The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox won 8-1 against the Falmouth Commodores on Wednesday to improve to a 14-1-1 record. Y-D’s offensive success against Falmouth was the result of performance from a few key players at the plate.
Among those standouts was Kevin Takeuchi (University of Southern California), who smoked a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to put YD on the board and ahead 3-0. This was his first home run of his Y-D career, and he was happy about it.
“It felt really good,” said Takeuchi. “Definitely felt good to get the first one.”
Also happy was Y-D head coach Scott Pickler, who was proud of Takeuchi for making swing adjustments to reignite his slugging flame.
“He’s a really good hitter,” Pickler said. “He worked hard, he made a little adjustment, he shortened his stride and it paid off.”
Takeuchi was a master of extra-base hits for the Trojans last season, all the way through the team’s run in the DI NCAA Tournament. In 2026 with USC, he recorded 19 doubles, three triples and 10 home runs over 301 plate appearances, all with a .539 slugging percentage. However, Takeuchi’s power hadn’t shown up much with Y-D until tonight.
“I’ve been struggling to kind of hit homers and doubles and stuff like that, so [the homer run was] definitely a good stepping stone,” said Takeuchi.
He elaborated on his hitting adjustments he’s made this summer to get his slugging back on track.
“I think I was just more on time…I can see the ball better,” Takeuchi said. “Just minor adjustments, not trying to change too much about [my swing], but just minor tweaks here and there to get me feeling good.”
Apart from his big hits, tonight marked Takeuchi’s tenth walk of his season with Y-D. Although his slugging is taking some time to travel from Southern California to Cape Cod, he's still managing to get on-base frequently with a .432 on-base percentage. The key, Takeuchi says, is staying patient with the pitcher.
“I feel like I’m just able to stay disciplined and in the zone, and kind of just take what [the pitcher’s] giving me,” Takeuchi said.
Wednesday’s other offensive contributors included designated hitter Lucas Franco (Texas Christian University) who went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two walks, right fielder John Beverley (Auburn University) who went 1-for-5 with two RBI and one walk, and new arrival catcher Cole Hansen (Cal Baptist University) who went 2-for-5.
Y-D’s pitching was also strong. Danny Nelson (Clemson University) started on the mound and only allowed four hits over four innings with five strikeouts. Zach Russell (Mississippi State), who was given the win, stayed in for 1 and 2/3 innings, and allowed three hits, one earned run, one walk and two strikeouts.
Two-way player Brock Ketelsen (Stanford University) pitched the next two innings. He struck out five batters, and allowed zero hits with one walk. The last inning and 1/3 was filled by Andrew Wright who allowed one hit and managed two strikeouts.
Y-D’s unstoppable bats and arms will be given the chance to shine again on Friday, at home, against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks at 5 p.m. EDT.
