July 17 for July 16 Update

I went to Hyannis on Thursday to watch Hyannis play Brewster. The skies threatened rain during most of batting practice, but aside from a very brief drizzle in the first few innings they played the game in dry conditions.

The Major League scout total was once again near 20, and this time the best non-baseball-related conversation I overheard was about how you can't find tins of tobacco at a reasonable price anywhere on the Cape.

Hyannis won 5-1 behind a great pitching effort from right-handed starter Tyler Wilson from the University of Virginia.

Wilson was dominant Thursday, and he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He ended up going seven and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out nine. Wilson is average height for a pitcher with a thin, athletic build at 6'2" 185, but you can tell he is a really good athlete and he brings an intense, competitive presence to the mound. Wilson throws easily with good arm action. Wilson's fastball sat in the 90-91 mph range, and he had really good command working both sides of the plate Thursday. His 81-82 mph slider had tight break but was just average, and he also threw a pretty good 78 mph changeup. Wilson competes, but he needs to have command like he did Thursday to be continually effective.

Brewster left-handed starter Sean Bierman from Vanderbilt looked good until the sixth inning when he got shelled for four of the five runs he allowed. Biermann is average height with a solid build at 6'0" 200. He gets good extension and throws easily but he has stiff arm action and he falls off the mound toward third base when he throws. Biermann's fastball sat mostly in the 87-89 mph range but crept up to 90 and 91 once or twice. He would fall into lapses where he would struggle with his control. Biermann also threw an average 74-76 mph curveball with sweeping break, and he spun an 80-82 mph slider that had kind of a cutter effect but was really just a subpar slider.

Right-handed reliever Dallas Gallant from Sam Houston State showed a good arm out of the bullpen for Hyannis. He's above-average height with a thin athletic build at 6'3" 185. He throws with some effort, and his fastball sat around 91 mph. He had a really good 75-77 mph curveball with sharp 3/8 break, and also showed an 82 mph slider that wasn't as good. Gallant was named an All-Star as Hyannis' closer, and he is one of the better relievers in the league.

Brewster centerfielder Jarrett Parker from the University of Virginia really impressed me during batting practice but then struggled in the game. Parker comes to the Cape as a highly-regarded prospect, but he's hit just .209 since he arrived a couple of weeks ago after the College World Series. Under the batting cage before the game, Parker showed a really smooth, easy swing and drove the ball to all fields. He launched a deep home run on one of his last few swings in BP. But in the game he just looked really uncomfortable at the plate and finished 0-for-3 with a walk, striking out twice. Parker is a good outfielder and an athletic kid with a good body, but he needs to apply his hitting ability to the games more consistently.

Hyannis rightfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. from the University of South Carolina played really well Thursday. Bradley is undersized for a corner outfielder at 5'11" 178, and he was hitting just .195 coming into the game. But Bradley showed some really advanced hitting with his three-hit game Thursday. His first hit was a double to left-center when he stayed within himself and drove an outside fastball to the gap. His second hit he stayed back on a curveball away and just stuck his bat out and poked it to left for a single. In his final at-bat he showed really quick hands and turned on an inside fastball he drove down the rightfield line for a triple. Bradley has great speed as well.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Cotuit 8 Orleans 5: First baseman Tony Plagman from Georgia Tech homered for Cotuit, and left fielder Cory Vaughn from San Diego State and centerfielder Jeff Rowland from Georgia Tech, Cleveland's 21st round pick, each had two hits. Leftfielder Kevin Muno from the University of San Diego went 4-for-4 for Orleans.

Look for a SPECIAL COMMENT (I'm stealing that from Keith Olbermann) about Thursday's All-Star selections. Who got snubbed? Who shouldn't have gotten picked? That should be up sometime in the early afternoon.

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