In a matchup between the Cape League's two best pitching staffs, Y-D proved it still stands alone.
Easton Teel (Oral Roberts) threw five no-hit innings to lead the Red Sox to a 2-0 victory over the Bourne Braves, marking Y-D's second straight shutout. The Red Sox haven't allowed a run in their past 19 1/3 innings.
Teel looked fantastic on the bump. He struck out only two batters, but consistently induced weak contact. Bourne managed just two well-hit balls through his five innings: a line-drive double play in the second inning and a ground-ball double play in the third. The Oklahoma native lowered his ERA to 1.84 through 14 2/3 innings with Y-D.
“Our defense has given me a lot of confidence,” Teel said. “You get to throw a lot more strikes and it's less stressful. I know that they're going to make the plays out there.”
Y-D's offense cooled off after the early innings, finishing with six hits, but Dante Vachini (Cal Poly) made his impact immediately. On the third pitch Vachini saw, he blasted a leadoff home run to dead center. Vachini now has three home runs in just 19 at-bats with Y-D, already surpassing the two he hit in 186 at-bats at Cal Poly this spring.
“I don't think there's been any difference in my approach recently. I think I'm just sticking to my approach, even though I wasn't off to the hottest start,” Vachini said. “I still thought I saw the ball really well. Just hitting line drives up the middle is what I'm going for, and it's been working out so far.”
In the fourth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, Reid Howard (Virginia) didn't need to lift the bat off his shoulder, drawing a four-pitch walk that forced home Avery Ortiz (Oklahoma State) to make it 2-0.
Teel finished strong in the fifth before Connor Hamilton (Vanderbilt) weathered the storm with two scoreless innings. Peyton Rodgers (UC Irvine) closed the door with a save. Y-D owns a league-best 2.14 ERA, a full run lower than Bourne's 3.14 mark. The Red Sox's bullpen ERA sits at 1.89, a pace that would be historic.
Y-D improved to 19-2-1 and travels to Orleans for a 6 p.m. matchup Saturday.
