It's been a wonky 72 hours for the boys in red and blue.
Rain shortened one game. Drainage issues postponed another. Yet through it all, Y-D has looked like the same club it has been all summer.
Dominate on the mound, get relievers involved early, run the bases aggressively and find ways to score. It’s a formula that has produced an 83 percent winning percentage this summer, according to the Cape Cod Baseball League standings.
With breezy skies and sunshine Thursday evening, there was nothing unusual about Y-D’s matchup against Cotuit. The Red Sox used only three pitchers, keeping the bullpen fresh in a 5-3 victory over the Kettleers. The win improved Y-D to 25-5-1, leaving it six points ahead of Brewster with nine games remaining.
“We always take it pitch by pitch, game by game,” assistant coach Craig Gianinno said whenever he's asked about Y-D's record.
Y-D starter Connor Hamilton (Vanderbilt) ran into trouble in the second inning. A solo home run by Landon Beaver (UAB) and an RBI single from Jesse Di Maggio (Dallas Baptist) gave Cotuit a 2-0 lead. Hamilton settled back in after that, tossing clean first and third innings before giving way to Zach Robinson (Cincinnati).
The Red Sox answered in the third. Back-to-back singles by newcomers Cade Carr (Samford) and Ryder Robinson (BYU) set the table before Dante Vachini advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Carr scored on a balk for Y-D’s first run of the game, and Kevin Takeuchi brought Robinson home with a groundout to tie it at 2-2.
The game marked Carr’s second appearance with the Red Sox. The catcher is now 3-for-6 with an RBI and said he's focused on keeping the right mindset during his time on the Cape.
“Just control what I can control, and I know God has got a plan, so I'm trying to stick with that,” Carr said. “It's obviously cool [being on Y-D], because if I got to pick any team to be on up here, it'd be with these guys.”
Y-D and Cotuit traded runs in the fourth before the Red Sox moved back in front for good in the sixth on Robinson’s RBI single. Through his first two games with Y-D, the switch-hitting shortstop is 4-for-8 with a home run and three stolen bases.
The offense had plenty of opportunities to pull away but never fully capitalized. Despite leading the league with a .314 batting average with runners in scoring position entering Thursday, Y-D finished just 2-for-16 in those spots and stranded a season-high 14 runners. Even so, the Red Sox scratched across an insurance run on a forceout in the ninth, giving Peyton Rodgers (UC Irvine) breathing room as he worked three scoreless innings for the save. His 1.14 ERA ranks third in the Cape League.
“I always have the same mindset no matter the situation,” Rodgers said. “It's always great dapping up my catcher after the game.”
Outside of leaving runners on base, Y-D turned in another clean, fundamentally sound performance — the type of game that has become routine during its 2026 campaign.
The Red Sox return to action Friday against Chatham at 7 p.m. at Veterans Field.
