FROM CCBL RELEASE
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass—Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox earned himself the Russ Ford Award as the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Top Relief Pitcher with his spectacular performance on the mound. The 5’10 closer struck out 34 batters in 21.1 innings pitched.
“It was a good feeling knowing your goal’s being accomplished,” said Burgoon, who held himself to high standards coming to the Cape this summer. “It’s one of the goals I set for myself before I came and I had the team and coaches to actually get it done.”
Burgoon led the league with 12 saves during the regular season—two more than Chatham’s Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt), who won the award last year. His 1.69 ERA was a respectable number in a pitching-dominant league, and his attitude helped propel him beyond the stats.
“I never try to get too comfortable on the mound,” Burgoon said of facing some of the country’s best collegiate hitters. “You never want to sit back and relax and think that you can just do whatever you want to the batters. It’s better if you always kind of pitch with a chip on your shoulder, and I’ve tried to do that all year.”
“Every day is different hitter that this spring absolutely dominated his league and other huge teams throughout the country,” Burgoon continued. “It’s definitely a test to the work that you’ve put in throughout the year.”
As a freshman at the University of Michigan, Burgoon struck out 29 players, and allowed only six of 19 inherited runners to score. He was utilized as a starter, reliever, and closer. His fastball was clocked at 92-93 mph, and the slider that showed potential at Michigan blossomed on the Cape this summer.
“When I first got here, it was all of a sudden a lot better than it was,” said Burgoon. “I don’t know where it came from. It just showed up—it’s definitely helped having that.”
“I definitely learned a lot since being here—understanding the whole mental side of the game, understanding batters and situations and things like that, like what to throw and where to miss.”
The Russ Ford Award was instituted in 1991 and has since been awarded to pitchers such as Ryan Speier (2001, Bourne, Colorado Rockies) and Shaun Marcum (2002, Harwich, Toronto Blue Jays).
PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE AUERBACH/CAPE COD TIMES
