FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
COCA-COLA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
AJ Pollack from Notre Dame
Falmouth center-fielder A.J. Pollock is the latest winner of the Coca-Cola Player of the Week award in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Pollock, who has excelled all season as Falmouth’s leadoff hitter, batted .478 during the week ending July 25. His 11 base hits included three doubles and a game-winning home run. Although not a factor in his selection, Pollock also homered for the West Division in Saturday night’s Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game in Chatham. An infielder/outfielder at Notre Dame, Pollock has adjusted nicely to his leadoff role for the Commodores despite being accustomed to batting third for the Fighting Irish. The fact that he is one of the toughest players in the league to strike out (only 18 K’s in 124 at-bats) makes him ideal for the role, explains Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy. Over-all Pollock continues to lead the league in hitting (.403) and runs scored (32) while ranking second in hits (50) and on base percentage (.479). Pollock, who played for the Vermont Mountaineers in the New England Collegiate Baseball League last season, will enter his junior year at Notre Dame in the fall.
COCA-COLA PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Cotuit right-hander Seth Blair came within one out of becoming the first Cape Cod Baseball League pitcher this season to author two shutouts in a 1-0 Kettleer victory over Bourne on July 22. Blair did not get the shutout or the win, but his mastery of the Braves for 8-2/3 innings did earn him Coca-Cola Pitcher of the Week honors. The 5-10, 190-pound native of Rock Falls, Ill., scattered five hits, walked one and struck out four against Bourne, but ran into a jam with two outs in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless tie and was relieved by closer Dan Wolford, who got the final out. Cotuit pushed a walk-off run across in the bottom of the ninth, giving Wolford the win. Blair, a 47th-round draft choice of the Oakland A’s in 2007 who will be a sophomore at Arizona State this fall, does have two Cape League victories to his credit. He beat Falmouth, 3-1, on the Fourth of July and hurled a brilliant 10-strikeout, no-walk, one-hitter as Cotuit defeated Harwich, 4-0, on July 16. Blair’s last appearance before joining the Kettleers came in the Super Regionals at Tempe, Ariz., on June 9. He worked a third of an inning, giving up one hit and striking out a batter in the Sun Devils’ season-ending, 12-9 loss to eventual College World Series champion Fresno State.
