If you score a couple of runs against 2025 MLB second-round pick Angel Cervantes (UCLA), you're usually in good shape. The Cape League's most dominant pitcher had allowed just three runs over 25 innings entering Tuesday. Yarmouth-Dennis got to him, but its own pitching couldn't keep pace.
The Chatham Anglers defeated Y-D 9-5 in Game 1 of the CCBL East Division Series on Tuesday night at Red Wilson Field.
The Red Sox entered the postseason searching for the form that earned them the East Division's top seed. Tuesday looked much like the previous two weeks, as the losses were piling up. Now, Y-D is one loss away from an uber-successful season ending too soon.
Chatham manager Dennis Cook knows how dangerous Y-D can be. The clubs split their five regular-season meetings (2-2-1), but the Anglers struck first Tuesday.
"[Y-D is] a very good team," Cook said. "We knew we were going to have to pitch well to beat them, and Angel did a good job getting us through six. But they're good. We've done nothing yet. We still have a lot of work in front of us."
Cade O'Leary (Florida State) got the Game 1 start for Y-D after coming off his toughest outing of the summer against Harwich on July 28. He worked around early traffic, but after throwing nearly 50 pitches in just 2 1/3 innings, he hit his pitch limit. With the game still scoreless in the third, manager Scott Pickler turned to the bullpen.
"Cade was on a pitch count," Pickler said. "He threw too many pitches in the first and then in the second, so we had no other choice. We had the lefty ready for the next few lefty batters, but he just couldn't get it done."
That left-hander, Cameron Teper (Cal Baptist), couldn't stop Chatham's momentum. He walked the first batter he faced before Armani Guzman (West Virginia) launched a two-run homer. Everett Marshall (Florida) later added an RBI double, giving the Anglers a lead they never gave back.
Teper returned for the fourth but couldn't settle in, prompting another call to the bullpen. It was his first high-leverage outing since blowing a save against Orleans on July 11. Evan Hockele (St. John's), who impressed in his Y-D debut against Bourne three days earlier, also struggled with his command as Chatham stretched its lead to 7-2 through six innings.
Offensively, Y-D did enough to give itself a chance.
Reid Howard (Virginia) homered off Cervantes in the third, his first collegiate home run since 2025. Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt) tripled in the sixth before Mateo Serna (Alabama) brought him home with a single, ending Cervantes' night after 5 2/3 innings. The UCLA right-hander threw 81 pitches, struck out seven and walked one.
"I feel like toward the end of my last inning, I could've done a little better," Cervantes said. "I feel like I was spraying the ball around a little. I had to take my time, but I feel like I battled, and I felt pretty good about that."
Tag Andrews (Little Rock) allowed two more runs, sending Y-D to the ninth trailing 9-2. The Red Sox made one last push, putting their first five batters aboard and scoring three runs, but Kevin Takeuchi (Southern California), Goodin and Serna all struck out swinging to end the game.
The ninth-inning rally may be the momentum Y-D carries into Wednesday. The Red Sox travel to Chatham needing a win to keep their season alive.
"We've got to score early and we've got to score first," Pickler said. "We've won two games in a row before. I'm not worried about winning two."
