July 25 for July 24 Update

I went to Yarmouth-Dennis on Friday, but the scheduled pitching matchup had changed and once again I ended up seeing only pitchers I have already seen and written about. With less than two weeks left in the season, and still between 20 and 30 pitchers left unseen, I am making it a point to avoid situations like these from now on.

The postponements and inconsistent accuracy of the Cape League's "Pitchers: Next 3 Days" page are making things difficult, but I am going to try to overcome these obstacles.

As for Friday, Y-D won 6-3 and is starting to distance itself from the pack in the Eastern Division.

Righthander Michael Goodnight from the University of Houston started for Y-D and put together an average performance. Goodnight's main issue is his front side flies open too early and it leads to struggles with his command. Goodnight has good size and a projectable frame at 6'4" 215. His fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range, and he showed an inconsistent 75 mph curveball. When he threw the pitch well it had sharp downward break, but he sometimes didn't finish it and it would hang up in the zone. Goodnight also threw an average changeup with some tail down and in.

Chatham's starter was Patrick Johnson from the University of North Carolina, who is really just held back by his size. Johnson is 5'10" 170 and he throws with big effort. Johnson's fastball sits in the 87-89 mph range and he will occasionally touch 90. His best pitch is a hard 78-82 mph slider with tight break that he can throw for a strike. He also has a pretty deceptive 80 mph changeup with downward movement and an average 72-75 mph curveball. The problem with Johnson is he is pretty much showing you all that he will be, and that is not going to be good enough against professional hitters.

A reliever of interest was Y-D righthander Tyler Burgoon from the University of Michigan, who has put up tremendous numbers as Y-D's closer since I last saw him during the first week of the season. Burgoon hasn't allowed an earned run all season, and he entered Friday's game having given up just four hits in 17.1 innings pitched and striking out 27. He's doing it with only two pitches and a fastball that tops out at 91 mph. Burgoon is undersized at 5'10" 165 and he throws with big effort. His fastball sat in the 89-91 mph range and had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a very good 81-82 mph slider with sharp two-plane break. It is pretty clear it is that slider that gets him a lot of his strikeouts. You can't argue with his results, but he is still not a top-level prospect because of his size and average velocity that is clearly maxed out.

Among hitters, three of Y-D's better players put good swings on balls during the game Friday. First baseman Mickey Wiswall turned on a high and inside fastball and hit a line drive home run that left the park in a hurry. He showed really quick hands and a compact swing. Rightfielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech drove an outside fastball off the top of the rightfield fence, and catcher Ben McMahan from the University of Florida also did nicely taking a outside fastball the opposite way for a double.

I am taking my second non-rain-related day off of the summer on Saturday to attend a function back home in Connecticut. I will return to the Cape on Sunday intent on seeing as many of the elusive unseen pitchers as I can over the last week-and-a-half of the regular season.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Harwich 3 Cotuit 2: Both second baseman Phil Gosselin and rightfielder Dan Grovatt, each from the University of Virginia, went 2-for-4 for Harwich.

Falmouth 3 Hyannis 2: Shortstop B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi hit a home run for Falmouth. Second baseman Nick Crawford from UAB and centerfielder Trent Whitehead from East Carolina each had three hits for Hyannis.

Wareham 2 Orleans 1: Rightfielder George Springer from UConn, first baseman Jordan Swaggerty from Arizona State and catcher Chris Hannick from Cal State Northridge each had two hits for Wareham.

The Brewster at Bourne doubleheader was rained out.

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June 14 for June 13 Update

I spent Saturday evening in Bourne where Yarmouth-Dennis beat Bourne 3-2 after an eighth inning rally fueled by three walks and a hit by pitch.

Two major league scouts were in attendance, and I talked with Y-D pitcher Chris Sale who makes his third blog appearance of the week for discussing our shared model of BlackBerry with me.

Once again pitching ruled the day, and several arms brought something to the table.

Y-D right-handed starter Jared Ray from the University of Houston was the best of the day as he showed four quality pitches and was not afraid to throw any of them in any count. Ray's fastball sat in the low 90s, he threw a 73 mph curveball with big break, an 81-82 mph slider with tight movement and a good 79 mph changeup with nice tailing action. Ray's stuff was not overpowering but he really knew how to pitch.

The other Y-D pitcher who looked good was closer Tyler Burgoon of the University of Michigan. Burgoon is undersized at 5'10", 165, and his fastball sat mostly in the 88-90 range, but he had a very good slider that missed a lot of bats. Burgoon struck out five batters in his two innings of work Saturday.

For Bourne, left-handed starter Cameron Roth from UNC-Wilimington was pretty good. He has kind of a thin frame, but his fastball sat mostly in the 89-91 mph range and he really attacked the strike zone with it. Roth's secondary stuff was just average as he threw a 78 mph slider with tight break but not too much movement and an 81 mph changeup he tended to leave up in the zone. He also threw the occasional 81-82 mph cutter.

Bourne reliever Kevin Munson from James Madison touched 93 mph with his fastball, but he has a lot of effort in his delivery and began to struggle with his control. He threw an 81-83 mph slider that he tended to spin and leave up in the zone, but when he followed through it was a quality pitch.

Offensively, light-hitting temp Bourne shortstop Tom Zebroski from George Washington stepped in the bucket but hit a 301-foot home run to the opposite field that barely cleared the right field fence near the foul pole. Free-swinging Y-D first baseman Mickey Wiswall from Boston College stayed back well and drove a sharp single to center in the middle of the Red Sox' key rally. Wiswall has quick hands and a nice compact swing.

Y-D's monstruous (6'5", 225) designated hitter Chase Davidson from the University of Georgia showed the most pop during batting practice, but he doesn't really have a position and entered the game as a pinch hitter.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Chatham 4 Hyannis 1: Chatham second baseman Tom Belza from Oklahoma State went 3-for-3 with a home run as Chatham beat Hyannis. Third baseman Shane Kroker from Wake Forest went 2-for-3 for Hyannis.

Harwich 10 Falmouth 5: Harwich shortstop Chris Wade from the University of Kentucky went 3-for-5 and second baseman Connor Mach from the University of Missouri went deep for Falmouth.

Brewster 10 Orleans 8: Brewster centerfielder Bobby Coyle from Arizona and shortstop Tim Ferguson from Ole Miss each went three-for-five and Brewster scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Orleans. Third baseman Michael Olt from UConn went two-for-five with a home run and left fielder Kevin Muno from the University of San Diego went two-for-four for Orleans.

Wareham 5 Cotuit 3: Eric Pfisterer from Duke started and pitched five hitless innings with 10 strikeouts and just two walks for Wareham.

I'll be back in Bourne this evening for Wareham at Bourne, weather permitting.