Y-D’s pitching staff was phenomenal against the Gatemen, allowing no earned runs and just four hits — Y-D’s second-lowest total allowed in a nine-inning game this season — while striking out eight of the nine Wareham batters at least once. All of that dominance on the mound, and Y-D still came up short.
Managing only two hits, Y-D couldn’t scratch across a run in a 1-0 loss to Wareham on Wednesday night. The defeat marked Y-D’s third loss in four games as the offense has cooled considerably over the past week. It was also the first time this season the Red Sox were shut out.
“[The hitting slump], it’s nothing,” Y-D manager Scott Pickler said. “Our guys were trying to do too much. I think you have to tip your hat to those guys. They threw a good game, and I didn’t think we were as aggressive as we should have been tonight.”
Pickler was right. Gatemen starter Sahil Patel (Ohio State) tossed five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, before Jake Schweitzer (Louisville) followed with four more scoreless frames. The duo silenced a Y-D lineup that has slowed down, as the Red Sox own the Cape League’s third-lowest batting average (.209) in the past six games, and have drawn the fewest walks (15) over that span.
Y-D’s only hits came on Kevin Takeuchi’s (Southern California) two-out single in the first inning and Phoenix Call’s single in the sixth, but neither sparked a rally.
The bright spot for Y-D was its pitching. Starter Cade O’Leary (Florida State) got the nod and tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out three. O’Leary struggled early this summer, carrying an ERA near 8.00 before his last two starts. Since then, he’s looked like an ace, lowering his ERA to 3.76 through 16 2/3 innings.
“I’ve just been getting ahead of batters. I was getting behind [at the beginning of the season] and then kind of worked in the bullpen, talked to Pick, talked to Coach [Eric] Beattie, and worked on throwing first-pitch strikes, staying ahead, and not doing too much early in the count,” O’Leary said. “I’m now waiting until I get two strikes to try and throw that putaway pitch. Especially today, I had a lot of 0-2 counts, leverage on a lot of hitters, and that’s what was working today.”
Noah Franco (Texas Christian) relieved O’Leary in the fifth and appeared poised for a scoreless inning until a pitch in the dirt allowed Tony Lira (Arizona) to advance to third. Brady Dallimore’s (Texas Christian) throwing error trying to get Lira out, brought the Gatemen its only run, and it proved to be costly.
Rhett Vaughn (Florida State) followed with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts for Y-D, lowering his ERA to 1.49 while helping preserve Y-D’s Cape League-best bullpen ERA of 2.30.
Y-D will look to get its offense going Thursday when it hosts Orleans at Red Wilson Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
