June 21 for June 20 Update

I went to Hyannis on Saturday to see Hyannis play Cotuit at Mckeon Park. There were two major league scouts in attendance and Hyannis won 4-2 in an incredibly sloppy game during which Cotuit made five errors.

Even though he was outdueled by Hyannis' Cole Johnson and became a victim of the bad defense, Cotuit's right-handed starter Justin Grimm from Georgia was the best pitcher last night. Grimm has good size and an athletic build at 6'4 195. He has a sort of jerky motion that has a lot of parts to it, and he had a tendency to speed up his arm and overthrow early in the game. Once he settled in and found more consistency in his mechanics he was very good. His fastball sat in the 92-93 mph range, and he threw a very good curveball with nice overhand break that he could throw for strikes. He also showed a good changeup.

Johnson from Notre Dame had a good start, allowing one run on three hits in seven innings, but his stuff didn't impress me as much as it did when I saw him throw an inning in an exhibition game a week and a half ago. He has a smooth motion and good loose arm action as he simply rocks back and fires. His fastball velocity was inconsistent, coming in anywhere between 85 and 90. He threw a 71-72 mph curveball and an 80 mph slider with similar, spinning movement. Neither pitch was outstanding but they complimented each other well and he got outs with them. He also floated in an occasional changeup.

Cotuit first baseman Kevin Patterson from Auburn turned on an inside fastball to hit his second home run of the season Saturday. Patterson has a big, powerful body at 6'4" 220, and he has some serious pop. He swings hard every time, but he's really cut down on his strikeouts so far this season after whiffing far too often when he played for Cotuit last summer (47 times in 152 at-bats). Patterson did struggle in the field, as he had trouble handling a couple of low throws and overran a pop up that landed foul.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Orleans 8 Brewster 2: Matt Koch from Loyola Marymount hit a pinch-hit grand slam for Orleans and left fielder Kevin Muno from the University of San Diego went 3-for-5. Mark Canha from Cal-Berkeley hit his league-leading third home run of the season for Brewster.

Chatham 4 Harwich 3: Catcher Mike Murray from Wake Forest went 3-for-5 and hit a walk-off single for Chatham. Rightfielder Keenan Wiley from Kentucky went 4-for-5 for Harwich.

Falmouth 5 Wareham 0: Right-handed starter Nick Tepesch from Missouri allowed just two hits over six innings pitched for Falmouth. First baseman Murray Watts from Arkansas State went 2-for-4 with a home run.

Bourne 8-Y-D 2: Designated hitter Kyle Roller from East Carolina, Oakland's 47th round draft pick, went 4-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI for Bourne. Left fielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech had a difficult to achieve 4-0-4-0 statline for Yarmouth-Dennis.