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Falmouth to host All Star Game Saturday

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for immediate release: 23 July, 2003
      

Falmouth Commodores to host Cape League All Star Game Saturday


CAPE COD, Mass. – Guv Fuller Field, home of the Falmouth Commodores, will be the site of the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game, Saturday, July 26 at 6 p.m.


     The CCBL mid-summer classic is presented by the Banks of Cape Cod, including Fleet, Citizen’s Bank, Cape Cod Bank & Trust and Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank. Other supporting banks include Compass Bank, The Community Bank, and Cape Cod Cooperative Bank


Starting Pitchers Selected by League Managers

     Glenn Swanson (4-0 won-lost record, 1.43 ERA) of the Chatham A’s has been selected as the starting pitcher for the East, while Kyle Schmidt (1-1, 0.51 ERA) of the Bourne Braves is the starting hurler for the West.


East Squad Announced

     The starting lineup for the East squad includes first baseman Chris Malec (.299 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI) of Y-D, second baseman Hyung Cho (.325, 4, 19) of Y-D, shortstop Ryan Klosterman (.274, 2, 8) of Chatham, third baseman Brad McCann (.274, 2, 8) of Harwich, catcher Curtis Thigpen (.388, 0, 6) of Y-D, designated hitter Sean Gamble (.329, 1, 6) of Y-D, leftfielder Trevor Crowe (.308, 1, 14) of Y-D, centerfielder J.C. Holt (.317, 0, 4) of Brewster and right fielder Jon Zeringue (.280, 3, 14) of Orleans. East reserves include outfielder Jeff Frazier (.261, 1, 13) of Chatham, Billy Lockin (.247, 0, 6) of Orleans and Ben Crabtree (.255, 0, 11) of Brewster, along with pitchers Rhett James (4-1, 2.55) of Orleans, Justin Meier (1-1, 1.20) of Y-D, Aaron Rawl (3-0, 1.00) of Brewster, Jim Brauer (4-1, 2.13) of Y-D, David Purcey (3-1, 1.60) of Orleans, Zane Carlson (0-2, 2.40, 8 saves) of Chatham, Garrett Mock (2-0, 1.89) of Y-D, Justin Hedrick (3-2, 1.34) of Harwich and Brett Butler (2-2, 0.75) of Brewster, who is injured and will not play.


West All-Stars Chosen

     Starters for the West include first baseman Joey Metropoulos (.260, 8, 14) of Falmouth, second baseman Jonathan Tucker (.309, 1, 10) of Hyannis, shortstop John Hardy (.244, 0, 7) of Cotuit, third baseman Warner Jones (.354, 1 HR, 7 RBI) of Wareham, catcher Richard Mercado (.263, 0, 11) of Hyannis, DH Ryan Baty (.276, 0, 15) of Hyannis, leftfielder Justin Maxwell (.340, 1, 12) of Bourne, centerfielder Sam Fuld (.354, 0, 8) of Hyannis and right fielder Eric Nielson (.311, 1, 12) of Cotuit. West reserves include catcher Clint Sammons (.257, 0, 9) of Cotuit, infielder Darryl Lawhorn (.211, 5, 16) of Falmouth, outfielder Jon Armitage (.245, 4, 10) of Wareham and infielder Andy LaRoche (.314, 5, 15) of Wareham, who’s injured and will not play. Reserve pitchers include A.J. Shappi (3-0, 0.54) of Hyannis, Jeremy Sowers (3-2, 1.24) of Wareham, Garry Bakker (1-0, 1.77) of Cotuit, Billy Mohl (3-2, 1.66) of Falmouth, Eric Beattie (2-0, 0.57), Zach Jackson (5-0, 1.94) of Hyannis, Tim Grant (2-0, 0.72) of Bourne and Josh Deel (.2-2, 1.45) of Cotuit.


The Baseball Factory Home Run Hitting Contest

     The All-Star Game will be preceded by The Baseball Factory Home Run Hitting Contest at 4:30 p.m. and the national anthem will be sung by Massachusetts State Trooper Dan Clark. Participating in the home run derby are Chris Carter of Yarmouth-Dennis, Cesar Nicholas of Orleans and Matt Macri of Brewster of the East squad and league leader Metropoulos (8 HR), Collin Mahoney of Falmouth and Jon Armitage of Wareham.

CCBL All-Stars Recognized at Fenway Park

     The Cape League All-Stars were introduced during a pre-game ceremony at Fenway Park Tuesday before the Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox game. The players and field managers were recognized individually on the field and accepted plaques from former Cape Leaguer Kevin Millar of the Red Sox. The Barnstable Police Color Guard was part of the festivities. Cape League alumni put on a show during the game, as Millar (Harwich ’92) and catcher Jason Varitek (Hyannis ’91-93) belted back-to-back home runs over the Green Monster to lead the Red Sox to a 7-4 victory. Bill Mueller (Bourne ’92) added a two-run homer and Nomar Garciaparra (Orleans ’93) contributed an RBI single for Boston. Carlos Pena (Harwich ’96, Wareham ’97) was the hitting star for the Tigers with a homer, triple and a double.


Coca Cola Player and Pitcher of the Week

     Falmouth’s Joey Metropoulos is this week’s Coca Cola Player of the Week. Metropoulos hit everything that moved going 7-19 (.368), driving in six runs and scoring another five. He also went yard four times to extend his lead over the league. Brewster’s Phillip Davidson is this week’s Coca Cola Pitcher of the Week. Davidson kept the base paths virtually empty in his lone start of the week surrendering just one hit and one walk with six Ks in a complete game shutout at Bourne. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786 


Braves Cling to First in West

     Brave pitchers continue to dominate Cape League hitters. Bourne had four starters go at least seven innings this week preserving their hold on first place in the West. Dennis Bigley (Oral Roberts) went seven strong in Monday’s 12-inning, 5-5 tie against Hyannis. Bigley allowed just one run on four hits and struck out seven lowering his ERA to a mere .077. Eric Beattie (Tampa) went the distance earning his second win of the season, 3-2 over Falmouth Tuesday, yielding just one earned run while striking out 13. Kyle Schmidt (Georgia Tech) threw seven quality innings Thursday against Brewster allowing only one earned run while striking out eight but picked up his first loss on the season. Chris Shaver (William and Mary) earned his first win of the season against Wareham Friday. Shaver did not allow a run and struck out six over 8 1/3 innings of work. Justin Maxwell (Maryland) continues to tear through Cape League pitching going 12 for his last 30 and has hit safely in seven of his last eight games. Maxwell notched five multi-hit games last week and was kept off the base paths just once. He now leads the league in hitting (.351) and on base percentage (.435) and his is second with 40 hits. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786


Orleans Captures First in East

     The Orleans Cardinals take over first place in the Eastern Division this week. The Cardinals are on a five game winning streak, and have won eight of their last ten. Their record is now 18-13. Southpaw, Bill Bray (William and Mary), has no earned runs in 14 innings in 11 games. His streak ran from June 20 to July 18 going 2-0 and earning four saves. Will Startup (Georgia) holds on to a low ERA of 1.04, which is 8th among the pitching leaders. All-Star, Rhett James (Florida State) is tied with Zach Jackson (Louisville) of Hyannis with number of wins. Each led the league with 5 wins apiece. James also holds the third most strikeouts in the league with 51 over 42.1 innings pitched. Eastern All-Star teammate, Jon Zeringue (LSU), currently holds a .306 batting average, which is eighth among the top hitters of the league. Zeringue has 3 home runs, and 18 RBI’s, the second most in the league. Cesar Nicolas (Vanderbilt) trails Jon in RBI’s by one, with 17 on the year. Matt Cooksey (George Mason) has an impressive on-base percentage of .400. –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Hyannis Mets Win Another Over First Place Braves

     The lead in the West was cut to one point as the Hyannis Mets rallied for four runs in the 7th inning to beat the first place Bourne Braves, 7-6 Sunday. Richard Mercado’s two-run single was the key hit for the Mets. Hyannis dropped a 6-5 contest to Cotuit Saturday before 2,800 fans at Sandwich’s Fenton Field. Matt Sauls (Florida St.) was 2-for-3 for Hyannis while Jonathan Tucker (Florida) tripled in a run and scored in the first inning. Leading the charge for the second place Hyannis Mets are Tucker and lefty hurler Zach Jackson (Louisville). Tucker is ninth in the league in hitting (.304), third in hits (35) and runs (19) and first in stolen bases (13). Jackson leads the league with a perfect 5-0 record with a 1.95 ERA, including two straight wins over Bourne. Slugging outfielder Ben Harrison (Florida) is hitting .275, while first baseman Ryan Baty (Kansas) is hitting .272 with a team-leading 15 RBI. Outfielder Sam Fuld (Stanford) leads the team in hitting (.353). A.J. Shappe (Cal-Riverside) is 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA, while submariner Austin Tubb (S. Mississippi) leads the league in saves (10) and appearances (16). Tim Sabo (Seton Hall) is 4-2 with a 2.57 ERA. Tubb is out for the season with a shoulder injury. – John Garner, Jr., CCBL Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting


Cotuit Moving Up

     Third place Cotuit enjoyed four wins this week moving ahead of West Division rival Wareham. Josh Deel (Jacksonville) went seven innings striking out seven and allowed only one run before turning it over to the bullpen Monday against Falmouth. Eugene Espinelli (Texas), tied for the league lead in appearances, pitched a scoreless eighth to earn his first victory and Luke Hochevar (Tennessee) notched his first save. The Kettleers beat Wareham in 10 innings Wednesday 8-7, Yarmouth-Dennis 3-2 Friday, Hyannis at Fenton Field in Sandwich hosted by The Community Bank of Sandwich 6-5. Team batting leader, Eric Nielsen (UNLV), was named the games Most Valuable Player in Saturday’s victory in Sandwich. Nielsen went 2-5 with three runs batted in and crossed the plate once himself. Nielsen is currently riding a seven game hit streak in which he has gone 13-30, driving in six runs and scoring four. John Hardy (Arizona) stole his tenth base on the season in Thursday’s win over Y-D, which puts him among the leagues leaders in thefts. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786 


Wareham’s Jones Streak Snapped at 15 

     Warner Jones (Vanderbilt) had his 15 game hit streak ended in Friday’s 2-1 loss to Bourne. Over those 15 games Jones went 30-69, with 6 two-baggers, a triple, 6 RBI, 4 SB and saw his batting average skyrocket from .259 to .354. Jones leads the league with 48 hits and is fourth with a .340 batting average. Despite Wareham’s recent six-game skid, pitcher Jeremy Sowers (Vanderbilt) remains a bright spot for the Gatemen. Sowers has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his first seven starts (50.2 IP, 39 H, 13 R, 7 ER, 13 BB, 52 SO), posting 3-2 mark during that stretch and remains the league leader in innings (52 2/3) and is second in strikeouts with 52. As a staff, the Gatemen only trail West rival Bourne in pitching. All-Star Infielder Andy LaRoche (Grayson County), who spent most of the season among the league leaders in hitting, homeruns, and slugging was lost for the season after breaking his leg in a collision on the base path. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786


Metropoulos, Lawhorn and Mohl Make All-Star Team. 

     The Falmouth Commodores currently are fifth in the west with a .177-team batting average and a 3.96 team ERA. Joey Metropoulos (S. California) leads the league in home runs with eight. Darryl Lawhorn (East Carolina) is fourth in the league with five home runs and third in the league in RBIs with 16. Metropoulos, Lawhorn, and Billy Mohl (Tulane) for Falmouth were named to the All-Star roster yesterday and will be competing in the All-Star game Saturday, July 26, 2003 at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth. Chris Lewis (Stanford) drove in Brian Herandez (Duke) and Ryan Ruiz (UNLV) for a 4-3 lead in the eighth giving the Commodores the go ahead runs for the 5-3 win over the Mariners last night at White House Field. Metropoulos (S. California) hit his league leading 9th home run, a solo homer in the fifth. Metropoulos has homered in his last three games. Metropoulos is on a hot streak scoring both runs for Falmouth the previous night, hitting solo home runs in the fourth and sixth against Hyannis. On July 17, Metropoulos and Lawhorn (East Carolina) hit home runs for the Commodores beating Y-D 4-3. Lawhorn hit his fifth home run of the season, a two run homer in the sixth. Chris Tracz (Marist) allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out seven in seven innings for the win. On Tuesday evening quite the pitching battle took place between Eric Beattie and Billy Mohl as the Braves edged ahead of the Commodores 3-2 at Coady School Field. Mohl allowed just six hits coming into the game, yesterday Mohl only allowed eight for the Commodores. Beattie (Tampa) went nine innings for Bourne allowing just one earned run on six hits and one walk while striking out 13 for the Braves 3-2 win over the Commodores. Jeff Gogal (Montclair St.) had a great game against Cotuit’s Josh Deel (Jacksonville) Monday night, going seven innings giving up five hits striking out eight without a walk.


All-Star Thigpen has Ten Game Hitting Streak

     Curtis Thigpen (Texas) hit safely in 10 straight games. His streak lasted from July 7th to July 19th, in which he earned six RBI’s, three stolen bases, and two doubles, while going 16-35. His recent performance for the Red Sox helped him in being named to the East Division All-Star team as the starting catcher. Also named to the All-Star as Y-D position player, were Trevor Crowe (Arizona), Sean Gamble (Auburn), Chris Malec (UC Santa Barbara), and Hyung Cho (Houston). All four of these hitters are ranked in the top 10 hitters of the league, which explains why Yarmouth-Dennis holds the highest team batting average with .266. Cho is ranked third in the league for hitting with a .337 batting average. Hyung is tied for first for RBI’s with 19, and has hit four bombs and has 31 hits in 92 at-bats. Gamble is hitting a .312, seventh in the league, which is why he was named the Eastern All-Stars DH. Sean has scored 18 runs for the Red Sox. Malec and Crowe hold the ninth and tenth spot of top 10 hitters in the league, respectively. Malec’s batting average is .298, while Crowe’s is closely behind with a .295. Righty, Jordy Templett (Louisiana) has given up less than two earned runs or less in his last five consecutive starts. Y-D has slipped from first place in the Eastern Division to the second spot, after holding on to first for two weeks. The Red Sox are now 18-14 on the season. . –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Davidson Throws a One-Hitter

     Brewster’s Phillip Davidson (NC State) threw a one-hitter on July 17th against the Bourne Braves, to defeat the Braves 2-0. Davidson, who was selected as Pitcher of the
Week issued one walk and fanned six batters. Eastern All-Star, Aaron Rawl (South Carolina) allowed two runs of fewer in his last five starts. In 32 innings pitched he has allowed only five runs and struck out 32 batters. During Aaron’s stretch, he went 3-0 and posts a low 1.13 ERA. J.C. Holt (LSU), another Eastern All-Star, hit during 10 consecutive games. In this time, he raised his batting average from .250 to a .333. Holt is now fourth in the league for batting with a .326. In 92 at-bats, J.C. has 30 hits. Brewster holds the third spot in the Eastern Division with an overall record of 17-14. . –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Swanson Named Starting East All-Star Pitcher

     Glen Swanson (UC-Irvine) was named the starting pitching for Saturday July 26th’s All-Star Game in Falmouth on Saturday. Swanson has gone 4-0 on the year and posts a 1.43 ERA. Swanson is second in the league for wins and has stuck out 35 batters. Also from Chatham’s pitching staff, Zane Carlson (Baylor) made the Eastern All-Star team. Carlson is third in the league for saves with eight, and holds the all time CCBL record for saves. Anthony Raglani (George Washington) belted in two homeruns on consecutive nights. The first was at Veteran’s Field against Y-D on July 16th, the second came a night later against Harwich at White House Field. Anthony has 22 hits and holds a .259 batting average. Chatham stands fourth in the Eastern Division of the Cape Cod League, and holds an even record of 15-15. . –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Hedrick and McCann make All-Star Team 

     The Harwich Mariners currently stand fourth in the east with a team batting average of .204 and an ERA of 2.79. Shannon Sprouse (citadel) is fourth in the league in saves with 7. Justin Hedrick (Northeastern) is fourth in the league in strikeouts with 45. Hedrick and Brad McCann (Clemson) were both named to the All-Star team roster yesterday and will be competing Saturday, July 26 at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth. Wednesday evening Wyatt Toregas (Virginia Tech) hit a two run homer in the eighth to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead over the Whitecaps. Toregas went 2-for-4 that night off of Brewster’s Conor Lalor (S. Carolina). Mike Leonard’s two-run sixth inning single helped the Mariners to a 3-2 victory over the Hyannis Mets Tuesday. Justin Hedrick allowed seven hits and walked just one through seven innings allowing one earned run striking out 11. Hedrick was featured as the Cocoa Cola Pitcher of the Week having “Stymied opposing hitters in his only start of the week.” After battling against the rain and each other Monday night at Whitehouse Field, the game was called in the top of the 11th due to dampness. Harwich was lead by Brad McCann who went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. –Liz Logan CCPL PR (508) 945-9492 


Mid-Summer Classic Televised on Fox and CSTV
     The CCBL All-Star game will be televised on both Fox SportsNet New England (6 million homes) and College Sports Television (11 million homes on DirecTV) and also broadcast live on WCIB, Cool 102 (101.9 FM, 50,000 watts) and Free Teamline on (www.capecodbaseball.org).
Fox will air the game three times, including Wednesday, July 30 from 7:30 to 10 pm; Saturday, Aug. 2 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and Monday, Aug. 4 from 7:30 to 10 pm. CSTV will air the contest Friday, Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. Former Boston Red Sox and current Minnesota Wild announcer Bob Kurtz will provide play-by-play, while former ESPN announcer Jack Edwards of CSTV is color analyst. Boston Bureau Productions, which also does New England Patriots pre-season games, Patriots All-Access Show on Channel 5 in Boston and New England Revolution games, will produce the game.


All-Star Game Broadcast Live on WCIB, Cool 102

     The CCBL All-Star game will be broadcast live on WCIB, Cool 102 (101.9 FM, 50,000 watts). Larry Egan and John Garner will be the radio broadcasting team on Cool 102 and Free Teamline (www.capecodbaseball.org).


     Peter Gammons of ESPN will be the featured speaker at the CCBL All-Star Game banquet Friday at Ballymeade Country Club in North Falmouth, Mass.


     Any media wishing to obtain CCBL All-Star Game press credentials should contact CCBL intern Liz Logan at 508-295-8821 or by e-mail:  [email protected].

John Garner, Jr.
CCBL Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394 [email protected]