Carson Ballard (Georgia Tech), Sean Youngerman (Oklahoma State) and Aiven Cabral (Northeastern) threw a combined shutout as Yarmouth-Dennis beat Orleans, 1-0, in the first round of the Cape League playoffs.
Y-D recorded its second shutout of the season in the one-game, single-elimination contest. The trio of Red Sox pitchers allowed only five hits with three strikeouts and two walks. They induced 13 groundouts as Y-D’s defense committed just one error.
Newly named Cape League MVP Ethan Petry (South Carolina) went 2-for-4 and extended his on-base streak to 19 consecutive games. The lone run was scored in the bottom of the sixth after a dropped fly ball in left field by Austin Smith (San Diego) with two outs brought home Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma).
The Red Sox await the winner of Harwich against Chatham as Y-D gained its 20th win in games decided by three runs or fewer. The Red Sox are 20-4-2 when scoring first and 16-0 when leading after seven innings. Y-D pitchers allowed five runs or fewer for the 28th time. Both teams left seven runners on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Ballard made his second straight start against Orleans and his fifth of the summer with Y-D. The right-hander matched his second-longest outing, went 4 ⅓ scoreless innings and struck out three.
2024 Cape League All-Star Callan Fang (Harvard) started for Orleans and entered his sixth start as the league leader in strikeouts with 39. Fang also recorded his second-longest performance with four strikeouts in 5 ⅔ innings and had one unearned run to his ledger.
Both teams went scoreless through the fourth inning with five combined hits. Ballard stranded a runner on second in the top of the fourth and Fang escaped a jam with runners on second and third in the bottom half.
Youngerman entered out of the Y-D bullpen in the fifth and inherited a runner on second with one out. Hudson Shupe (Gonzaga) walked and stole second without a throw, but Youngerman forced a pair of groundouts to end the inning.
Fang kept the score at zero in the bottom of the fifth as a one-out walk from Phoenix Call (UCLA) and a two-out single from Michael Ball (Nevada) sent runners to the corners. Fang induced an inning-ending groundout from Carter Garate (Oregon) as Y-D’s rally was stifled.
Y-D posted the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth as Carmichael had a two-out single. Carmichael stole second and later scored after a twisting fly ball from Ryan Sprock (Elon) was dropped by Smith in left field to give Y-D a 1-0 lead.
Youngerman tossed a quick 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, which set the stage for Cabral in the eighth. Cabral also threw a clean frame and retired the first three hitters in the Firebirds order.
Petry hit a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth, which was the lone hit Itsuki Takemoto (Hawaii) allowed. The Red Sox were unable to extend their lead as Carmichael struck out to leave Petry on second.
Takemoto was stellar in relief for Orleans and struck out four over 2 ⅓ scoreless innings. Takemoto was named Cape League Pitcher of the Year and combined with Fang for eight strikeouts.
Cabral faced the heart of the Orleans order in the top of the ninth but generated two pop outs and a game-ending groundout to propel Y-D to the East Division finals.
Photo by Sophie Solarino
