At the season’s midway mark, Y-D has met with every team in the league at least twice. The Red Sox have been dominant in many of the games with 14 wins so far and outscoring opponents 38-24 in innings seven through nine.
With 20 games left to play, Y-D will face all of these teams again before playoffs begin. Here is a rundown of where the Red Sox’s opponents stand in the league as they head into the second half of the season.
East Division
The Chatham Anglers sit second in the East four games behind Y-D with a record of 10-10. The .500 team is being led offensively by their center fielder Austin Overn, who ranks second in the league for hits (25) and fifth in the league for batting average (.338).
Y-D faced Chatham twice so far this season. The first meeting was a close, low-scoring win for the Red Sox and the second was a dominant six-run difference with Y-D coming out on top. Y-D will meet the Anglers three more times in the back half of the season, twice in Chatham and once at home.
The Brewster Whitecaps loom right behind Chatham with a record of 9-11 at the halfway mark. Their charge on offense has been spearheaded by catcher Ryder Helfrick, who follows Y-D’s Wehiwa Aloy with the second-most home runs in the league (six) and second-most RBI (21). Center fielder Nick Dumesnil has also been a weapon at the plate for the Whitecaps, leading the team with 21 hits and five doubles.
With an Opening Day walk-off win at home and a 5-3 win in Brewster, Y-D has won both encounters with the Whitecaps this season. It will face Brewster in two more home games and one away game in the second half of the season before playoffs are underway.
The Harwich Mariners remain neck and neck with Brewster also at 9-11 so far this season. First baseman Michael Anderson has been the Mariners' offensive spark, ranking second league-wide in slugging (.591) and on-base plus slugging (.996). He is also fourth in the league for home runs with four.
In Harwich, Y-D fell to the Mariners, 3-2, in their first faceoff. The following two have yielded wins for Y-D, however, the Mariners have kept it tight as both games were decided by three runs or less. The Red Sox will encounter Harwich twice more this season, one game at home and one away.
The Orleans Firebirds currently stand in fifth place in the East at 5-15. On offense, third baseman Hudson Shupe commands the team in hits with 16 and on the mound, Callan Fang leads the league in strikeouts (23) and walks plus hits per innings pitched (0.75). Fang also ranks second in batting average against (.143), just behind Y-D’s Braden Osbolt (.140).
Y-D has met with the Firebirds twice this season, both games resulting in wins for the Red Sox. The team will face Orleans three more times this season — two at home and one more in Orleans.
West Division
The Red Sox's biggest challenge atop the standings is the Wareham Gatemen, who are the only team to have beaten Y-D twice. The Gatemen are 14-5 atop the West Division and are powered by Bobby Boser (USF), who is third in the CCBL in batting average at .344.
Wareham leads the lead in home runs, average, slugging percentage and OPS with an impressive 8-2 home record which includes the Gatemen’s 5-3 win over the Red Sox in a rain-shortened six-inning game. Tate McGuire (Arkansas) has a 2.25 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 16 innings for Wareham, which has allowed the fewest home runs in the league.
Y-D has split its season series with second-place Cotuit (12-8) and won 9-6 at Lowell Park back on June 18 with four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Jarren Advincula (California) is the focal point of the Kettlers' offense and paces the Cape League with a .397 average. Tanner Thach (UNC Wilmington) is tied for second in the CCBL with six home runs and has a .953 OPS.
The Hyannis Harbor Hawks are third in the West with an 11-8 record and took the back end of a home-and-home to spoil Aloy’s three-home run performance on the Fourth of July. The Red Sox took a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning in the first meeting and won, 4-2, on July 3.
Jon Jon Gazdar (Austin Peay) has guided the Harbor Hawks to their strong start with 17 RBI, which is third in the league. Hyannis has been able to generate consistent offense and is first in the CCBL in on-base percentage at .374.
Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) leads the fourth-place Bourne Braves (7-11) in RBI with 10 and a .301 average. The Red Sox are 2-1 against the Braves and are coming off an 8-2 win at Doran Park where Y-D bashed eight extra-base hits.
The fifth-place Falmouth Commodores are 7-13 in part to Jaxon Willits (Oklahoma), who is second in the CCBL with a .479 on-base percentage. The Commodores are 7-4 at home but dropped to the Red Sox on June 29 as Brady Neal (Alabama) hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth.
Photo by Sophie Solarino
