FALMOUTH, Mass. — No wins or losses, scowls or boos. Just friends and baseball, all good news.
The Cape League All-Star Game is a time where the best talent in the finest summer collegiate league in the country gather to display their skills.
“It’s baseball in its purest form,” Wareham manager Ryan Smyth said pregame.
With 4,550 fans, and a league’s-worth of MLB scouts in attendance, the 33rd annual Cape League All-Star Game took place at Falmouth’s Guv Fuller Field on Saturday. But it was all Wareham in the spotlight during the festivities. The Wareham Gatemen had seven All-Stars selected from their roster — most of any team in the West — and added two players to the Home Run Contest as well — more than any team in the league.
At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Home Run Contest was a precursor to Wareham’s eventual success throughout the entire evening. The Gatemen had Reese Chapman (Tennessee) and Nate Earley (Louisville) selected to show off their power. While Chapman did hit one bomb in his first round, Nate Earley led them all with six homers.
With Earley advancing to the final stage, he would face Ethan Petry of Y-D and Trent Caraway of Falmouth.
This is where the chaos began.
Caraway hit just two homers in his final round. Petry — the league’s second-best home run hitter (nine) — would go next. He hit five home runs in his championship round, setting a high — but hittable — mark for Earley to beat.
Earley powered five no-doubt homers in the beginning stages of his round. With 30 seconds left, Earley needed just one more big fly to secure the title. He called timeout, needing a breather before this final push.
Perhaps the funniest part of this Home Run Contest were the "pit stops" the Gatemen All-Stars performed on Earley during timeouts and in between rounds. Bearing bags of ice, towels, water and even seeds, they worked on Earley like he was a boxer in need of attention in between rounds.
“That’s my dark horse,” Sam White shouted. The Gatemen All-Star led this humorous pit stop with a chant of mentality.
The bell rang, and it was back to work.
In his penultimate swing of the round, Earley hit a high arching fly ball directly down the right field line. To the crowd’s confusion, the emcee asked, “Was that fair?”
With no official scorer for the contest, it was purely up to the crowd’s discretion. So, Earley was announced as the 2024 Home Run Contest champion before receiving an argument from the East’s dugout, who was in favor of Petry.
“I’ll go another round,” Earley said in the heat of the moment. The officials decided to oblige. So, per Home Run Contest rules, Earley and Petry went into a five-out swing-off. Earley would ultimately fall one homer shy in overtime, crowning Petry as 2024’s Home Run Contest winner.
A chaotic finish to a fun appetizer to the All-Star Game.
“I just wanted to please [the crowd], so why not do another round and compete,” Earley said.
The crowd would continue to be pleased by the Gatemen, who led the West to a nail-biting 9-8 win over the East, with the All-Star Game kicking off just afterward at 6 p.m.
The Gatemen had four position players in the All-Star Game: Brendan Summerhill (Arizona), Sam White (West Virginia), Murf Gray (Fresno State) and Yohann Dessureault (Stetson). They also brough three pitchers: Tate McGuire (Arkansas), Tony Pluta (Arizona) and Jacob Faulkner (Princeton).
The Gatemen hitters would account for three of the nine runs the West scored throughout the contest. Gray went 1-for-2 as he touched home plate following a double in the second inning. White and Dessureault both reached base and scored, too.
Gray’s double came off a familiar face: Brewster’s Jake Clemente. Wareham had just seen Clemente last Wednesday, just three days beforehand.
“It definitely helped. I saw a cutter up and stuck to my approach [against him],” Gray said.
The three Gatemen pitchers combined for 2 2/3 innings and just one earned run. McGuire threw a 1-2-3 scoreless sixth inning. Pluta struck out one while allowing a run in the seventh. Faulkner threw two-thirds of an inning when he drew a fly out and a groundout in a quick scoreless outing.
With so many All-Star pitchers having to get in the game, Faulkner only got to throw against two batters in the ninth before turning it over to Casey Hintz of Hyannis to secure the win.
Faulkner was just happy to be there.
“That’s the All-Star Game for you. Every pitcher’s got to get in, I was actually super happy to see [Hintz] come in,” Faulkner said.
“I like to say that something’s only worth it if you’re having fun. I got my two outs, I’m pretty pleased.”
You know, it’s hard not to find a positive angle on such a day for the Gatemen. In a contest that has featured names like Steven Kwan (MLB batting leader) and Mookie Betts (2018 AL MVP), perhaps the stars of this year’s Cape League All-Star festivities are on their way to similar careers.
Here in Wareham, we certainly think so.
Top photo caption — Wareham Gatemen All-Stars postgame on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at Guv Fuller Field. Pictured left to right: Morgan Peryer (trainer), Yohann Dessureault, Jacob Faulkner, Tony Pluta, Mike Mobbs (hitting coach), Tate McGuire, Charles Gravett (assistant coach), Sam White and Murf Gray. Photo by Kyler Armstrong.
Second Photo Caption — Nate Earley with manager Ryan Smyth and his second-place prize after the 2024 Cape League Home Run Contest, on July 27, 2024. Photo by Kyler Armstrong.
