In a season of ups and downs, Michael Catalano (Oklahoma) picked the perfect time for his most dominant appearance of the summer by throwing 5.2 innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts against Harwich in Game 2 of the Division Championship Series on Saturday, which was suspended after 12 innings due to darkness.
Catalano got his regular season off to a torrid start when he recorded a 2.85 ERA with a whopping 13.6 K/9 across his first six appearances of the summer. He struggled down the stretch, however, as he allowed four or more earned runs in each of his last three outings without going more than 2 1/3 innings in any of them. Despite the struggles at the end of the season, Catalano still led all qualified pitchers on the Cape with 12.8 K/9.
After seven days of rest following his last start of the regular season against Brewster on Aug. 1, Catalano returned to his role as a reliever in a triumphant way on Saturday. He made the longest appearance of his summer by tossing 5.2 stellar innings with a season-high nine strikeouts and just three hits allowed.
“I worked really hard to try and get my pitches back to where they were when I was seeing a lot of success out here,” Catalano said. “It’s a long summer, and you get tired, but mentally I tried to stay locked in. … It’s been huge to be out here and work through stuff like this.”
Catalano’s outing on Saturday got off to a bit of a rocky start when he was put into a precarious situation with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning as Y-D trailed 2-1. A two-run single from Ernie Echevarria (Pennsylvania), a throwing error by Connor Capece (Creighton) and a sacrifice bunt by Tanner Marsh (Liberty) to bring in a run gave Harwich a 6-1 lead in the blink of an eye.
Once Catalano was able to get back to work with a clean slate in the fifth inning, he settled into a groove by striking out Jake Koonin (Princeton) with a curveball and getting Matt Conte (Wake Forest) to swing and miss at a 92 mph fastball to complete a 1-2-3 frame. Catalano put up another zero on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, racking up another strikeout and only allowing a walk to Aiden Robbins (Texas).
With Y-D still trailing by four runs, Catalano continued to keep the team within striking distance by putting up another clean inning in the seventh. He began the frame by dropping a breaking ball into the zone to catch Marsh looking for his fourth strikeout of the day, then got a couple of groundouts from Niko Brini (Wofford) and Koonin.
Y-D started to claw its way back into the game in the bottom of the seventh by scoring a couple of runs on an error to cut the deficit to 6-4. Catalano proceeded to provide a crucial shutdown inning with a little help from Capece behind the plate.
After Ryan Gerety (Northeastern) led off the eighth inning with a single, Capece erased him by catching him trying to steal second base. Catalano locked in after that, striking out Conte with a fastball and Patrick Fultz (Wright State) with a slider to end the inning.
“We had all the momentum,” Catalano said. “I wanted to make sure that I kept throwing up zeros so we could keep going and chip away.”
Catalano capped off his outing in the ninth inning with his most impressive frame of the day, striking out the side with three different pitches. He started the inning by getting Robbins to chase a curveball below the zone, then struck out Echevarria with a slider to make it four consecutive punchouts. After allowing a walk to Sam Harris (Duke), Catalano ended his night by throwing a 92 mph fastball past Marsh for his ninth strikeout.
“I had pretty much everything [working] tonight,” Catalano said. “It was one of those days where you’re putting it right where you want it and the stuff is moving great. Obviously my last few outings have been rough, and I worked really hard to get back where I needed to be for the playoffs.”
Thanks to Catalano’s lockdown performance, Y-D was able to complete the comeback when Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) hit a blooper down the right field line for an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 6-6. After both sides traded zeros in extras, the game was suspended due to darkness after 12 innings and will be resumed on Sunday. Catalano and the rest of his team are keeping the mindset of wanting to finish this series at Red Wilson Field.
“We’re fired up and ready to go,” Catalano said. “We want to win this thing tomorrow morning and get to celebrate and go play for the championship.”
Catalano and the rest of Y-D will have a chance to clinch a spot in the Cape League Championship for the first time since 2016 when Game 2 against Harwich resumes at noon on Sunday.
