July 20 for July 19 Update

I went to Falmouth on Sunday to catch the second game of a doubleheader between Falmouth and Brewster. I hadn't seen either starting pitcher yet, which was a rare and welcome occurence at this point in the season.

Brewster had won the first game, 2-1, but Falmouth won the second, 3-0, as three pitchers combined for the seven-inning shutout.

Falmouth's starter was righthander Mark Pope from Georgia Tech. Pope was average height for a pitcher with a solid, athletic build at 6'2" 200. He threw with some effort and had balance issues as he fell off the mound toward first base and sometimes hopped after he finished his delivery. He seemed antsy on the mound and his mechanics weren't very tight. Pope's fastball sat mostly in the 87-88 mph range and it touched 90. Pope had spotty command of the pitch and often fell behind in the count. His curveball varied in speed from 74-79 mph, but when he threw it well it was closer to the high end of that range and was a decent pitch with tight break. He also threw one 71 mph changeup but it didn't look like he had much feel for that pitch. He looked uncomfortable throwing it and it came out of his hand weird.

Brewster left-handed starter Nathan Baker from Ole Miss, the Pirates' fifth-round pick last month, showed good stuff in the loss. Baker is above-average height with an athletic build at 6'3" 210. He throws easily but his movement are slightly mechanical on the mound. Baker's fastball sat in the 86-88 mph range and touched 89. He threw a 78-79 mph breaking pitch that I am going to call a slurve that had good sweeping break. Baker's best pitch when he threw it well was his 77-78 mph changeup. It took him a couple innings before he threw it comfortably, but once he got a feel for it the changeup was a pretty deceptive, but straight, pitch.

Another fifth-round pick, righthander Caleb Cotham from Vanderbilt, who was selected by the Yankees' last month, looked even more impressive in relief for Brewster. Cotham is above-average height with a solid build at 6'3" 210. He throws easy with tight mechanics and has good arm action. Cotham's fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and he had pretty good command of it. He threw a hard 85-87 mph breaking ball with tight movement and a very good 83-84 mph changeup with very good downward movement. The Yankees would do well to sign him.

Among the hitters, shortstop B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi really impressed me. Vollmuth was a late arrival after his school team's surprise run to the College World Series, and Sunday was the first time I got a good look at him. Vollmuth is big for his position at 6'3" 200, and the way he moves in the field makes me think he will be better-suited to play third base professionally. His footwork in the field wasn't great, but Vollmuth is an athletic kid with a very strong arm. At the plate he showed a quick bat and a short swing, and turned on an inside fastball for a home run.

Falmouth second baseman Scott Lawson from the University of Miami, who has been getting a lot of interest all summer from teams as a potential undrafted free agent after nobody selected him last month, looked good Sunday too. He stuck his bat out for an opposite-field single to left, beat out an infield hit and made a very athletic play in the field when he grabbed a ground ball heading up the middle then did a little spin move to get the force at second base before completing a 4-4-3 double play. Lawson is a little undersized at 5'10" 185, but he is a decent player who will probably be offered a contract at some point.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Chatham 1 Wareham 0: Chatham left-handed starter Tyler Lyons from Oklahoma State, the Yankees' 10th-round pick last month, pitched a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out 11. Right-handed starter Cole Green from the University of Texas allowed one run on two hits in 8.1 innings for Wareham.

Cotuit 5 Bourne 3: Third baseman Chris Bisson from the University of Kentucky and first baseman Tony Plagman from Georgia Tech, the Yankees' 46th round pick, each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Cotuit. Third baseman Rob Segedin from Tulane went 3-for-4 for Bourne.

Harwich 4 Hyannis 2: Left-handed starter John Gast from Florida State pitched 6.1 scoreless innings for Harwich. Catcher Anthony Sosnoskie from Virginia Tech homered twice for Harwich and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Y-D 5 Orleans 1, Y-D 2 Orleans 1: In the first game, second baseman Blake Kelso from the University of Houston and rightfielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech each went 2-for-3 for Yarmouth-Dennis. In the second game, right-handed starter Austin Ross from LSU pitched six scoreless innings for Y-D, and second baseman Tyler Hanover went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

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