What you need to know about the Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs
The final week of the Cape Cod Baseball League is here.
On Sunday, the East and West Division finals began. In the East, the Brewster Whitecaps hosted the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox while Bourne Braves welcomed the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
Brewster remained undefeated in postseason play with a 6-3 win over the Red Sox while Bourne squeaked out a 4-3 win over Hyannis.
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Brewster Whitecaps 6, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox 3 (Brewster leads 1-0 in series)
Virginia Tech's Carson Demartini set the tone for the Whitecaps from his leadoff spot. After striking out in his first at-bat of the day, the infielder torched Y-D the rest of the way. Demartini finished 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs. He launched a pair of two-run home runs.
Demartini's teammate, Florida Atlantic's Dylan Goldstein, paved the way for the long ball when he belted a first-inning solo shot. Oklahoma State's David Mendham hit Brewster's fourth home run of the day with a solo blast in the seventh inning.
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After falling behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Y-D took a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. In the second inning, Caden Connor (California State Fullerton) doubled home Homer Bush Jr. (Grand Canyon). Woody Hadeen (California Irvine) scored on an RBI sacrifice fly from Braden Montgomery (Stanford) in the third inning. Hadeen was the only Y-D player to have multiple hits, as he finished 3-for-4.
After Brewster took a 3-2 lead in the third inning, Y-D's Jonathon Long (Long Beach) tied the game with a solo home run.
Brewster relief pitchers Carson Liggett (Louisville) and Jack Stroud (Texas State) shut the door on a comeback bid with five innings of shutout relief. Liggett allowed a run in his first inning of work but tossed three innings of one-run ball to earn the win. Stroud walked one over three innings of work to earn the save without allowing a hit.
In the loss, Shaun Gamelin (Rhode Island College) didn't allow a run over 1⅔ innings of work. He struck out three while allowing one hit and no walks.
Bourne Braves 4, Hyannis Harbor Hawks 3 (Bourne leads 1-0 in series)
The Braves scored three runs in the first inning but it was the pitching of Vanderbilt's Bryce Cunningham and James Madison's Sean Culkin that led Bourne to the win.
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Cunningham got the start and tossed 4 2/3 innings allowing three runs (one earned) and striking out eight. He allowed three hits and three walks before turning the ball over to Culkin, who threw 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Culkin allowed four hits and no walks while striking out three.
The Braves took an early lead when Matt Shaw (Maryland) singled home Bryce Eblin (Alabama) in the first inning. A ground-rule double from Evan Sleight (Rutgers) plated Shaw and Sleight scored on a dropped third strike to make it 3-0 in the opening frame.
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Hyannis scored two runs in the top of the third to cut the deficit to one. A bases-loaded walk to Ildefonso Ruiz (San Diego State) brought home Michigan State's Mitch Jebb. Ruiz also had an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Bourne's Christopher Brito (Rutgers) scored what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the third inning on a wild pitch.
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Rikuu Nishida (Oregon) and Cole McConnell (Louisiana Tech) both had two-hit days in the loss. Harvard's Jay Driver had a solid start in defeat, going six innings and allowing four runs while striking out nine. Holland Townes (Southern Mississippi) threw two shutout innings of relief.
What's next: Monday
Brewster at Yarmouth-Dennis, 3 p.m. (Red Wilson Field)
Bourne at Hyannis, 6 p.m. (McKeon Park)
Contact Chris McDaniel at cmcdaniel@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisMcDaniel88.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs: Sunday's scores and highlights
