Cameron Kim (UCLA) stood in the first base dugout at Whitehouse Field for the first eight innings watching and waiting for his chance to make an impact.
Kim got his opportunity as a pinch hitter with runners on the corners in a 2-2 game in the top of the ninth and blasted a go-ahead single past a diving Ryan Weingartner (Penn State) to score RJ Austin (Vanderbilt) from third. Kim’s hit sent a booming chorus of cheers from the Red Sox who further pushed the envelope in the inning.
Charlie Saum (Stanford) entered his final at-bat of the game hitting 1-for-24 and glanced out at the bases to see runners on first and second. After a pair of swings and misses, Saum lifted an 0-2 pitch high into the night sky and into the hands of the wind which guided the ball over the fence in left field for a 6-2 Red Sox lead.
Saum’s first Cape League home run and Kim’s RBI single embodied the resilient nature of the Red Sox offense which has shown an innate ability to dominate the latter half of games. Their respective pivotal plays also gave Y-D a four-run ninth inning which marked the ninth time the Red Sox have scored four or more runs in an inning.
The game-changing ninth inning catalyzed by Saum and Kim powered Y-D to a 6-3 win over Harwich and a Cape League-best 13-5 record. Of those 13 wins, 10 have come in games decided by three or fewer runs, and Saum said there’s no fear from the Red Sox in a close game as their confidence in one another is culminating into wins.
“It's a confident group,” Saum said. “We got a bunch of really good dudes and as long as we keep playing together, keep doing our thing, we're pretty confident we’re gonna come out on top, so just gotta keep rolling.”
Kim entered his pinch-hit at-bat hitting .182 as Saturday’s contest against the Mariners was the second consecutive game the former top-250 MLB Draft prospect came off the bench for head coach Scott Pickler. Kim said he was familiar with the situation due to his role in his freshman season with UCLA, which primarily consisted of pinch-hit moments.
That level of comfort allowed Kim to prevent the pressure from overtaking his approach and said he “tried to slow the game down.” Kim generated his first RBI since June 24 and plays with the mentality of wanting to “prove people wrong.” What he proved right on Saturday night was how no one is fazed by a close score and how anyone on this Red Sox team is capable of producing in a big moment.
“We're having fun, everybody just loves everybody,” Kim said. “We got each other's back for sure and when we're all out there on the field together, it's something special.”
Playing close games has originated from a dynamic pitching staff and an offense that has depended on a signature inning. Braden Osbolt (Kennesaw State) dazzled once again for Y-D with 4 ⅔ scoreless innings and dropped his ERA to 0.54, which is the fourth best in the Cape League.
With performances from Osbolt and reliever Aiven Cabral (Northeastern), who got his league-leading fourth win, the offense has propelled the Red Sox to wins with big innings late in games. Fifty-six of the 97 runs the Red Sox have scored are from the sixth to the ninth inning, which is 57.73% of the total offensive production.
It’s been key moments from players like Saum and Kim that have driven this trend in a dynamic offense that’s capable of changing the complexity of a game at any moment. Saum said, “if you don't get it done, the next guy's got just as good of a shot,” and shared how there’s an unwavering trust in one another. It’s become a key fabric in the Red Sox's culture.
“It's honestly really special,” Saum said. “It's my third year playing summer ball and I haven't had a group be this tight together. The guys hang out off the field, which is pretty great, and when we're here at the field, everybody gels really, really well together and it's a pretty fun group, and that's kind of where that cohesiveness comes from, and that's what produces wins.”
