Cape Cod Baseball League Rankings: Cotuit stays on top, Bourne surges, Orleans enters.

Despite the rain's best effort over the last week or so, the Cape Cod Baseball League season is approaching its midway point.

Teams can start to see the home stretch, as the playoff picture ever so slightly comes into view over the horizon.

Cotuit remains the cream of the crop this season. The Kettleers have been firmly fixed at No. 1 in every installment of my rankings, and this week is no different. Four arms for Cotuit rank inside the top seven in ERA this season, as the Kettleers have made Lowell Park the least hitter friendly park this season.

Once again, behind them there's plenty of movement (hello Bourne, and hello Orleans), and no team other than Cotuit, features in the same spot as last week.

Here are this weeks Cape Cod Baseball League Power Rankings.

Record as of Wednesday morning and last week's ranking in parenthesis.

1. Cotuit Kettleers (14-6, 1)

It's been the Kettleers league so far, and everyone else has just been playing baseball in it. Cotuit has paced both the West Division, and the league, following a 4-1 record over the last week, extending their division lead to five points. It would probably be a bigger gap, if the Bourne Braves weren't red hot (more coming up on the Braves). I've said it all season, but Cotuit continues to boast the best pitching staff on the Cape. Through 20 games, the Kettleers are only allowing 3.65 runs per game. Their staff has a collective ERA of 3.15 and opponents are hitting a pedestrian .220 this year. Cotuit has weapons on the mound whether it's starting or closing a game. Camron Hill (Georgia Tech), and Rafe Schlesinger (University of Miami), have been two of the best left-handed arms in the league. Hill's ERA sits at 0.57, while Schlesinger is 1.42, and the pair have combined to strikeout 37 hitters in 28.1 innings. Offensively, the Kettleers have scored 104 runs this season, good for third in the league, but their +37 run differential is tops across Cape Cod.

2. Bourne Braves (11-8-1, 5)

Don't look now, but the Braves are hot. The defending champs got off to a slow start this season, but have surged as of late. They've won three straight, and now find themselves second in the West Division (and in these rankings). The Braves have gone 8-2 over their past ten games, and after debuting in these rankings last week at No. 5, have climbed up into second after going 4-1 over the last week. The Braves are second to Cotuit in both runs allowed (81), run differential (+27), and are third in the league in team ERA (3.74). However, the pitching has only been half the equation. The Braves are hitting a league-leading .277 as a team, led by a couple of Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Derek Bender, and Caden Bodine. Another category the Braves lead the league in is stolen bases. Bourne has swiped 49 bases this season, nine higher than the second placed Falmouth Commodores. Eight different Braves have at least four steals this year, led by Pete Ciuffreda's (Rutgers) seven, and Vanderbilt's Jonathan Vastine six. That combination, coupled with Bourne's league leading defense, has helped fuel this run.

3. Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (11-8-1, 2)

The Red Sox narrowly missed out on retaining their No. 2 spot in the rankings, losing out on form to the Braves. Being at No. 3 this week feels like a bit of a discredit to head coach Scott Pickler and company. Y-D still sits in first place in the East Division, and while the lead is only a point over second placed Harwich, the Red Sox didn't relinquish their hold during this past week, going 2-3. The Red Sox pitching staff has led this team so far this season. Y-D's arms have combined to allow the fewest hits in the league (140), and opponent batting average (.210), and ranks second in the league in ERA (3.64), strikeouts (201). Smith Pinson (Kennesaw St) is the reigning Cape League Pitcher of the Week after six shutout innings in a win over Bourne, and the sophomore boasts a 2.40 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings. At the dish, Hunter Hines has absolutely mashed the baseball this season. He leads the league with eight home runs (no one else has more than three), and 26 RBIs (nobody else has more than 15). Y-D also boasts the fifth and sixth best hitters in the league, in Gonzaga's Enzo Apodaca (.313), and Seton Hall's Max Viera (.308).

4. Harwich Mariners (11-9, 3)

The Mariners remain in second place in the East Division, and like Bourne, find themselves down a tick in the rankings because of Bourne's rise. The Mariners have kept pace with the Red Sox after falling out of first place themselves, but have yet to reclaim the top spot. Virginia's Casey Saucke was activated on July 1 and has provided instant impact. In just three games, Saucke is hitting .400 (6-15), and has three runs, and three RBIs. The Mariners hope he can provide another threat behind Wingate's Seaver King in the Mariners lineup. King in nine games, has hit .471, driven in eight, and scored 12 runs. Princeton's Tom Chmielewski has a 1.59 ERA this season, which is good for fifth in the league. UNC Greensboro's Kennedy Jones (15) and Princeton's Matt Scannell (14) have combined to drive in nearly 33% of the team's RBIs on the season.

5. Orleans Firebirds (10-10, NR)

Welcome to the rankings Orleans. The Firebirds make their first appearance this season after going 6-4 over their last ten, including three of their last four, to seize third place in the East Division, and get back to .500. Worth noting, Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson just reached the 400 win plateau, in his 18th season at the helm of the Firebirds, after the 8-6 win over Hyannis on July 3rd. UC Irvine's Jo Oyama has been one of the best hitters in the league this season. He's slashing .364/.456/.509, and is currently second in the league in hitting. Right behind him with third best .350 average, is his teammate Andy Blake (Duke). The Firebirds also have one of the most dominant arms on Cape in Grand Canyon's Daniel Avitia who paces the Cape League with his 0.47 ERA. Avitia has only allowed a single earned run in his 19 innings. Opponents this season are hitting just .149 off him this year, and he's only allowed 10 hits across his four starts. Northwood University's Daniel Clarke has been a weapon for the Firebirds out of the bullpen, and has a 1.88 ERA in six appearances this summer.

Keep connected with the Cape. Download our free app.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Baseball League rankings