As teams begin to prepare for the homestretch of the Cape League regular season, both divisions remain wide open with the standings shifting every day.
Y-D currently finds itself in the midst of what’s been a three-team race with Brewster and Harwich in the East Division. Brewster is clinging to a one-point advantage over Y-D for the division lead, with Harwich sitting in third place at 11-9-3 and four points behind the Whitecaps.
Brewster has been the hottest team on the Cape as of late; however, its five-game winning streak was snapped in an 8-3 loss to Orleans on Sunday. After Brewster took an early lead in the East Division during the first week, Y-D held the top spot for three weeks, aided by its historic nine-game winning streak at the end of June. The Whitecaps reclaimed their division lead by taking down Y-D 10-5 on Friday and have maintained a slim one-point advantage since that point.
Harwich took advantage of losses by both Brewster and Y-D on Sunday when it defeated Bourne 3-1 to work itself into the heart of the division race. The Mariners were trailing the division lead by eight points at the start of July, but a 5-3-2 record this month has allowed them to slowly creep their way up the standings.
All of a sudden, the East Division is becoming tighter by the day with Orleans and Chatham working themselves into the race. The Firebirds have won three consecutive games to get back to .500, while the Anglers collected a couple of key division wins on Friday against Harwich and Sunday against Y-D. Every team in the East has at least 23 points now, and the entire division is separated by just six points.
On the other side of the league, the West Division is wide open for the taking, with four teams separated by only one point. Every single team in the division is currently under .500, as Falmouth and Hyannis are tied at the top with 23 points.
With the Harbor Hawks and the Commodores both on losing skids, the path for the rest of the teams to take the top spot is becoming clearer. After sitting in last place and seven points behind the division lead a week ago, Wareham has taken advantage of this golden opportunity by going on a four-game winning streak and closing the gap to only one point.
Cotuit has also gotten hot in July with a record of 7-3-1 to climb within one point of the division lead. Although Bourne is riding a three-game losing streak and has a league-worst 19 points this season, it still finds itself just four points behind the division leaders. For comparison’s sake, the Braves would be 10 points back of the lead in the East Division.
As a whole, the East Division has four out of five teams sitting at .500 or better, while the West doesn’t have a single team at the .500 mark. One similarity between the two divisions is that both titles are there for the taking as we approach the All-Star Break this weekend.
Following an off day on Monday, all 10 teams on the Cape will return to action on Tuesday, still having a realistic chance to make a push for a division title. Y-D will square off in its fourth battle of the season against Hyannis at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
