FALMOUTH, Mass. — Falmouth has struggled in numerous areas to open the season. Its offense averages 4.13 runs per game, and it’s only scored more than four runs twice.

The ‘Dores’ bullpen has also fallen apart in the ninth, blowing a 3-2 advantage to Brewster in the second game of the season and allowing Yarmouth-Dennis to take a 4-3 lead on Sunday.

But despite those flaws, the Commodores have still floated around .500 all year. The reason? Their starting pitching has been phenomenal.

Between Kaden Echeman (Kentucky), Grayson Saunier (Texas), TJ Coats (Nebraska/transfer portal) and Matt Sauser (Central Florida), Falmouth’s starting rotation has allowed just 14 runs and racked up 39 strikeouts. The four pitchers have helped Falmouth stay in all but one of its games late and build confidence throughout the team despite other issues.

“When you have someone you know that's gonna shut the other offense down, even more confidence builds,” outfielder Maika Niu said on Saturday.

With Falmouth receiving an off day on Wednesday due to the Cape Cod Baseball League’s annual workout at Fenway Park, first-year manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia only needed to use four pitchers for the first two times through the rotation.

Despite the overall success thus far, the group has slightly slipped recently. On Saturday versus Wareham, Coats went just two innings and gave up four runs in the second inning alone. It marked the worst start of the season thus far for Falmouth.

Sauser also wasn’t strong versus Y-D on Sunday. He allowed an early two-run homer to AJ Soldra and gave up one more unearned run after he mishandled a dribbler down the line. Still, he went a season-high four innings and surrendered just three hits.

Neither start was awful. But it was hard to live up to the standard set in Falmouth’s six previous games.

That started with Echeman. At Northern Kentucky last season, he posted an impressive 4.34 ERA after missing all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. In his 12 appearances (eight starts), he went over four innings in all but one of them.

He continued that success on the Cape. In Falmouth’s season-opener at Chatham, Echeman pitched four innings and didn’t allow a single run. He also notched eight strikeouts against a star-studded Anglers lineup, fanning hitters like Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer portal) and Jake Hanley (Indiana).

While the next time out versus Brewster was a bit rockier, Echeman still got the job done. He allowed two runs across the second and third frames but still went four innings and struck out seven. Saltalamacchia praised Echeman’s ability to escape multiple jams postgame, describing him as “polished.”

“Nothing really shakes him,” Saltalamacchia said. He ran into trouble there early and limited the damage. That's the name of the game at the college level. It can kind of speed up on you. That one run can turn into five. So that’s a professional outing by him.”

The No. 2 man in the Commodores’ rotation is Grayson Saunier (Texas). Saunier was mainly a reliever for the Longhorns this season, accumulating a 3.86 ERA in 12 outings. He smoothly followed Echeman in both of his starts this summer.

In the ‘Dores’ first matchup this season with Brewster, he shined. While he gave up an early long ball to Carson Tinney (Notre Dame), he settled in afterward, only allowing one more run on a double steal by the Whitecaps. Saunier, like Echeman, went four and surrendered only two hits, putting Falmouth in a position to win before its late collapse.

His second start versus Orleans on Saturday went similarly. Four innings. Two runs. Saunier propelled Falmouth to a 7-3 win and showed he’s a viable option for the Commodores this season.

Coats, despite his slip-up on Saturday, still produced a masterpiece in his first start. He handed the ball to the bullpen in the sixth with a strong chance to win versus Harwich in Game 3. Across five innings — the longest any starter has gone — Coats held the Mariners scoreless and punched out seven batters.

He said postgame his offspeed pitches were working best. Coats used his slider and fastball early in the count, then often relied on the curveball for strike three.

“The biggest thing was just trying to get ahead,” Coats said. “(I) walked the leadoff guy, and then after that I just tried to not walk another guy.”

Sauser also posted a solid start in his first appearance of the year at Orleans. After moving from Florida State to UCF, Sauser lowered his ERA nearly 2.5 points to 4.58 in 27 more innings. He’s taken that improvement to the Cape.

In Falmouth’s 14-5 blowout of the Firebirds, he allowed them to initially narrow a 4-0 deficit to 4-3. However, one of those runs was unearned, as he finished his day going 3.2 innings and surrendering two earned runs.

Sauser certainly hasn’t been great. But if he’s the worst option of the four, that’s a good sign for the ‘Dores.

Going forward, Saltalamacchia may stick with the same rotation or switch things up. Established starters like Easton Barrett (Arizona State) and Matthew Dallas (Wake Forest), who both pitched a brilliant four innings out of the bullpen in their first outings of the season, can strengthen Falmouth's rotation.

But the current group has set the tone to start the season, keeping the Commodores afloat and giving their offense time to click.

Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.