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Arquette’s walk-off bunt bids adieu to Chatham’s exiting players in 4-3 win over Orleans
There was only one thing racing through the minds of Anglers players and coaches as they frantically paraded around the infield while bouncing around a beaming Aiva Arquette — it was their final moment of jubilation together.
A walk-off, extra-inning win over Orleans signified the conclusion to Austin Overn and Luke Cantwell’s Chatham career. The two are foundational, day one pieces to the A’s 2024 squad: Overn as the team batting champion, and Cantwell as the bonafide captain of the dugout.
Everyone knew it was their final game before leaving to prepare for the MLB Draft. Chatham’s players and coaching staff met in the dugout before warmups. Both Overn (USC) and Cantwell (Pittsburgh), along with others leaving, gave speeches to the team. Overn said pregame that Cantwell got emotional as he reflected about his time on the Cape.
“I know that there was a piece of (Cantwell and Overn) that really wanted to make sure they left on a great note,” said A’s manager Jeremy “Sheets” Sheetinger.
The stakes were somber early. But the ending was pure ecstasy.
Arquette laid down a walk-off bunt in the 10th inning of Chatham’s (13-11, East) 4-3 victory over Orleans (7-17, East), a proper send-off for Overn and Cantwell. It increased the Anglers’ winning streak to three and their 2024 record over the Firebirds to 4-0 while further entrenching them atop the East Division standings, where they rank second.
The victory may have occurred just past the midseason mark. Yet, with a major chunk of the core set to leave, the Anglers’ backs were firmly against the wall.
“There was a lot of motivation heading into the latter half of those innings,” Chatham infielder Kyle Lodise (Georgia Tech), who’s also been with the A’s all summer, said. “That win was for those guys.”
A shutdown bullpen and timely at-bats ultimately propelled the Anglers over the Firebirds for their second walk-off finish of July. At times, however, Orleans had Chatham on the ropes.
The two sides traded runs early. The Firebirds struck in the first inning on an Evan Griffis RBI fielder’s choice groundout against A’s starter Ryan Jenkins (St. Mary’s), but John Bay (Austin Peay) answered with a sacrifice fly in the third to square the game at 1-1.
Orleans looked to be pulling away in the fourth when Mike Mancini tattooed a second-pitch breaking ball into right field and the ball slid under the glove of Ashton Larson (LSU), which caused it to roll all the way to the fence. Two runs scored on an eventual Mancini triple.
The A’s were down 3-1 at that point, the first time this summer where they trailed the Firebirds by multiple runs. Orleans even had its best arm — Callan Fang, who entered the game with the third-lowest ERA in the CCBL — on the mound in relief.
Chatham didn’t miss a beat in its early response. It tied the game at 3-3 through five innings courtesy of a fourth-inning solo homer to center field by Lodise and an RBI single from Arquette. Fang, Alex Kranzler and Luke Jackson held the A’s scoreless across the sixth through the ninth innings, though.
In the meantime, the Anglers’ bullpen provided the blueprint for a late finish. Chance Cox (Austin Peay), Tanner Franklin (Tennessee), Hayden Murphy (Auburn) and Xavier Richards (Sacramento State) combined to throw six innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. The latter three of whom didn’t even allow a single base knock.
Sheetinger’s postgame message was centered around his relievers’ performances, crediting them for Chatham’s ensuing late heroics.
“Those guys were made for those moments,” Sheetinger said of the bullpen. “We don’t win that game without them giving us a chance to breathe.”
Heading into the 10th, the Anglers and Firebirds had played like one in the same. Starters who teetered on the edge but didn’t blow up. Lineups that delivered timely hits yet couldn’t sustain consistency. Bullpens that kept the opposition at bay down the stretch.
It set up a 3-3 tie through regulation as the contest at a dark, half-full but invigorated Veterans Field went to the 10th inning. Murphy and Richards paired for a scoreless top half, setting up Chatham’s offense for a walk-off chance.
Yet the Anglers didn’t even need a strenuous feat from one of their own players. All it took was an errant throw into the right-field bullpen.
With Ike Irish (Auburn) on second base as the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, Arquette laid down a bunt to move the runner to prime scoring position. The ball bounced near the third-base line and was fielded by Orleans pitcher Itsuki Takamoto. Irish didn’t stop at third. Takamoto’s throw to first sailed way above the head of first baseman Jack Gurevitch.
Chatham’s dugout and bullpen spilled onto the infield and gleefully mobbed Arquette. The shortstop said on the Anglers Extra Postgame Show that it was his first time delivering a game-winning bunt. He was simply playing like there’s no tomorrow. And that was his last time to share a timeless moment in an Angler uniform with Overn and Cantwell.
“Oh … I can’t even say,” Arquette blurted, struggling to find words for how much his fellow day one teammates mean to him. “It was great to be a part of their journey.”
Sheetinger enjoys seeing his guys embark on grander ventures. He obviously wishes they’d stay and add to what the A’s are building, but he knows MLB is their ultimate mission.
The first-year manager said after the win that he’s proud of what he saw from Overn and Cantwell. He watched Overn overcome a difficult sophomore season at USC to blossom in the Cape and boost his draft stock. He watched Cantwell become the “heart and soul” of Chatham, Sheetinger said.
It’ll be tough to replace them, yet Sheetinger is steadfast that others will step up to fill the void of the Anglers’ original core. As he looked around Veterans Field postgame, Sheetinger was just happy that the guys who were leaving sparked a raucous environment on a late night in Chatham for one last time.
“That, to me, is a dynamic that we really wanted to create,” Sheetinger said. “It’s that communal feel.”
The Anglers continue the rest of the summer without a pair of essential pieces to the puzzle. For now, though, a walk-off win will suffice.
“It's been a very sad and upsetting two or three days,” Lodise said. “But I feel like going out like this is the best way to do it.”
A walk-off, extra-inning win over Orleans signified the conclusion to Austin Overn and Luke Cantwell’s Chatham career. The two are foundational, day one pieces to the A’s 2024 squad: Overn as the team batting champion, and Cantwell as the bonafide captain of the dugout.
Everyone knew it was their final game before leaving to prepare for the MLB Draft. Chatham’s players and coaching staff met in the dugout before warmups. Both Overn (USC) and Cantwell (Pittsburgh), along with others leaving, gave speeches to the team. Overn said pregame that Cantwell got emotional as he reflected about his time on the Cape.
“I know that there was a piece of (Cantwell and Overn) that really wanted to make sure they left on a great note,” said A’s manager Jeremy “Sheets” Sheetinger.
The stakes were somber early. But the ending was pure ecstasy.
Arquette laid down a walk-off bunt in the 10th inning of Chatham’s (13-11, East) 4-3 victory over Orleans (7-17, East), a proper send-off for Overn and Cantwell. It increased the Anglers’ winning streak to three and their 2024 record over the Firebirds to 4-0 while further entrenching them atop the East Division standings, where they rank second.
The victory may have occurred just past the midseason mark. Yet, with a major chunk of the core set to leave, the Anglers’ backs were firmly against the wall.
“There was a lot of motivation heading into the latter half of those innings,” Chatham infielder Kyle Lodise (Georgia Tech), who’s also been with the A’s all summer, said. “That win was for those guys.”
A shutdown bullpen and timely at-bats ultimately propelled the Anglers over the Firebirds for their second walk-off finish of July. At times, however, Orleans had Chatham on the ropes.
The two sides traded runs early. The Firebirds struck in the first inning on an Evan Griffis RBI fielder’s choice groundout against A’s starter Ryan Jenkins (St. Mary’s), but John Bay (Austin Peay) answered with a sacrifice fly in the third to square the game at 1-1.
Orleans looked to be pulling away in the fourth when Mike Mancini tattooed a second-pitch breaking ball into right field and the ball slid under the glove of Ashton Larson (LSU), which caused it to roll all the way to the fence. Two runs scored on an eventual Mancini triple.
The A’s were down 3-1 at that point, the first time this summer where they trailed the Firebirds by multiple runs. Orleans even had its best arm — Callan Fang, who entered the game with the third-lowest ERA in the CCBL — on the mound in relief.
Chatham didn’t miss a beat in its early response. It tied the game at 3-3 through five innings courtesy of a fourth-inning solo homer to center field by Lodise and an RBI single from Arquette. Fang, Alex Kranzler and Luke Jackson held the A’s scoreless across the sixth through the ninth innings, though.
Kyle Lodise (Georgia Tech) rounds the bases following his solo home run in Chatham's 4-3 win over Orleans. Photograph by Ella Tovey
In the meantime, the Anglers’ bullpen provided the blueprint for a late finish. Chance Cox (Austin Peay), Tanner Franklin (Tennessee), Hayden Murphy (Auburn) and Xavier Richards (Sacramento State) combined to throw six innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. The latter three of whom didn’t even allow a single base knock.
Sheetinger’s postgame message was centered around his relievers’ performances, crediting them for Chatham’s ensuing late heroics.
Heading into the 10th, the Anglers and Firebirds had played like one in the same. Starters who teetered on the edge but didn’t blow up. Lineups that delivered timely hits yet couldn’t sustain consistency. Bullpens that kept the opposition at bay down the stretch.
It set up a 3-3 tie through regulation as the contest at a dark, half-full but invigorated Veterans Field went to the 10th inning. Murphy and Richards paired for a scoreless top half, setting up Chatham’s offense for a walk-off chance.
Yet the Anglers didn’t even need a strenuous feat from one of their own players. All it took was an errant throw into the right-field bullpen.
With Ike Irish (Auburn) on second base as the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, Arquette laid down a bunt to move the runner to prime scoring position. The ball bounced near the third-base line and was fielded by Orleans pitcher Itsuki Takamoto. Irish didn’t stop at third. Takamoto’s throw to first sailed way above the head of first baseman Jack Gurevitch.
Chatham’s dugout and bullpen spilled onto the infield and gleefully mobbed Arquette. The shortstop said on the Anglers Extra Postgame Show that it was his first time delivering a game-winning bunt. He was simply playing like there’s no tomorrow. And that was his last time to share a timeless moment in an Angler uniform with Overn and Cantwell.
“Oh … I can’t even say,” Arquette blurted, struggling to find words for how much his fellow day one teammates mean to him. “It was great to be a part of their journey.”
Sheetinger enjoys seeing his guys embark on grander ventures. He obviously wishes they’d stay and add to what the A’s are building, but he knows MLB is their ultimate mission.
The first-year manager said after the win that he’s proud of what he saw from Overn and Cantwell. He watched Overn overcome a difficult sophomore season at USC to blossom in the Cape and boost his draft stock. He watched Cantwell become the “heart and soul” of Chatham, Sheetinger said.
It’ll be tough to replace them, yet Sheetinger is steadfast that others will step up to fill the void of the Anglers’ original core. As he looked around Veterans Field postgame, Sheetinger was just happy that the guys who were leaving sparked a raucous environment on a late night in Chatham for one last time.
“That, to me, is a dynamic that we really wanted to create,” Sheetinger said. “It’s that communal feel.”
The Anglers continue the rest of the summer without a pair of essential pieces to the puzzle. For now, though, a walk-off win will suffice.
“It's been a very sad and upsetting two or three days,” Lodise said. “But I feel like going out like this is the best way to do it.”
