The Red Sox showed why they were the best team on the Cape all season long Saturday with an impressive 4-3 win over Chatham in a back and forth affair at Red Wilson Field.
After Chatham tied it in the top of the ninth, Y-D won it in the bottom half. Rob Wooten (UNC), on for his second inning of relief, gave up a leadoff single to Aaron Luna (Rice). With one out, Collin Cowgill (Kentucky) walked and then Matt Long (Santa Clara), 0 for 3 in his first 3 at-bats, made up for it in his fourth with a game winning single.
Y-D now leads the best-of-three Eastern Division Championship Series 1-0. Game two will be Sunday at 7pm at Veteran's Field.
Closer Nick Cassavechia (Baylor), Cape League Reliever of the Year, could not seal the deal for Y-D in the ninth. Leading 3-2, Addison Johnson (Clemson) singled off the sidearming righty with one out and moved to third on a Kyle Seager (UNC) single. After Jermaine Curtis (UCLA) struck out, Cassavechia walked Allan Dykstra (Wake) and Tim Federowicz (UNC) was the last hope for the A's. Before Tim even got the chance to be the hero, the A's tied the game on a slider that got by catcher Buster Posey (Florida St.). Federowicz then flew out to end the rally.
Alex White (UNC) threw seven stupendous innings before tiring in the eighth. Trailing 2-1, Y-D tied it thanks to a Cowgill leadoff homer. After Grant Green (USC) walked, back-to-back singles by Posey and Jason Castro (Stanford) gave Y-D the lead. Wooten relieved his Tarheel teammate with one out and runners on the corners and worked out of the jam, but the damage had been done.
With the score tied at 1 in the top of the sixth, Red Sox manager Scott Pickler knew it would not take much offense to win the ballgame. After Curtis tripled with one out, Pick brought the infield in with Dykstra at the plate. Y-D starter Eddie Burns (Georgia Tech) got ahead of Dykstra 0-2, but then Allan fought back and worked a walk. The middle infielders moved back as Federowicz came to the plate and the Tarheel catcher smashed a single past shortstop Gordon Beckham (Georgia) into leftfield to give the A's a 2-1 lead after six.
Chatham got a run in the first on a hit, a walk and a wild pitch. Johnson, who singled to leadoff the game, scored the first run.
The teams will head down Route 6 for game two Sunday at Veteran's Field. Ace Tom Milone (USC) will start for the A's against Scott Green (Kentucky). First pitch is set for 7pm.
Box Score
New, improved live video will be available for Sunday's contest and all Chatham home games the rest of the way. The A's have reached an agreement with Teamline, a company that has provided video for A's baseball in the past. Look for the new links on the Chatham homepage Sunday.