It’s been a dominant first half for Yarmouth-Dennis, which sits in first place in the CCBL East Division at 14-6. The Red Sox boast one of the most balanced rosters in the Cape League with a shutdown pitching staff and an offense that has controlled the latter stages of games with unrelenting power.
The “Cardiac Sox” have eight comeback wins, 10 wins in games decided by three runs or less and scored 60.2% of their total runs from the sixth to the ninth inning. The Red Sox are 8-1 against East Division foes, powered by Cape League home run leader Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas), who had three homers on the Fourth of July against Hyannis.
Aloy leads the CCBL with 24 RBI, a .662 SLG, 1.019 OPS, 51 total bases and 11 extra-base hits with a hit in 15 of the last 16 games. Aloy has played all 20 games at shortstop with just three errors.
The Red Sox are 10-1 when scoring five or more runs, have scored four or more runs in an inning 10 times, have yet to lose back-to-back games and lead the league in home runs. Y-D is second in the CCBL in RBI, runs and slugging percentage, and third in hits and doubles, spearheaded by Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma), who is first in the CCBL in doubles with six.
D1Baseball.com National Freshman of the Year Drew Burress (Georgia Tech), RJ Austin (Vanderbilt) and Anthony Martinez (UC Irvine) have returned from a stint with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and Austin holds a .455 batting average through his first four games in his second season with Y-D.
2023 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist Ethan Petry (South Carolina) has a 1.173 OPS in 11 games and All-ACC Freshman Team selection Gavin Gallaher (North Carolina) has three doubles in nine games as the pair of late additions have provided a potent power threat. Petry joined alongside his Gamecocks teammate Will Tippett, who’s been a defensive wizard with no errors across three positions.
UCLA teammates Phoenix Call and Cameron Kim have played a pivotal role in Y-D’s league-leading plus-29 run differential with the former placing fourth in the league with 11 steals and the latter tallying a go-ahead hit in the ninth inning in a 6-3 win over Harwich on Saturday.
“We're having fun, everybody just loves everybody,” Kim said. “We got each other's back for sure and when we're all out there on the field together, it's something special.”
Ryan Sprock (Elon) and Jackson Chirello (Kennesaw State) have been spark plugs for Y-D’s offense as Sprock had a go-ahead single in the ninth to beat Brewster, 4-3, and Chirello hit his first Cape League home run on Sunday in a pinch-hit situation.
Brady Neal (Alabama) and Charlie Saum (Stanford) have brought defensive stability to the catcher position while producing in crucial moments. Neal hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth to beat Falmouth, 7-5, and Saum hit his first Cape League blast for a three-run homer in the ninth to propel Y-D over Harwich.
“I played here last year and that was a really good team, but this team right here is special,” Neal said. “The guys get along really well, which I think helps. This team has a chance to make a deep run this year so we're just excited to see what we got.”
The Y-D pitching staff has been a crucial aspect of the team’s success so far. In the league, it ranks first in ERA (3.59), batting average against (.215), strikeouts (204), strikeouts per nine innings (10.61) and WHIP (1.28). It is also 9-0 when leading after seven innings, with strong closing pitching from Trevor Moore (Stanford) and Aiven Cabral (Northeastern)
Moore has solidified himself as Y-D’s go-to closer on the mound. The right-hander has continued to lead the league in saves with five for multiple weeks in a row and he is tied for sixth in the league in strikeouts with 18.
On June 27 in Orleans, Moore stepped to the mound in the seventh with the bases loaded behind him and a tie game on the line. Moore did not let the pressure faze him and struck two batters out to close the inning for Y-D.
Cabral is also no stranger to high-intensity situations on the mound. As another one of Y-D’s reliable closers, Cabral currently leads the league in wins with four after pitching in Harwich on Saturday. In this game, the right-handed pitcher threw for the last two innings of the game and notched four strikeouts to help Y-D pull out a win over the Mariners.
Braden Osbolt (Kennesaw State) has shined so far this season with a current earned run average of 0.54, which is second in the league. He also ranks second in batting average against (.140) and fourth in WHIP (0.84).
The right-handed pitcher has pounded the strike zone time and time again, tying his career-high of eight strikeouts against Chatham on June 16. After the game, he said, “I tied my career high in strikeouts and didn’t even know it.”
Bryan Peck (Westmont) has been another strong arm for Y-D on the mound, currently tied for 12th in the league for strikeouts with 17. In the team’s season opener on June 15, the right-handed pitcher threw for four innings as a reliever and struck out seven batters to help yield a win.
More pitchers to keep an eye on are Dylan Vigue (Michigan), Sean Youngerman (Oklahoma State) and Micah Bucknam (Dallas Baptist). They have each started multiple games for Y-D and are all in the double digits for strikeouts this season.
With an impressive record of 14-6 at the 20-game halfway point, the Y-D Red Sox look to have a successful second half of the season with their talented bullpen and offense. Currently sitting atop the East Division, Y-D nears the top spot in the league as it continues to be neck-and-neck with the Wareham Gatemen. Twenty down, 20 more to go for this winning crew.
