After nearly two weeks of thrilling finishes and dominant victories, Y-D’s winning streak came to a halt at nine games in an 8-2 loss to Cotuit on Tuesday.

During the streak, Y-D catapulted from 1-2-1 to the best record in the Cape League at 10-2-1 and outscored opponents 52-23 throughout the nine-game stretch. Not only did this run have huge implications on the standings for this season, but it matched the longest winning streak in Y-D team history during the Modern Era (since 1963), according to Cape Cod League Historian Mike Richard.

“The Cape Cod League is a great summer league and one of the most prestigious ones out here,” Y-D infielder Dean Carpentier (USC) said. “Being part of that nine-game winning streak is awesome, and I can’t do it without the guys behind me.”

Carpentier was one of many Y-D hitters to take a huge role in putting together this winning streak, as he hit .333 with four doubles throughout the nine games. Cody Miller (East Tennessee State) was another hitter who caught fire over the past couple of weeks, going 10-for-29 (.345) in the nine-game stretch after starting his season 2-for-13 at the plate. Miller also added his first two homers of the season, along with swiping four bags.

No one has been more of a catalyst for the Y-D offense than AJ Soldra (UConn), who currently has a whopping 1.197 OPS on the season. In the second game of the streak against Chatham on June 20, Soldra launched one 394 feet to center field for a three-run homer that put Y-D up 6-2. That began a stretch where he hit a home run in three out of four games, tacking on two more in wins over Falmouth and Wareham.

Despite the loss against Cotuit on Tuesday, Soldra added to his team-leading home run total with a 365-foot shot over the right-field wall for his fourth of the season.

Although there were plenty of offensive fireworks, the Y-D pitching staff led the charge during the winning streak with a 2.00 ERA across the nine games. In seven of the nine contests, Y-D pitchers allowed three or fewer runs, including three games where they allowed zero earned runs.

No matter if it was starting pitching or the arms coming out of the bullpen, the Y-D pitching was stellar across the entire unit. Both the starters (eight earned runs in 36 innings) and relievers (10 earned runs in 45 innings) pitched to a 2.00 ERA during the streak.

One of the leading forces coming out of the bullpen was Tyler Pitzer (Mississippi State), who was named Cape League Pitcher of the Week for June 21-27. Pitzer made two appearances throughout Y-D’s torrid stretch, allowing just two hits and zero earned runs with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Perhaps nothing has been more of a driving factor for Y-D than its timely hitting, recording a .315 batting average with runners in scoring position across the nine-game run.

Timely hitting was on full display in the dramatic 5-4 win over Hyannis on Sunday when Y-D rallied with two runs in the ninth inning. After Carpentier roped a double into left field to put a couple of runners into scoring position, Avery Ortiz (Oklahoma State) blooped a walk-off, two-run single in front of the center fielder, giving Y-D its most thrilling win of the entire streak.

“Coming together as a team, growing and getting the good team chemistry going is awesome,” Carpentier said. “That winning streak really did help a lot.”

Even with its first loss since June 17 on Tuesday, Y-D still sits at the top of the East Division standings with a record of 10-3-1.

“Just throw this one behind us; we know we’re better than that,” Carpentier said. “We’re going to come back tomorrow and start that new streak up again.”

Y-D will look to get back to its winning ways when it welcomes Falmouth to Red Wilson Field at 5 p.m. Wednesday.