FROM CCBL RELEASE
HYANNIS, Mass. – West Division co-leaders Hyannis and Bourne and East Division front-runner Orleans will have three starters each when the Under Armour Cape Cod Baseball All-Star Game is played on Satruday, July 26, at Veterans Field in Chatham.
Two 21-player squads were chosen Saturday as the league’s 10 managers caucused in Hyannis with Commissioner Paul Galop. In each division, 10 starters and 11 reserves were picked, along with four alternates.
Scott Pickler, manager of defending Cape League champion Yarmouth-Dennis, will be at the helm of the East stars, while Bourne skipper Harvey Shapiro will handle the West. Shapiro’s Braves finished first in the West last summer, but were ousted by Falmouth in the playoffs. The eight remaining league managers will comprise the coaching staffs in their respective divisions – Bob Macaluso (Brewster), John Schiffner, (Chatham), Steve Englert (Harwich) and Kelly Nicholson (Orleans) for the East, and Mike Roberts (Cotuit), Jeff Trundy (Falmouth), Rick Robinson (Hyannis) and Cooper Farris (Wareham) for the West.
Despite struggling in the standings this season, Pickler’s Red Sox also had three starters selected, as did the Falmouth Commodores. Two starters were named from both Brewster and Chatham, while Cotuit had one starter selected. No Wareham or Harwich player was picked as a starter, although Harwich had five players named as reserves, the most of any team.
There were few surprises as both divisions stocked up on outstanding hitters and stingy pitchers. The East is led by the league’s No. 1 batter, Chatham shortstop Grant Green (Southern California), whose average on selection day was 398, with five home runs and 16 RBI. Green is joined as a starter by five other .300-plus hitters – his Chatham teammate, center-fielder Cory Olson (Orange Coast) at .380, Orleans third baseman Rich Poythress (Georgia) at .364, Y-D second baseman Nick Liles (Western Carolina) at .355, Brewster designated hitter Brent Milleville (Stanford) at .354 and Brewster first baseman Ryan Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) at .327.
The remaining East starters are Y-D catcher Tony Sanchez (Boston College), Y-D left-fielder Ryan Ortiz (Oregon State), Orleans right-fielder Tim Wheeler (Sacramento State) and Orleans right-hander Matt Thompson (San Diego), the league’s fifth-ranked pitcher with a 3-0 record, a 1.56 ERA and 24 strikeouts.
Harwich’s five reserve players are pitchers Chirs Manno (Duke), Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) and J.J. Hoover (West Virginia), plus catcher Mark Fleury (North Carolina) and infielder D.J. Lemahieu (Louisiana State). Brewster’s two reserves are outfielder Ty Kelly (Cal-Davis) and pitcher Buddy Baumann (Missouri State). Other on the East squad, all pitchers, are Orleans’ Martin Viramontes (Loyola Marymount) and Adam Wilk (Long Beach State), plus the Chatham pair of Brad Boxberger (Southern Cal) and Sammy Solis (San Diego).
The power-laden West squad is led by Hyannis’s “Louisville Slugger,” third baseman Chris Dominguez (Louisville), who had blasted eight home runs to lead the league on selection day. Dominguez is also fourth in the league in RBI with 22. In fact, each of the league’s five leading run-producers found a spot in the West starting lineup. Falmouth second baseman Jimmy Cesario (Houston) is the leader with 26 RBI, while Hyannis first baseman Ben Paulsen (Clemson) and Bourne left-fielder Mark Krauss (Ohio) have driven in 25 runs each. Green’s total of 22 is followed by the 21 RBI of Cotuit DH Kevin Patterson (Auburn).
The West squad also features six .300-plus hitters — Krauss at .392, Patterson at .386, Cesario and his Falmouth teammate, center-fielder A.J. Pollock (Notre Dame), both at .378, Hyannis right-fielder Trent Ashcroft (East Carolina) at .357 and Bourne shortstop Dusty Coleman (Wichita State) at .333.
Completing the list of 10 West starters are Falmouth catcher Trevor Coleman (Missouri), and Bourne right-hander Bryce Stowell (California-Irvine), 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 40 strikeouts on selection day.
The West has eight pitchers on its 11-player reserve list. They are Wareham’s Brandon Workman (Texas) and Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas), Hyannis’s Andrew Carraway (Virginia) and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt), Bourne’s Nick McCully (Coastal Carolina) and Eric Pettis (California-Irvine), Falmouth’s Ben Tootle (Jacksonville State) and Cotuit’s Seth Blair (Arizona State). Completing the reserve list are Hyannis catcher Dale Cornstubble (Central Michigan), Wareham infielder Raynor Campbell (Baylor) and Bourne outfielder Jordan Henry (Mississippi).
All-Star Game alternates chosen for the West are all pitchers, Austin Hudson (Central Florida), Hyannis; Chris Gloor (Quinnipiac), Falmouth; Nick Hernandez (Tennessee), Cotuit, and Max Perlman (Havard), Wareham. One position player was named among the East’s alternates, outfielder Keenan Wiley (Kentucky) of Y-D. He’s joined by pitchers Craig Fritsch (Baylor), Y-D; Caleb Cotham (Vanderbilt), Brewster, and Willie Kempf (Baylor), Harwich.
Also announced Saturday were the names of the six players who will represent their respective divisions in the annual Home Run Hitting Contest, always a highlight of the pre-game festivities on All-Star Saturday. The West trio includes current league home run leader Dominguez of Hyannis (8), plus Wareham’s Blake Dean (3) and Bourne’s Kyle Roller (2). The East’s sluggers are Connor Powers of Brewster (5), Joseph Sanders of Harwich (4) and Angelo Songo of Orleans (3).
All-Star Saturday at Veterans Field will get under way shortly after gates open at 2 p.m. During batting practice and infield practice, players on the squad not hitting or fielding will be available to sign autographs. The Home Run Hitting Contest is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., with on-field pre-game ceremonies getting under way at 6:30. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
The New England Sports Network (NESN) will be on hand to present a live telecast of the game for the first time. Eric Frede and former major league pitcher Jim Beattie (Harwich 1974) will handle the play-by-play and color, respectively. There will also be live radio coverage by local NPR affiliate WCAI (90.1 fm), with NPR’s Neal Conan calling the play-by-play and the Cape League’s John Garner handling the color assignment.
