The Cape League All-Star Game was held at Guv Fuller Field, home of the Falmouth Commodores, for the first time since 2003 on Saturday.

The 56 best players from the Cape League participated in a full day of family-friendly activities, watched Y-D All-Star Ethan Petry (South Carolina) win the Home Run Contest and played a nine-inning exhibition game.

There were four lead changes and three ties throughout the back-and-forth game, but the West won its second consecutive All-Star Game in walk-off style after completing a four-run eighth-inning comeback.

Here are some observations from the 33rd annual East versus West All-Star Game:

The West, and Kane Kepley, played until the very last out

Kane Kepley will fit in seamlessly with his new team, the UNC Tar Heels, known for their clutch late-game heroics, as he delivered the walk-off hit to hand the West team the All-Star Game victory. The West team was down by four runs heading into the bottom of the eighth and was able to pile up a four-spot. Jacob Faulkner (Princeton) and Casey Hintz (Arizona) held it down on the mound for the West in the top of the ninth to keep the score tied.

Although the day was long — players arrived as early as 11:30 a.m. — the West team battled until some of its final outs. Jaxon Willits (Oklahoma) and Brandon Compton (ASU) worked walks from East pitcher Tanner Franklin (Tennessee), while Trent Caraway advanced the runners on a groundout to set the stage for Kepley. The Liberty Flame turned Tar Heel worked a 3-2 count to line a single into right to seal the victory.

Y-D continues to shine

The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have dominated the Cape League East Division, securing the division’s regular-season title on Friday. They are the only team in the division with a winning record (21-9) and a positive run differential (plus-32).

Fittingly, Y-D was well represented at the All-Star Game, as Petry, Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma), Sean Youngerman (Westmont), Trevor Moore (Stanford), Aiven Cabral (Northeastern) and Ryan Sprock (Elon) each made the East’s roster.

The Red Sox carried their regular-season dominance to Guv Fuller Field. After winning the Home Run Contest, Petry worked a walk and scored a run. Meanwhile, Carmichael reached base four times and scored three times en route to winning East All-Star MVP. On the bump, Y-D’s four pitchers combined for no earned runs across their 2 ⅔ innings pitched.

Mikey Ebner continues his dominance

There is one Cotuit pitcher who has been here since June, Michael Ebner (USC), he has also been one of the best relief arms in the Cape League all summer. He leads the CCBL in WHIP (0.51), opponent batting average (.066) and is tied for either first or second in plenty of other statistical categories.

With those stats, it’s no surprise that Ebner walked off the mound during the 2024 All-Star Game after a scoreless frame. What was more surprising is that the first two batters Ebner faced, Ashton Larson (LSU) and Brody Donay (Florida), both reached base. Larson hit a liner that deflected off Ebner’s glove for an infield single and Donay was hit by a pitch.

However, in true Ebner fashion, both men were stranded on the basepaths as the next three were sat down in order. The USC arm relied on his heater and deceptive cutter to retire Cade Kurland (Florida) and Aiva Arquette (transfer portal) swinging, then Daniel Cuvet (Miami) with a flyout to right field.

Nick Dumesnil brings the boom

In a game full of offensive fireworks, Brewster’s Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) was the only player to hit a homer in the All-Star Game.

After grounding into force outs in his first two at-bats, Dumesnil stepped up to the plate with the game tied 4-4 in the fifth inning and Carmichael on first base. On the first pitch of his third at-bat, Dumesnil received a hanging 81 mph breaking ball that was left down the middle of the plate.

He didn’t miss it, blasting the pitch 106 mph off the bat and over the left field fence for a two-run shot. Dumesnil has three homers in 30 Cape League games with the Whitecaps and is coming off a 19-homer campaign across 61 games at Cal Baptist in 2024. The outfielder was recently named Baseball America’s No. 9 2025 MLB Draft college prospect.

Pitching remains strong, West capitalizes on errors

Both the East and the West had their fair share of small blunders, it’s to be expected in an All-Star Game when players are thrown together, but the West was able to capitalize in key situations.

To that extent, the East pitching staff was only charged with two out of the nine runs the West scored. A part of that was not just the West wreaking havoc on the basepaths but the four errors committed by the East team. The West's defense came out unscathed, leading to its victory while its pitching staff was charged with five earned runs. The West’s four-spot inning was powered by a bases-clearing error, and the speed of the West’s base runners eventually helped lead to the victory.

Orleans’ Callan Fang and Itsuki Takemoto remain unhittable

For the Orleans Firebirds to secure a playoff spot over the last week of the regular season, their pitching staff will likely have to continue dominating. Lucky for Orleans, it arguably has the two best pitchers in the Cape League. Throughout their respective innings pitched in the All-Star Game, Callan Fang (Harvard) and Itsuki Takemoto (Hawaii) remained unhittable.

Heading into the All-Star Game, Fang’s 33 strikeouts led the Cape League while Takemoto’s 0.93 ERA was the best among starting pitchers (minimum 15 innings pitched).

Despite working himself into trouble after hitting the first batter he faced in the third inning, Fang bared down to set down the next three hitters he faced consecutively. He ended his outing with a nasty changeup that set Wareham’s Brendan Summerhill (Arizona) down swinging.

Two innings later, Takemoto showcased his best skill: mowing down the opposing lineup. After forcing a weak groundout that only required two pitchers, Takemoto battled to strike out Bourne’s Marek Houston (Wake Forest) on a full count before forcing an inning-ending flyout three pitches later. The starting pitcher, Brewster’s Jake Clemente (Florida), was the only other East pitcher to record a 1-2-3 inning.

Photograph by Danielle Stockwell