Cape Cod League Starts, Despite Late-Running NCAA Season

In the middle of a hectic weekend for baseball, with the draft in full swing and super regionals being played around the southeast, the Cape Cod League began its season June 10.

The late baseball schedule has caused teams in the Cape to use more temporary players for the opening weekend than in previous years, but the rosters seem to be forming into their final shape as the super regionals wrap up.

Still, the league features many of the top players from across the country in its 132nd season. Each team will play a 44-game regular season schedule, with a three-round playoff (all in the best-of-three format) starting Aug. 5. The league’s All-Star Game is on July 23 in Chatham.

In 2015, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox won their second straight Cape Cod League title by defeating the Hyannis HarborHawks, two games to one.

Last year’s league MVP was the second pick in this year’s draft, Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel. Fourteen of the 34 players drafted in the first round played in the Cape in 2014 and/or 2015. This summer will continue the trend, as the top players in college baseball congregate on the Cape.

Twenty-one sophomores from Baseball America’s preseason Top 50 list will play for teams in the Cape, and 19 freshmen from the preseason Top 50 list will head to the Northeast—including seven of the top 10. More were signed up to play for the Cape before deciding to play for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team instead.

Here’s how each team stacks up:

• Bourne Braves —no Top 50 sophomores, three top 50 freshmen (Brendon Little of State JC of Florida, Elih Marrero of Mississippi State, and Danny Reyes of Florida)
• Brewster Whitecaps—one Top 50 sophomore (Kel Johnson of Georgia Tech) and two Top 50 freshmen (Joe DeMers and A.J. Graffanino of Washington)
• Chatham Anglers—one Top 50 sophomore (Stuart Fairchild of Wake Forest) and one Top 50 freshman (John Aiello of Wake Forest)
• Cotuit Kettlers—one Top 50 sophomore (Jake Bivens of Michigan) and three Top 50 freshmen (Jared Padgett of Mississippi State, Justin Hooper of UCLA and Alonso Jones of Vanderbilt)
• Falmouth Commodores—six Top 50 sophomores (J.J. Matijevic of Arizona, Bryce Montes de Oca of Missouri, Tristan Gray and Glenn Otto of Rice and Turner Larkins and Corbin Martin of Texas A&M) and four Top 50 freshmen (Brady Singer of Florida, Cole Sands of Florida State, Cadyn Grenier of Oregon State and Luken Baker of Texas Christian)
• Harwich Mariners—three Top 50 sophomores (Joe Dunand and Tommy DeJuneas of N.C. State and Pavin Smith of Virginia) and two Top 50 freshmen (Jonathan India of Florida and Cal Raleigh of Florida State)
• Hyannis Harbor Hawks—no Top 50 sophomores or freshmen.
• Orleans Firebirds—one Top 50 sophomore (Adam Haseley of Virginia) and one Top 50 freshman (Chandler Day of Vanderbilt).
• Wareham Gatemen—four Top 50 sophomores (Luke Bonfield of Arkansas, Carl Chester of Miami, K.J. Harrison of Oregon State and Alex Destino of South Carolina) and two Top 50 freshmen (Joey Bart of Georgia Tech and Jonathan Engelmann of Michigan)
• Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox —three Top 50 sophomore (Michael Baumann of Jacksonville, Kevin Smith of Maryland and Will Toffey of Vanderbilt) and no Top 50 freshmen.

Other players to keep an eye on:

• Jake Mangum (Bourne) tore through the Southeastern Conference in his freshman year at Mississippi State, finishing with a .408 batting average and third-team All-America honors. He wasn’t a regular in the Bulldogs lineup until late March, but quickly helped turn the fortunes around for Mississippi State, helping the team to the super regionals.
• Evan Mendoza (Bourne) had a monster sophomore year for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack in hitting with .362/.417/.449. The second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree will face three Wolfpack teammates during the summer, as DeJuneas, Dunand and Brock Deatherage will all play for Harwich.
• Kevin Merrell (Falmouth) joins Falmouth after two great years at South Florida, hitting .346 and .320 in his two seasons with the Bulls. Merrell earned first-team all-conference in the American Athletic Conference.
• Nick Feight (Harwich) crushed opposing pitchers for UNC Wilmington all season, hitting .349/.410/.726 with 21 home runs and 91 RBIs, the most in the country. The third-team All-American also threw out 15 runners from behind the plate.
• Taylor Walls (Hyannis) is still playing with Florida State in super regionals, but reached base more than half the time in ACC play, something that helped him earn First-Team All-American honors from Baseball America. He is hitting .359/.480/.522 with six home runs and 14 stolen bases.
• Colton Shaver (Wareham) didn’t hit for as much power for Brigham Young as he did in his freshman year, a three-homer drop to 10, but he improved his average 21 points to .335 and increased his on-base percentage 45 points to .452.

Players who are still involved in the College World Series:

• Arizona—J.J. Matijevic
• Coastal Carolina—Jason Bilous, Bobby Holmes
• Florida —Jonathan India, Deacon Liput, Danny Reyes, Brady Singer, Jeremy Vasquez
• Florida State—Drew Carlton, Andrew Karp, Tyler Holton, Cal Raleigh, Cole Sands, Taylor Walls
• Miami—Carl Chester, Michael Mediavilla
• Oklahoma State—Garrett Benge, Jon Littell, Dustin Wiliams
• UC Santa Barbara—Clay Fisher, Kyle Nelson
• Texas Christian—Luken Baker, Nolan Brown, Austen Wade, Josh Watson
• Texas Tech—Orlando Garcia, Ty Harpenau, Erikson Lanning