Triston Gray (Fresno State) had two home runs and Reese Chapman (Tennessee) made his Cape League debut by hitting 2-for-4 with two RBI as Wareham toppled Yarmouth-Dennis, 7-3, on Sunday at Red Wilson Field.
Wareham won the battle of the two winningest teams in the Cape League by scoring at least one run in five innings and recorded the most hits allowed by Y-D pitching this season with 11. The Gatemen six through nine hitters went a combined 5-for-15 including Nate Earley (Florida Southwestern State), who had two doubles.
In Y-D’s second loss of the year to Wareham, RJ Austin (Vanderbilt) had the lone multi-hit game for the Red Sox with a 3-for-4 performance and Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas) recorded his league-leading 22nd RBI as Y-D fell to 13-6.
Jackson Chirello (Kennesaw State) blasted his first Cape League home run in the bottom of the ninth as a pinch-hitter and brought the Red Sox within four with a two-run shot.
Carson Ballard (Georgia Tech) got his first start with the Red Sox after making his Cape League debut on Wednesday against Hyannis and went 3 ⅓ innings. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts.
Right-hander Griffin O’Connor (Georgetown) made his first start for Wareham and silenced the Red Sox offense during his 5 ⅔ innings. Y-D was held hitless until the bottom of the fourth and didn’t have its first runner in scoring position until the sixth. O’Connor allowed one run on three hits and tallied two strikeouts.
The Gatemen scored after a leadoff double from Earley and a single from Gio Cueto (Stetson) sent runners on the corners with no outs in the top of the third. Sam White (West Virginia) brought home Earley from third after grounding into a double play to give Wareham an early 1-0 lead.
A single from Chapman and a double from Yohann Dessureault (Stetson) sent Gatemen runners to second and third with one out in the top of the fourth. Ballard spun a breaking ball into the dirt and past Charlie Saum (Stanford) to bring home Chapman and extend Wareham’s lead to 2-0.
Right-hander Nolan Sliver (Kennesaw State) entered for his fifth appearance of the season and faced the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the fifth. Chapman ripped a single through the right side of the infield and drove in two runs as Wareham took a 4-0 lead.
Austin sparked a two-out rally with a double which was followed by Aloy who drove an RBI single through the left side to bring the score to 4-1 Gatemen. Aloy raised his batting average to .306 with an active seven-game hitting streak and has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games.
Toran O’Harran (Stanford) came out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth and walked the first hitter before Gray hit his second home run of the summer over the center field fence to propel Wareham to a 6-1 lead. Gray was one of seven Gatemen who had a hit as Wareham combined for five extra-base hits.
Gray struck again in the top of the eighth against Caleb Anderson (Wichita State) with a solo blast and his second homer of the game. Gray went 2-for-5 with three RBI including home runs in back-to-back at-bats and Anderson recorded all six outs in relief with the strikeout.
Chirello’s pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth brought the score to 7-3 as he hit a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center field.
Photo by Sophie Solarino
