Wareham and Falmouth meet to decide 1st place in West Division
There is a lot on the line tonight for the Wareham Gatemen going up against the Falmouth Commodores. Falmouth is possibly the hottest team in the CCBL riding a 6-game winning streak. The winner of tonight’s matchup will have sole possession of 1stplace in the West Division. Both teams currently have 39 points. Wareham has yet to beat Falmouth this season losing all 4 matchups.
The Gatemen are fresh off a 3-2 victory over the Y-D Red Sox at Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The atmosphere was great, and the result was even better for the Gatemen pulling through thanks to a clutch Chad Stevens (Portland) 2 RBI single in the 6thinning.
The bottom of the line-up shined for the Gatemen racking up 5 hits. On the mound JP Gates (Miami) was great, and Trey Dillard (Missouri) shut the door on any hopes of a Red Sox comeback. The Gatemen have won 2 games in a row and are rejuvenated after a much needed 2-day break on Sunday and Monday.
Ben Sems (Kansas) and Matt Rudick (San Diego State) have broken out on offense the last 7 days. Sems is batting .429 going 6-14 with 3 RBI. Rudick is batting an astonishing .545 going 6-11 with 2 stolen bases.
The Wareham offense has stalled a little but still lead the CCBL with a .288 batting average. The Gatemen have the most hits in the league (332) and RBI (160). The pitching has gotten better but has still not been amongst the league’s best. The Gatemen rank 7thin league ERA (4.13)
The Commodores have looked unbeatable as of late. Falmouth is 7-3 in its last 10 games and is on a 6-game winning streak. The Commodores were supposed to go up against the Harbor Hawks last night, but that game was postponed due to weather. Masterful pitching played a large role in the Commodores 6-3 victory over the Brewster White Caps Monday night.
Nick Nastrini (UCLA) was lights out posting a final line of 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 SO. Aidan Maldonado completed a 2 inning save with a final line of 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 SO. It was a very balanced offensive effort but leading it all was Jackson Coutts (Rhode Island) who was 2-3 with 2 RBI.
Falmouth has found success by playing clean baseball on this 6-game winning streak not allowing more than 4 runs in a single game. It helps the offense has chipped in to contributing 18 runs combined in the last 4 games.
Zach Deloach has been the heartbeat of the Commodore offense batting a CCBL 3rdranked .354. Falmouth has found the perfect balance of offense and pitching ranked in 4thfor both categories.
On the mound for the Gatemen is Levi Prater (Oklahoma). Prater has been fantastic since joining the team late on June 28th. In 14.2 innings Prater is 2-1 with a 0.61 ERA. Prater faced Falmouth in his last appearance finishing with a line of 3.0 IP, 0 h, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.
As for Falmouth, Franco Aleman is on the mound. You can make the argument that Aleman has been the best pitcher in the league this summer. Aleman has a perfect 0.00 ERA in 23 IP striking out 18 batters and has only walked 2. In Aleman’s last appearance he couldn’t be touched posting a line of 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 6 SO.
Here are the lineups
Wareham:
1. Braiden Ward, CF – Washington
2. Matt McLain, LF – UCLA
3. Jacob Teter, 1B – Florida Southern
4. Dallas Beaver, DH – South Carolina
5. Zack Mathis, 2B – Louisiana State
6. Ben Sems, SS – Kansas
7. Matt Rudick, RF – San Diego State
8. Chad Stevens, 3B – Portland
9. Drew Sims, C – Utah Valley
SP. Levi Prater – Oklahoma
Falmouth:
1. Hayden Cantrelle, 2B - LSU
2. Blake Dunn, CF – Western Michigan
3. Zach Deloach, RF – Texas A&M
4. Trei Cruz, SS – Rice
5. Taylor Smith, DH – Grayson County College
6. Austin Langworthy, 1B – Florida
7. Steven Moretto, 3B – Cal State San Francisco
8. Matheu Nelson, C – Florida State
9. Austin Masel, LF – Holy Cross
SP. Franco Aleman- Florida International
Photo by: Kristin Ostrowski