In arguably its most important game of the season to this point, Y-D jumped in front early and didn’t look back on its way to a 9-3 victory over Brewster on Thursday.
Y-D and Brewster entered Thursday’s showdown tied at the top of the East Division standings with 33 points along with Harwich. The pitching matchup was exactly what one would want in a game of this magnitude, with Brady Hamilton (Wichita State) going for Y-D and Lance Davis (Arkansas) on the mound for the Whitecaps. Davis entered the game with a 1.76 ERA and 12.5 K/9 this summer, while Hamilton came into the afternoon with the third-lowest ERA on the Cape at 1.21.
Both pitchers lived up to the billing in the first inning, with neither side recording a hit and the only baserunner coming on an error. Hamilton needed just seven pitches in the bottom half of the inning to retire the side in order.
Yomar Carreras (Rutgers) led off the second inning by working an eight-pitch walk, which marked the first free pass that Davis had allowed in the month of July. With one out, Will Baker (Georgia Tech) lined a first-pitch slider over the head of Adam Magpoc (San Diego State) in right field for a ground-rule double to put runners at second and third with no outs.
Y-D was able to cash in on the scoring opportunity with an RBI groundout from Jack Bell (TCU) and a blooper off the bat of Connor Capece (Creighton) that fell in left field for a run-scoring single to put Y-D ahead, 2-0. The Y-D offense wore Davis down throughout the second frame, making him throw 30 pitches in the inning.
Jack Arcamone (Georgia) led off the third inning by absolutely crushing a fastball 411 feet into the trees in right field for a solo blast to make it 3-0 Y-D. The towering homer was the second for Arcamone in just four games since joining the team.
“[In] my first at-bat, I was chasing pitches below the zone, and that played into the pitcher’s strengths,” Arcamone said. “So, just finding my approach and seeing something up in the zone allowed me to do some damage today.”
Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) followed up Arcamone’s homer by scorching a slider off the wall in left field for a double, and A.J. Nessler (Pittsburgh) drove him in with an RBI single to give Y-D a 4-0 lead. Brewster was forced to turn to Brady Louck (Florida State) out of its bullpen after just 2.1 innings of work from Davis, where he allowed the most hits and earned runs in any appearance this summer. Although Louck limited the damage, Y-D extended its lead to 5-0 on an error from Cal Fisher (Florida State).
Brewster put together its first threat of the game in the bottom of the third inning when the first two hitters reached base on a single and an error. With runners at second and third and one out, Brendan Lawson (Florida) scorched a line drive into left field, but Nessler made an outstanding sliding catch. The liner was deep enough to score the runner from third and cut Brewster’s deficit to 5-1; however, Nessler's catch prevented further damage in the inning.
Louck quieted the Y-D offense to keep the Whitecaps in the game, retiring the first 11 batters that he faced. Brewster kept chipping away at its deficit with two more runs in the fifth inning to cut Y-D’s lead to 5-3. Magpoc brought in a run with an RBI fielder’s choice, and Lawson hit another sacrifice fly to left field.
Joshua Landry (Hope International University) came into the game for Y-D after five strong innings from Hamilton, where he allowed three hits and two earned runs. After falling behind 3-0 to the first hitter that he faced, Landry locked in by striking out three straight batters and giving Y-D a much-needed shutdown inning.
Y-D finally got something going against Louck to begin the seventh inning, as Capece reached on an error and Brayden Dowd (Florida State) hit a fly ball into shallow center field to put runners at second and third. Arcamone delivered another huge hit by lining an 0-2 fastball into center field for a two-run single to give Y-D a 7-3 lead.
“[Adding insurance runs] is a big thing that this team needed to do a little bit better in the last week or so,” Arcamone said. “We’ve been super close to winning games, but just haven’t got that last hit, and it was nice to be able to do that and put up some runs for the team.”
After Chris Knier (Florida State) entered the game for the Whitecaps, Arcamone scored on a wild pitch, and Nessler hit a sacrifice fly into right field to give Y-D some more insurance runs.
Landry kept dominating out of the Y-D bullpen, setting down the first nine hitters that he faced with five strikeouts. Landry kept hitters off balance all afternoon with his unique arsenal, which included a fastball sitting around 81-83 MPH, a great changeup and a curveball that was less than 70 MPH.
Although he allowed his first baserunner of the day on an infield single in the ninth, Landry slammed the door on the 9-3 victory, completing four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts. With the win, Y-D moves to 16-12-3 and is now in a two-way tie with Harwich at the top of the East Division standings.
“[Brewster] is pretty good; they’ve got some good players,” Arcamone said. “But, we’re a good team, and we can compete. I’d put us up against the best of them, and I think we’re the best team out there.”
Y-D will look to maintain the momentum from this key win when it travels to face Chatham at 7 p.m. on Friday.
