start by Y-D left-handed starter Chris Sale from Florida Gulf Coast. Sale allowed two hits over eight shutout innings and struck out 12. Right-handed starter Sean Hoelscher from Texas Christian allowed two hits and struck out eight in 6.2 innings for Brewster.