Short memories.
The Wareham Gatemen (15-7-1) forgot about their small losing stint and came out firing in their second visit to Guv Fuller Field on Friday night as they took down the Falmouth Commodores (8-15), 9-2. The win maintained their position over Cotuit (14-9) for the lead in the West Division.
In the rout of the Commodores, Wareham dominated in every facet of the game. The offense tallied 14 hits while the pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts. Heath Andrews (North Carolina State) set the tone with five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts. Earning his second win of the year, Andrews is now 2-0 after his fifth appearance for the Gatemen.
The Gatemen bats stole the show at times as well, with four extra-base hits adding to Wareham’s league-leading 78 on the year. Reese Chapman (Tennessee) started that trend with his first homer in a Gatemen uniform, a three-run shot in the first inning. Antonio Jimenez (Central Florida) followed suit with his team-leading fifth homer of the year.
“This was a bounce-back win…,” manger Ryan Smyth said postgame. “This is more like it, this is Wareham baseball and just a more complete effort out of the boys.”
Now the Gatemen look to snowball this win into a streak against the Brewster Whitecaps (9-13-1). Back at home for the third time in its last four contests, Wareham is 8-4 at Spillane Field this year — the second-best home record in the league behind Hyannis (9-2).
Wareham started its season series with a 15-4 loss to Brewster in Game 5 of the year back on June 20. Their most recent meeting was a week ago, an 8-5 win for Wareham in an offensive affair.
Murf Gray (Fresno State) powered the 11-hit day from the Gatemen when he went 2-for-5 with a homer. Now the Gatemen search for a continued presence of offense at home with their second straight home meeting with the Whitecaps.
STARTING PITCHING
Smyth will put the ball in the hand of right-hander Cole Leaman (Lehigh) for his fourth start of the season. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, the rising junior maintains a 7.00 ERA in nine innings this year, despite a strong start to the season.
Leaman recorded a 3.38 ERA through his first two starts after allowing just three earned runs in eight innings of work.
This next start will be a bounce back opportunity for him. A start more than two weeks in the making, Leaman most recently got the nod against Hyannis back on June 28. Walking four batters, Leaman exited after allowing four earned runs through an inning of work.
Leaman has proven the ability to age well with more innings though. He tossed 46 2/3 innings to the tune of a 2.31 ERA with Lehigh this past spring while converting from a reliever to a starter..
Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik entrusts the start in a returner to Brewster, southpaw Ryan Ure (Oklahoma State). The towering 6-foot-8, 234-pound Ure is scheduled for his third start of the year, maintaining a 4.26 ERA in 6 1/3 innings this summer.
Shevchik’s trust in the lefty shows as this will be an appearance on short rest for Ure. On just four days' rest, Ure gets the nod after his best outing of the year — a one-run, four-inning day at Cotuit on Tuesday.
He’ll lean on strikeouts as his preferred method of dominance after tallying 22 punchouts in his 14 2/3 innings of collegiate experience.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Smyth has had the blessing of unpredictability in his lineup this year. But Jimenez has remained the one consistency in the home run category.
The team leader in home runs all season long (five), Jimenez is coming off his best hitting performance of the year. The Florida native collected two RBI in a 3-for-3 day in Friday’s win over Falmouth. Jimenez topped it all off with a 405-foot homer in the eighth inning as he finished just a triple shy of the cycle. Jimenez’s five homers are good for a tie for fourth in the league.
It is a season high for hits in a game for Jimenez, whose batting average ticked up 35 points from the big game (.235). Jimenez has hit 5 for his last 12 at-bats.
Brewster’s league-fourth-best slugging percentage (.379) has been powered by Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) and — most recently — another Floridian: Miami’s Daniel Cuvet.
Cuvet’s team-best batting average of .333 stands fourth best in the league, and he’s only getting hotter at the dish. Cuvet went 2-for-4 in Friday’s loss to Hyannis, leading the team with two RBI on a single and a home run. Behind his heavy-handed teammate Helfrick, Cuvet is second on the team and sixth in the league with his fourth homer of the year.
With a reputation for power, Cuvet has been walked eight times this year en route to a .422 OBP.
With two power-heavy lineups, Saturday’s contest will feature two of the league’s top five offenses as Wareham looks to maintain its lead in the West, while Brewster will look to inch closer to a winning record as the third-place team from the East.
Top photo caption: Right-hander Cole Leaman strides to the plate in Wareham's win over Hyannis at Spillane Field on June 28, 2024. Photo by Keegan Armstrong.
