At the 33rd Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, the Cotuit Kettleers will send four representatives to Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Tanner Thach (UNC Wilmington) and Jarren Advincula (Cal) will get starting nods for the West Division team at first base and second base, respectively, while Brandon Compton (Arizona St.) and Mikey Ebner (USC) are reserves.
Thach couldn’t vie for an All-Star spot in his first Cape League season in 2023 after injury limited him to just 17 games, but he’s shown what he can accomplish over a full summer.
In his first 26 contests, the UNCW home run king has proven he’s got pure pop regardless of the bat he’s swinging — as Thach is currently tied for second place in the CCBL with eight home runs. Overall, he’s one of three hitters with an OPS north of 1.000 — and the most feared man in the box when facing off against right-handed pitching.
Thach is slugging an absurd .821 clip in opposite-handed matchups, good for a league-leading 1.269 OPS to put him atop the Cape League stat sheet by a wide margin.
“It's a great honor,” Thach said. “Just to be able to play in this league and to be able to play each day and have fun and to be named an All-Star, it's truly a blessing this year.”
Next to Thach in the infield will be Advincula, who serves as the yin to the West Division first baseman’s yang in the Cotuit lineup. The All-Pac-12 player as a true freshman is the Cape League’s king of contact, tied for first in hits (38) with Wareham’s Murf Gray (Fresno St.) and the only hitter batting over .400.
“I just want to thank God for everything that's happening to me this summer and even getting here to the Cape,” Advincula said. “I couldn’t have done it without coach [Mike] Roberts and the team behind me.”
Advincula’s former conference foe Compton rounds out the Kettleers for the position players, as both are the only qualified hitters batting .300 or better for Cotuit. The outfielder has posted a .840 OPS in 27 games and is second on the team in homers along with Devin Taylor (Indiana).
Last but not least, Ebner is one of 10 pitchers on the West Division roster. The best reliever in the league has a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched, sporting a 3-0 record along with one hold and a save.
Opposing batters have struggled all summer against the USC Trojan, as Ebner boasts a league-best .037 batting average against and 0.44 WHIP. The right-hander has struck out 18 batters and walked just six this summer.
The “Core Four” of the Kettleers will showcase their skills against the best talent the Cape League has to offer on Saturday, with the All-Star Game’s first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
