Everyone at Red Wilson Field could barely take a breath before Y-D fell behind Tuesday evening. But four at-bats in and trailing 2-0, the Y-D Red Sox did what they've done in seven of their first nine games: come back.
Y-D didn’t allow another run and used a small-ball offensive approach to take down Falmouth 6-2 in seven innings due to the weather. Somehow, some way, Y-D has trailed in seven of its first nine games, yet owns a league-best 8-1 record. When trailing, Y-D leads the Cape League in batting average (.310), on-base percentage (.420) and OPS (.851).
“It's a pretty resilient group. I think that there's a lot of confidence up and down the lineup,” Y-D assistant coach Craig Gianinno said. “I know that our pitchers have a lot of confidence in our offense to score runs, and so it's not a matter of if, but when. Tonight we did some good things offensively. We probably should have scored more and executed a little bit better, but overall it was a really good team win.”
Time and time again, Y-D has found ways to win games that appeared to be slipping away. While most Y-D comebacks have come in crunch time, Tuesday's rally started early. Two singles and a walk got the bases loaded in the first inning before Avery Ortiz (Oklahoma State) got hit by a pitch to bring in Y-D’s first run. In the third inning, Ortiz sizzled an RBI single to knot the ballgame at 2-2. A returner from the 2025 club and a late addition to the 2026 roster, Ortiz has started 3-for-9 with three RBIs.
“Avery is a baseball player. He fits right in,” Gianinno said. “He’s been here three or four days, but it's like he's been here the whole time. It just speaks to his confidence, his comfort in his own skin. He's a passionate baseball player and a relentless worker that just wants to get better, and it's great to see him back out here healthy and able to do what he loves.”
Zach Russell (Mississippi State) came in during the second inning and breezed through three scoreless frames while his offense put together four runs in that span. RBI hits from Ortiz and Brady Dallimore put Y-D on top in the third inning before RBI groundouts from Jake Souders (Mississippi State) and Ethan Ball (Virginia Tech) gave Y-D a much-needed 5-2 cushion in the fourth.
Brock Ketelsen (Stanford) also threw a scoreless 2 ⅓ innings on the mound, making it four total innings pitched without allowing a run for Y-D’s 18-year-old two-way star.
“The focus for me right now is more hitting, but I’ll do whatever the team needs,” Ketelsen said. “If that’s throwing an inning or two, then why not.”
Ketelsen and Russell are part of the Cape League's top bullpen, which has helped turn a league-leading eight double plays. The stat makes sense, considering Y-D’s pitching hasn’t produced a ton of swing-and-miss, yet still holds a Cape-best 2.45 ERA. The team's ability to turn double plays has been aided by the chemistry it has built on and off the field.
“The chemistry on this team has been unbelievable,” Ketelsen said. “In so few days, I feel like we're such a good collective group. It's so much fun showing up to the ballpark every day and hanging out with all the guys.”
Y-D got its sixth and final run in the sixth inning on a Ball sacrifice fly, and the game was called 15 minutes later due to darkness and rain. Y-D faces the Brewster Whitecaps at their place for the first time in 2026 on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
