The Brewster Whitecaps entered Saturday’s game with a 6-0 record, coming off an impressive 14-0 victory over Falmouth on Friday. Their 36 runs scored were the most in the CCBL, showcasing an offense that was a force to be reckoned with. However, they were no match for Y-D’s pitching, which had held opponents to four hits or fewer in four of the team's first seven games this summer. Brady Hamilton and Tyler Pitzer threw seven innings of hitless baseball, leading the squad to a 3-0 victory.
Michael Stanford, the pitching coach for Y-D, says he’s been preaching a simple message to his pitchers this summer: compete, no matter what.
“I think it's just the fact that we preach to just compete. Compete with whatever you've got. Hamilton is coming off the week that he had last week, and it’s not the same start that we had with him, but that was the biggest thing that I preached to him. You did your job by just competing and getting through it,” Stanford said after Y-D’s statement win Saturday.
“That goes to say for all of our guys, too, where it’s just you get up there, you might have your best stuff or you might not. We just want you to compete,” Hamilton said. “If we can compete and we can keep winning, we want to see these outcomes all the time. Two shutouts this early in the year is really, really cool.”
The Red Sox's second shutout of the season moved them into second place in the East Division, with the second-best record in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Stanford’s pitching staff owns the lowest WHIP (0.98) and opponent batting average (.152) across the CCBL.
Hamilton made his second start of the season. He threw four scoreless innings during the home opener, allowing three hits with five strikeouts. Hamilton followed this up with four innings of scoreless baseball.
“I started off a little slow, I wasn’t pounding the zone quite as much as I’d like. I let my defense go to work for me, and after the first or second inning, I started to command the fastball a lot better,” Hamilton said after the game. “Today was a day where I had to compete knowing I didn’t have my best stuff, but my defense worked hard for me.”
Pitzer relieved Hamilton in the fifth inning, immediately striking out two in the frame. He worked three scoreless innings, joining Hamilton by preserving the no-hitter. Pitzer now has nine strikeouts this summer in just 5 1/3 innings of work. The 6-foot-2 sophomore, who recently transferred to Mississippi State University, has lowered his ERA to 1.69 this summer.
“My cutter inside was working, a fastball came in late,” Pitzer said after Saturday’s win at Red Wilson Field. “I feel like everything played off each other well.”
Y-D will look to extend its winning streak Sunday night in Falmouth, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
