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188-606: The Kettleers most recently won the CCBL championship in 2019 when they defeated the Harwich Mariners two games to none to win the best of three championship series. The title was the team's seventeenth overall, including two separate strings of four consecutive titles (1961–64 and 1972–75). Cotuit's record of fifteen titles in the modern era (1963–present) and seventeen overall is unmatched among CCBL franchises. The team has been led since 2004 by field manager Mike Roberts . Baseball in

376-434: A .395 batting average and set a modern-era league record with 64 hits. The team also featured the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect in ace hurler Brian Denman, second baseman and future major leaguer Gary Redus , and slugger Joe Rietano, who crushed 14 homers on the season. The Kettleers faced Wareham in the playoff semi-finals, and took Game 1, 11–8, getting two homers by Bender and a three-run shot by Redus. Cotuit completed

564-460: A 1.89 ERA, and Gandy tossed a no-hitter in a 1–0 victory over Wareham . Tom Walter took over for Coutts in 1997 and 1998, but Coutts was back in 1999 and led the team to another first-place finish. The '99 team starred CCBL Hall of Famer Garrett Atkins , an all-star infielder who had batted .383 for the Kettleers in 1998, and returned to have another all-star season in 1999. Cotuit met Wareham in

752-496: A 15–11 win in Game 2, knocking Y-D for 24 hits in a slugfest that featured three homers by Y-D's league MVP Steve Balboni . The Red Sox battled back to even the series, however, taking Game 3, 10–1, and Game 4, 5–4. In the decisive Game 5 at Lowell Park, the Kettleers found themselves down 3–0 in the third, but starter Kevin Waldrop allowed just two more Y-D hits over the final six innings, and

940-403: A 2-run walk-off poke to right-centerfield. For his clutch pinch-hit, Fleury was named playoff co-MVP with Jason Stidham, who had driven in seven runs for Harwich in Game 1 of the title series. Throughout the 2010s, Harwich continued to be piloted by Steve Englert, the longest-tenured manager in team history. The club reached the playoffs in eight of ten years in the decade, finishing first in

1128-600: A 2.46 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 80.1 innings, and pitched two shutout innings and was the winning pitcher in the CCBL All-Star Game. Fellow all-star pitcher Scott Kamieniecki went 4–1 for the Mariners with a 2.14 ERA and 54 strikeouts. Casey Close was a dual threat, batting .329 with six home runs while going 2–0 with a 3.19 ERA on the mound. Close returned to Harwich in 1985 and again enjoyed an all-star campaign with 11 home runs and 30 RBI. CCBL Hall of Famer Scott Hemond

1316-484: A 3–2 count. The Mariners qualified for postseason play only once in the 1990s, reaching the title series in 1997 under skipper Chad Holbrook , who had played in the Cape League in 1992 for Chatham . Holbrook's squad dropped the 1997 finals series to Wareham , a team that starred a familiar face: league MVP and CCBL Hall of Famer Carlos Peña , who had played for Harwich the previous season. Notable players during

1504-431: A 4–0 record with a 1.40 ERA in 30 innings, striking out 35 while walking only five. The 2020 CCBL season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic . 2021 Firebird Chase DeLauter tied for tops in the CCBL with nine home runs and claimed the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect award. In 2022, the trio of Orleans moundsmen Bryce Warrecker, Josh Allen and Chris Clark combined to no-hit Chatham , with starter Warrecker,

1692-413: A 4–0 victory. CCBL Hall of Famer Fred Ebbett took over the Mariners' managerial post in 1971 after over 20 highly successful seasons coaching baseball at Harwich High School. Ebbett skippered the team in 1971 and 1972, then again from 1975 to 1977. He went on to serve as CCBL Commissioner from 1984 to 1996, where he was a driving force behind the league's momentous transition to an all-wooden bat league in

1880-490: A 5–0 shutout win. The Kettleers completed the sweep at home in Game 2 behind a two-run blast by league MVP Nick Gonzales , and a solo shot by Parker Chavers in the 5–3 win that sent Cotuit to the championship series in search of its 17th league title. The 2019 CCBL finals pitted the Kettleers against the Harwich Mariners . Game 1 at Whitehouse Field was a marathon five-hour affair, featuring 6 scoreless innings of relief in extra innings by pitcher Richard Brereton. Gonzales ended

2068-542: A 9–7 win. In Game 4 at Lowell Park, the Kettleers again took an early lead, up 6–0 after three, on their way to an 8–1 win that secured the team's 10th league title. Innis returned for the 1982 season, and was all-league once again, posting a 1.96 ERA with 54 strikeouts. He was joined by CCBL Hall of Famer Terry Steinbach , who led the league with a stunning .431 batting average and was named league MVP. The 1983 Kettleers featured another pair of CCBL Hall of Famers. Outfielder Greg Lotzar practically duplicated Steinbach's feat of

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2256-539: A center fielder who slugged three triples in a single game for the Mariners, and blasted a homer in the CCBL All-Star Game at Eldredge Park . In 1968, CCBL Hall of Fame manager John Carroll took the reins and led the Mariners to a 26–13 record, winning the Lower Cape Division in the team's final season at Brooks Park. The team included pitcher Bill Richardson , who went on to become the Governor of New Mexico and

2444-456: A colossal shot off the right-centerfield bandstand at Eldredge Park. The 2009 season saw the team change its nickname, following an agreement between the Cape League and Major League Baseball which stated that if a CCBL team shared a nickname with an MLB team, the team would have to obtain its uniforms through a Major League Baseball Properties-licensed vendor. Wanting to maintain its independence and longstanding relationship with local vendors,

2632-450: A day-night playoff doubleheader , Orleans once again met Bourne for the title. Game 1 at Eldredge Park was scoreless going into the bottom of the ninth when the speedy Burriss scored the game's only run in dramatic walk-off fashion by tagging up on a foul pop. The Braves proceeded to clobber the Cards in Game 2 at Bourne by a score of 10–1. Orleans answered early in Game 3, scoring nine runs in

2820-517: A decisive Game 3. The Kettleers sent 6-foot-7 righty Mike Schultz to the hill, and staked him to an early 4–0 lead on an RBI single and homer by Atkins. Schultz made it hold up, tossing a complete game in Cotuit's 7–1 victory. Atkins was named playoff MVP of the Kettleers' 14th championship campaign. Garrett Quinn piloted the Kettleers to a first-place finish atop the West Division in 2002, as Cotuit set

3008-429: A donation of former Major League Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent, Jr. in memory of his father, Fay Vincent, Sr. The Commissioner had been a longtime summer resident of Harwich and a fan of the Mariners and the CCBL, and wished to honor his late father who had been the baseball captain at Yale University in 1931. The scoreboard was dedicated on July 6, 1998 as part of "Fay Vincent Night at Whitehouse Field", and

3196-515: A formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius. The league was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. Harwich joined Orleans , Chatham , Yarmouth and a team from Otis Air Force Base in the Lower Cape Division. The Harwich teams of the mid- and late-1960s featured several notable players. Harwich's native son and Boston College hurler Peter Ford spent four summers with

3384-468: A formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius. The league was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. The Orleans team was dubbed the Orleans Cardinals , and joined Harwich , Chatham , Yarmouth and a team from Otis Air Force Base in the Lower Cape Division. Orleans

3572-400: A four-hitter as the club scratched out a 4–2 victory to take a commanding series lead. Orleans completed the sweep on the road as Tucker posted his second win of the series, fanning 13 Cotuit batters before Roy Bruninghaus relieved him with one out in the ninth, to nail down a 6–3 Orleans win that clinched the title. For the first time since joining the revived league, Orleans failed to reach

3760-417: A game. The Mariners finished the regular season in third place, but eliminated Hyannis two games to one in the playoff semi-finals to earn a berth in the best-of-five title series against top-seeded Cotuit . In Game 1 of the 1983 championship series, the Mariners came out on the wrong end of a 1–0 pitchers' duel, won on an RBI single by Kettleer Will Clark . Games 2 and 3 were played as a doubleheader. In

3948-508: A hiatus during the years of World War II , the Cape League was reconstituted in 1946, with Harwich joining the Lower Cape Division. In the inaugural season of the revived league, Harwich defeated Barnstable in the playoffs for the Lower Cape title, but was shut down by Upper Cape champ Falmouth in the league championship series. The 1946 season also featured the league's first All-Star Game, held at Harwich's Brooks Park. The contest matched

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4136-470: A hit!" became a signature call at Lowell Park. Kettleers took home top honors in 2017 as Greyson Jenista was named league MVP, and Griffin Conine , son of former major leaguer and Orleans Cardinal Jeff Conine , was named the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect. The 2019 Kettleers finished the regular season with a .500 record, and appeared primed for an early playoff exit after a 10-inning 8–7 loss in Game 1 of

4324-531: A home crowd in Game 2, getting a homer and a pair of singles from Stan Wilcox on the way to a 5–3 victory that secured the club's seventh CCBL crown in 11 years. CCBL Hall of Famer Art Quirk posted a remarkable 9–0 record in 1958 with a 1.12 earned run average as a pitcher for Orleans, while also leading the league with a .475 batting average . Quirk went on to play in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Senators . In 1959, Orleans reached

4512-571: A homer in his first at-bat for the Cardinals. Though the younger Fisk played in only a handful of games for the Cardinals, he made a lasting impression. Carlton was drafted in 1967 by the hometown Boston Red Sox , where he was a perennial all-star throughout the 1970s In 2000, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York . In 1967, the CCBL All-Star Game

4700-499: A left fielder from Holy Cross . Cotuit finished the regular season with a dominating 24–4 record, and dropped Barnstable in the first round of the Upper Cape playoffs. In the Upper Cape finals, the Kettleers swept Falmouth in two straight, with Mayo tossing a one-hit shutout in the Game 2 clincher. In the Cape League title series, Cotuit was matched up against the Lower Cape champion Yarmouth Indians , who had won CCBL crowns in two of

4888-528: A model franchise, but also as "the singular driving force behind the Cape League’s success." Cotuit got its first taste of postseason action in 1949. The team was led by CCBL Hall of Famer Jim Perkins, a burly slugger who led the league with a .432 batting average and 12 homers, and was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not! for his feat that season of belting two grand slams in a single inning. Cotuit finished atop

5076-486: A new Cape League record by winning its first 13 games of the season, a streak which included a combined no-hitter against Chatham at Lowell Park by Kettleer moundsmen Joe Little, Jarred Stuart, Kevin Ool, and Josh Banks . The club was led by league MVP Pete Stonard, who led the league with a .348 batting average, and third baseman Brian Snyder, who took home All-Star Game MVP honors for his home run and 3-for-4, 3-RBI performance in

5264-429: A perfect game by just two walks and benefited from outfielder Glenn Fernandez's home run-robbing catch at the fence of a smash by Kettleers' slugger Greg Vaughn . The Cardinals won their first league championship of the modern era in 1986. The team featured slugger Gary Alexander, who hit .313 with 12 home runs, and ace hurlers and future major leaguers Jeff Conine and Mike Ignasiak . Led by manager John Castleberry,

5452-424: A season highlighted by Chad Bell 's no-hitter against Chatham , Roberts again led the 2009 Kettleers to the league championship, but the club was shut down by Bourne . Roberts' 2010 Kettleers finished the regular season with a losing record, but qualified for the playoffs out of the third place slot in the West Division. After early-round playoff series sweeps of Falmouth and Wareham , the Kettleers met Y-D in

5640-589: A second baseman who hit .353 on the season. Harwich boasted the league's home run derby champs in 2012 and 2014 as JaCoby Jones and Sal Annunziata claimed the honors. Massachusetts native and multi-sport athlete Pat Connaughton pitched briefly for Harwich in 2013, and went on to a career in the National Basketball Association . Another multi-sport athlete, Kyler Murray of the University of Oklahoma , played for Harwich in 2017 and went on to win

5828-560: A single team won both halves and was declared overall champion. In the other two split seasons (1933 and 1935), a postseason playoff series was contested between the two half-season champions to determine the overall champion. * Regular seasons split into first and second halves are designated as (A) and (B). (*) - Indicates co-recipient Italics - Indicates All-Star Game Home Run Hitting Contest participant (1988 to present) (*) - Season count excludes 2020 CCBL season cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic . The Firebirds were one of

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6016-492: A team of CCBL all-stars against a team of Boston Red Sox tryout players chosen by scouts of the major league team. In the 1949 and 1950 seasons, Harwich fielded two entries in the Cape League, as the Cape Verdean Club of Harwich joined the league's Lower Cape Division. Harwich did not reach the league title series again until 1962 when the team was downed by Upper Cape powerhouse Cotuit after defeating Chatham for

6204-412: A three-run bomb by Steve Finken in a four-run first inning, and Kite went the distance on the hill, striking out 13 Kettleers en route to a 4–2 win. Finken hit a two-run dinger in Game 2 at Lowell Park , and teammate Tom Boyce added a pair of homers, but it wasn't enough as Cotuit prevailed, 9–8 in 10 innings. Cotuit's Troy Chacon allowed only two Mariners hits in Game 3 at Whitehouse Field, but one of them

6392-515: A three-run homer by Jim Gage in a 13–5 rout. Game 2 at home was another Orleans romp, as hurler Bill McCrae tossed a three-hitter in a 12–1 win. Orleans was down on the road, 6–5, in the eighth inning of Game 3, when Peterson brought in Bruninghaus to relieve starter John Linnell. Bruninghaus escaped the jam, and proceeded to tie the game himself with a homer in the top of the ninth. He went on to no-hit Sagamore for three more innings, while Orleans put

6580-530: A three-year league all-star who threw a no-hitter for Orleans on July 4, 1965. Yankus later managed Orleans from 1974 to 1980. The 1965 season also saw CCBL Hall of Famer John Awdycki lead the league with a .407 batting average. In 1966, University of New Hampshire star Calvin Fisk played first base for Orleans. Near the end of the season, Calvin's younger brother Carlton Fisk joined him in Orleans, and proceeded to belt

6768-524: A two-run homer down the line in the sixth, and the Cards walked away with a 5–1 win to sweep the series and claim the crown, with Ciaccio taking home playoff MVP honors. The Cardinals' 1994 team starred league Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner Dave Shepard and CCBL Hall of Famer Todd Helton , who won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby at Eldredge Park and went on to enjoy an illustrious major league career that led to his 2024 induction into

6956-582: A wild pitch in the fifth that put the Kettleers up by the final 2–1 tally. Cotuit took the decisive final game on the strength of Vaughn's three-run homer in the sixth, claiming its 11th championship crown. Cotuit's playoff hero Vaughn was back in 1985, and took home league MVP honors, batting .343 with 10 homers and 15 stolen bases. The '85 Kettleers also boasted the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect in John Ramos , as well as future major leaguer Rubén Amaro Jr. , and ace hurler Grady Hall. The team finished second in

7144-439: Is a history museum and hall of fame honoring past players, coaches, and others who have made outstanding contributions to the CCBL. Below are the inductees who spent all or part of their time in the Cape League with Harwich. * During the CCBL's 1923–1939 era, postseason playoffs were a rarity. In most years, the regular season pennant winner was simply crowned as the league champion. However, there were four years in which

7332-530: Is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Field in the historic village of Harwich Center. Harwich has won three CCBL championships in the 21st century, most recently in 2024 by defeating the Bourne Braves two games to one to win the best of three championship series. The title was the team's fifth in

7520-408: The 1936 World Series champion Yankees . Orleans withdrew from the league after the 1934 season due to funding issues, but returned in 1937. Massachusetts Governor Charles F. Hurley was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to open the 1937 season in Orleans as the team faced Harwich . Orleans fielded a team again in 1938, but then was forced to withdraw from the league again for

7708-538: The Boston Red Sox in 1910 and 1911, and who piloted the Orleans team in 1929 and 1930. Al Weston and Ed Wineapple played for Orleans in 1931. Weston was a former Boston College star who had played with the major league Boston Braves in 1929, and Wineapple a 1929 Washington Senator who had played for Osterville in the CCBL for three years previously. Lawrence, Massachusetts native Johnny Broaca played for Orleans from 1930 to 1932, and later pitched for

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7896-503: The Falmouth Commodores , and the Kettleers seemed to be rolling along, taking both Games 1 and 2. The Commodores responded by taking the next two to even the series and send it to a decisive Game 5 at Falmouth. The Kettleers grabbed the crown with a 14–3 romp that featured six Cotuit homers, including two by O'Neill and a grand slam by Barry Butera. With a fourth consecutive CCBL title, McCarthy's Kettleers had matched Hubbard's feat of

8084-491: The Heisman Trophy in 2018. In a season highlighted by a regular season no-hitter by Jacob Palisch, and a playoff combined no-hitter against Chatham by hurlers Connor McCullough and Joe Boyle , the Mariners finished the 2019 regular season with only a .500 record, but cruised to the league championship series with playoff sweeps of Chatham and Y-D before being bounced in the finals by Cotuit . The 2020 CCBL season

8272-478: The NCAA . The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be a formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius. The league was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. The Kettleers joined Wareham , Falmouth , Bourne and Sagamore in

8460-505: The Orleans Cardinals , are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts . The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play their home games at Eldredge Park in Orleans, which opened in 1913 and is the CCBL's oldest ballpark . The Firebirds are owned and operated by the non-profit Orleans Athletic Association. Orleans has won two CCBL championships in

8648-527: The United States Ambassador to the United Nations . In the 1968 title series, Harwich faced Upper Cape champ Falmouth , who prevailed three games to one in what was the first of Falmouth's four consecutive titles from 1968 to 1971. The following year the Mariners moved to their new home at Whitehouse Field . The CCBL held its 1969 All-Star Game at the new ballpark, the Lower Cape emerging with

8836-408: The University of Minnesota . McCarthy had run out of pitchers, so Herbst was flown back to take the mound for the Game 5 finale at Eldredge Park . With the score tied at 1–1 going into the bottom of the seventh, Orleans put a man on second with two outs. The next batter hit a grounder and Herbst, covering first, dropped the throw, then threw home too high to get the runner. Cotuit tied it in the top of

9024-600: The World Series -winning 1933 New York Giants . New Hampshire native Red Rolfe played for Orleans in 1930 and went on to be the starting third-baseman for the New York Yankees of the late 1930s. Rolfe was a four-time American League all-star, and won five World Series titles with the Bronx Bombers. While at Orleans, Rolfe played for skipper Patsy Donovan , a longtime major league player and manager who had managed

9212-483: The "Kettleers", a nickname credited to Cape Cod Standard-Times sports editor Ed Semprini, who used the moniker in his coverage of the Cotuit team. The term recalls a legendary local land transaction between early area settlers and Native Americans , the terms of sale involving the exchange of a brass kettle . The inaugural 1947 team featured first baseman Manny Robello and his twin brother, player-manager Victor Robello. Manny went on to serve for many years as president of

9400-452: The '64 title, Hubbard continued to skipper the Kettleers throughout the 1960s, but the team finished no better than second place, and did not return again to the championship series in the decade. The trio of Butkus, Kilroy and McCarthy was together for one last season in 1965, and Kilroy continued to twirl for Cotuit through 1967. CCBL Hall of Famer Bob Hansen starred for the Kettleers from 1966 to 1968, an all-star first baseman/outfielder, he

9588-436: The '73 title team. Facing first place Wareham in the semifinal playoffs, the Kettleers dropped Game 1, 5–0, and seemed primed for an early exit. But Cotuit bounced back at home with Reardon on the mound, winning 6–2. In the Game 3 series finale at Clem Spillane Field , Driscoll tossed a six-hitter and the Kettleers prevailed in a tight 3–2 contest, moving on to face Orleans in the best-of-five title tilt. Cotuit took Game 1 of

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9776-477: The .400 mark in 2012 and finished tops in the league in batting average for Cotuit with a .388 mark. Roberts' boys were back in the championship series in 2013. After dropping Game 1 of its opening round playoff series with Falmouth , Cotuit bounced back with an exciting 10-inning 5–4 victory at home, powered by a two-run blast by Austin Byler, and a walk-off 10th inning RBI by Garrett Stubbs . The Kettleers finished off

9964-503: The 11th, Petkovsek gave up a lead-off single to Alexander, and was left in the game to face Kevin Garner, who popped one just over the right field fence for the series-winning walk-off score. The 1986 championship series pitted the Cardinals against two-time defending champion Cotuit . In Game 1 at home, Orleans gave starter Conine plenty to work with. The Cards exploded for four home runs, three of them by Alexander alone, and one by Garner off

10152-505: The 1930 season, Osterville and Hyannis merged to form a single "Barnstable" town team. In addition to being represented in the CCBL by this town team, the village of Cotuit also fielded its own team in the Upper Cape Twilight League. The Cape Cod Baseball League was revived in 1946 after taking a hiatus during World War II , and was originally composed of 11 teams across Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. Barnstable's entry in

10340-515: The 1930s. Gore went on to a major league umpiring career, working ten years in the National League , including two World Series assignments. In 1930, the Chatham-Harwich team split and the two towns entered individual teams in the league, with Harwich playing its home games at Brooks Park. Throughout the 1930s as other teams struggled to stay in the league, Harwich was consistently among

10528-491: The 1939 season and disbanded in 1940, due in large part to the difficulty of securing ongoing funding during the Great Depression . Harwich originally entered the Cape League as part of a combined Chatham -Harwich team that competed in the league from 1927 to 1929. The team's home games were split between the two town fields. In the inaugural 1927 season, the team finished fourth in the five-team league, but nevertheless

10716-564: The 1939 season and disbanded in 1940, due in large part to the difficulty of securing ongoing funding during the Great Depression . Orleans' entry into the league came in 1928. Wareham had been added in 1927 to bring the number of teams to five, and Orleans and Plymouth were to be added in 1928, though the Plymouth entry never materialized. Orleans featured several notable figures during this era. Lynn, Massachusetts native John "Blondy" Ryan played for Orleans in 1928 and went on to play for

10904-442: The 1939 season, after which the league itself disbanded. Orleans' 1938 team featured Danvers, Massachusetts native Connie Creeden , who batted over .400 for the season to lead the league, and who went on to play for the major league Boston Braves . The team's ace pitcher in 1938 was Somerville, Massachusetts native Al Blanche . Blanche was a Cape League veteran who had led Harwich's 1933 title club, then spent two seasons in

11092-679: The 1946 Lower Cape Division played at the Barnstable High School field in Hyannis. The following season, the Barnstable team moved to the Upper Cape Division, where it competed against a newly-formed second Barnstable team from the village of Cotuit. The Cotuit Athletic Association was formed in 1947 with the primary objective of sponsoring the village's new Cape League franchise. The team played at Lowell Park , and soon came to be known as

11280-505: The 1990s included Kevin Millar , a future Boston Red Sox fan favorite and member of the 2004 World Series team that ended the Red Sox' 86-year title drought . The Mariners also boasted the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award winner for three consecutive seasons with Eddie Yarnall (1995), Billy Coleman (1996) and Brent Hoard (1997). In 1998, a new scoreboard was installed at Whitehouse Field,

11468-416: The 21st century, most recently in 2005 when they defeated the Bourne Braves two games to one to win the best of three championship series. The team was a dominant force in the CCBL during the 11-season span from 1947 to 1957 in which Orleans claimed seven league titles. The team has been led since 2005 by field manager Kelly Nicholson. Baseball in Orleans has been played at Eldredge Park since 1913, when

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11656-510: The 5–4 Orleans victory and complete the series sweep. Skipper Kelly Nicholson took the Cards' helm in 2005, led the team to a first-place finish in the East Division, and was honored as the league's manager of the year. Nicholson's Cardinals featured CCBL Outstanding Relief Pitcher Steven Wright , and Emmanuel Burriss , who led the league with 37 stolen bases. After taking the semi-final playoff series from Chatham by winning both ends of

11844-578: The CCBL All-Star Game in three consecutive seasons from 1988 to 1990. The 1988 event featured the league's inaugural All-Star Game Home Run Derby, won by the Cards' mighty Frank Thomas. The host team claimed the derby crown each of the three years, with Mike Thomas matching Thomas' feat in 1989, and Mike Gropusso doing the same in 1990. Orleans won another Cape League title in 1993 with a team led by skipper Rolando Casanova and starring future Boston Red Sox all-star and Cape League Hall of Famer Nomar Garciaparra , who hit .321 with 50 hits and 17 stolen bases for

12032-617: The CCBL crown five times. The 1971 club featured a trio of star moundsmen in Rick Burley, who won seven with four shutouts and tossed a no-hitter, University of Rhode Island star Brian Sheekey, who struck out 96 in 96 innings, and Don Douglas, who won nine games and posted a 1.70 ERA in 90 innings. McCarthy's 1972 squad finished the regular season in a three-way tie for first place with Falmouth and Orleans . The team featured Florida State University 's Tim Sherrill, who batted .354, Rice University slugger Joe Zylka, who bashed 14 long-balls on

12220-508: The CCBL left fielder, then came on in the final inning to pitch in relief, preserving the CCBL's one-run victory over the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League . In 1981, the Kettleers starred CCBL Hall of Famer Jeff Innis , who led the league with a 2.34 ERA and eight saves. The team finished the regular season in fourth place with a mediocre record, but upset first place Wareham in the playoff semifinals. After splitting

12408-483: The CCBL title series for a final time during this era, facing old nemesis Sagamore in a matchup of the two dominant clubs of the period. The Clouters proceeded to shut down Orleans, evening the score at three titles apiece over the adversaries' six title matchups in the decade. In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the NCAA . The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be

12596-458: The CCBL title series in 1956, but the club was right back in championship form the following season. The 1957 Orleans club was pitted against Upper Cape champ Wareham in the league title series. The Red Sox sent Doug Higgins to the mound in Game 1 and jumped ahead early with four runs in the first and never looked back, routing the Gatemen by a final of 10–1. Orleans completed the two-game sweep before

12784-486: The CCBL's modern era and sixth overall. The team has been led since 2003 by field manager Steve Englert. Organized baseball in the town of Harwich dates to the late 1800s. As early as 1873, the "Independent Base Ball Club" had been organized and was playing at the "Brooks Estate" in Harwich. The Harwich town club took on Sandwich in an 1884 contest, and played the " Yarmouth Grays " on multiple occasions in 1886. In 1903,

12972-463: The CCBL. Below are the inductees who spent all or part of their time in the Cape League with Orleans. * During the CCBL's 1923–1939 era, postseason playoffs were a rarity. In most years, the regular season pennant winner was simply crowned as the league champion. However, there were four years in which the league split its regular season and crowned separate champions for the first (A) and second (B) halves. In two of those seasons (1936 and 1939),

13160-488: The Cape League championship series against Orleans was the Bernie Kilroy show. Kilroy did the mound work and also drove in three runs on three hits to help his own cause in Cotuit's 5–4 win at Lowell Park. Game 2 at Eldredge Park saw the Kettleers bang out a 7–1 victory on five hits and 14 walks to give Hubbard's crew their third consecutive Cape League crown. Hubbard's 1964 squad returned McCarthy, Butkus and Kilroy, who

13348-421: The Cape League championship series. In Game 1, Matt Andriese tossed a complete game shutout and Cotuit played small-ball to scratch out a 3–0 win at Red Wilson Field . The Red Sox answered with a 2–1 victory in Game 2, the only Cotuit run coming on an eighth inning homer by James McCann . In Game 3, Cotuit got a homer and a single from Mike Yastrzemski and three hits from Joey Hainsfurther, while Nick Tropeano

13536-517: The Cape League with Cotuit. * Regular seasons split into first and second halves are designated as (A) and (B). (*) - Indicates co-recipient Italics - Indicates All-Star Game Home Run Hitting Contest participant (1988 to present) (*) - Season count excludes 2020 CCBL season cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic . Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts . The team

13724-406: The Cardinals in 1969, and claimed the league MVP Award. Norris returned in 1970 to bat .333 with 19 stolen bases, but surrendered his league batting crown to teammate Mike Eden , who led all hitters with a .378 mark. Holy Cross hurler Mike Pazik tossed a no-hitter for Orleans against Harwich in 1971, allowing his only base runner via hit batsman. CCBL Hall of Fame first baseman Brad Linden led

13912-445: The Cards boasted the league's best record in the regular season, and met Chatham in the playoff semi-finals. In Game 1 at Eldredge Park, the Cardinals got a three-run clout from Bert Heffernan , and Ignasiak twirled a complete game to best the A's, 6–4. Game 2 at Veterans Field went to extra innings tied at 2–2. Chatham's ace, CCBL Hall of Famer Mark Petkovsek , dominated Cardinal hitters, allowing only two hits through ten frames. In

14100-432: The Cards in 1971 and 1972. Linden was a league all-star in 1972, batting .372 with a league-leading 10 homers. Orleans failed to capture a league title in the 1960s and 1970s, but reached the league championship series four times, including back to back losses in 1970 and 1971 against a powerful Falmouth team that was in the process of completing a string of four consecutive league titles. The 1974 Cardinals advanced to

14288-434: The Cards, 4–0, at Eldredge Park. Orleans got the last laugh however, dominating the Game 3 finale at Chatham, taking the decisive game by a 7–1 tally. In the championship series, the Cards faced a strong Wareham team, and took Game 1 at Clem Spillane Field by a 2–1 margin on a first-inning two-run homer by Aaron Boone . In Game 2 at Eldredge Park, Ciaccio sparkled again, allowing only four hits. Catcher Steve Fishman snuck

14476-455: The Cards. The team also included future major leaguers Aaron Boone and Jay Payton . In the playoffs, the Cardinals met Chatham in a dramatic three-game semi-final series. In Game 1 at Veterans Field , Orleans hurler Chris Ciaccio went the distance in a pitchers' duel that was knotted at 1–1 going into the ninth. Payton clubbed the game-winning homer in the final frame to give the Cards the 2–1 victory. The A's answered in Game 2, shutting out

14664-494: The Clouters, with pitchers Bruninghaus and Bill McCrae allowing Sagamore only two runs in the series. Orleans took Games 1 and 2 by tallies of 5–1 and 3–1, then sealed the deal with a title-clinching 3–0 Labor Day shutout at Eldredge Park. Orleans repeated as champions in 1953, again sweeping Sagamore in three straight for the title. In Game 1 at Keith Field, Orleans sent Bruninghaus to the mound and gave him ample support, including

14852-515: The Commodores with a 5–2 victory at Guv Fuller Field , and went on to meet Bourne in the West Division finals. Byler again went deep in Game 1 at Lowell Park, and Caleb Bryson added a dinger in the 9–2 romp over the Braves. Bourne stormed back in Game 2 at Doran Park , routing Cotuit, 8–1. The Game 3 finale was tied, 3–3, in the eighth when Kettleer Drew Jackson poked the game-winning RBI to give Cotuit

15040-486: The Cotuit Athletic Association, and was known as the "original Kettleer". At his passing in 1986, the league established an annual 10th Player Award named in his honor. CCBL Hall of Famer Arnold Mycock joined the organization in 1949, and became the team's general manager the following year, a post he held until 1995. Mycock's organizational skills, energy and vision were instrumental not only in making Cotuit

15228-448: The East Division three times. Englert's 2011 squad was led by CCBL East Division All-Star Game starting pitcher Taylor Rogers , along with fellow all-stars Luke Voit at catcher, slugger Jabari Henry, and CCBL Hall of Fame reliever Chris Overman. As the playoffs began, the Mariners got a scare, with Brewster taking Game 1 of the first round series, but Harwich bounced back with an 8–2 Game 2 rout. The Mariners went down 2–0 early to

15416-641: The Game 3 rubber match at Lowell Park. Coutts sent Gandy to the hill, and the game was tight until the Kettleers erupted for seven runs in the fifth, punctuated by Glenn Davis' three-run bomb. Gandy held the Chatham bats at bay, and Kevin Sheredy came on in relief to get the final five outs and secure the crown for the Kettleers. Gandy and Paul shared playoff MVP honors. Coutts' 1996 Kettleers returned hurlers Cressend and Gandy, and both had memorable seasons. Cressend improved on his impressive prior season's marks, going 7–0 with

15604-481: The Kettleer championship count to 15 in the modern era and 17 overall, a record that is unmatched among CCBL franchises. The 2020 CCBL season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic . The CCBL Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame honoring past players, coaches, and others who have made outstanding contributions to the CCBL. Below are the inductees who spent all or part of their time in

15792-412: The Kettleers faced Chatham , and went down to a 4–3 defeat in Game 1. Cotuit bounced back with an 8–1 win in Game 2 at home behind the mound work of Hall and an offensive explosion that included a two-run dinger by Vaughn. In the decisive Game 3 finale at Chatham, the Kettleers got a complete game gem from Steffan Majer, Amaro blasted a three-run homer, and Vaughn added a solo shot in Cotuit's 5–2 win. Hall

15980-558: The Kettleers in 1956. Hicks was the star of the 1948 CCBL champion Mashpee Warriors , and had been Upper Cape league MVP for Mashpee in 1950. After the Mashpee team dissolved following the 1955 season, Hicks joined Cotuit and played for the Kettleers through 1960. CCBL Hall of Famer Jim Hubbard joined the Kettleers in 1959 after winning a CCBL title with Yarmouth the prior season. Hubbard played for Cotuit for three seasons, serving as player-manager in 1961, and then as full-time manager throughout

16168-403: The Kettleers scratched their way to an 8–3 win to claim the league crown. The title was the fifth in six years for McCarthy's club. CCBL Hall of Famer George Greer , who had been a player for Chatham in the 1960s, took the Kettleer helm in 1979. He skippered the club for nine seasons, qualifying for postseason play in all nine campaigns, and winning three league titles. In Greer's first season,

16356-438: The Kettleers starred CCBL Hall of Fame second baseman and future major leaguer Tim Teufel , who hit .351 and set league records with 16 homers and 52 RBI's. Greer's 1980 club featured CCBL Hall of Famer Ron Darling , who batted .336 with six home runs while posting a 4–3 mark on the mound, and was named the league's MVP and Outstanding Pro Prospect. At the CCBL All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium , he singled, doubled and homered as

16544-452: The Lower Cape Division champion Chatham in the CCBL title series. Cotuit sent Weber to the mound at home for Game 1, and came away with a 4–0 shutout. Weber allowed only three hits in the win, and the Kettleers got a pair of RBI's each from McCarthy and Huebner. In Game 2 at Veterans Field , Kilroy took the hill and Butkus came on in relief in a 6–3 Kettleers' win that gave Cotuit an unprecedented fourth consecutive league championship. After

16732-457: The Lower Cape title, Orleans advanced to the 1955 championship round against the Cotuit Kettleers . The series' first two games were played as a home-and-home double header, and in Game 1 at Lowell Park , Orleans bats were on a tear and hurler John Mayo struck out ten in a complete game effort, as Orleans took the series lead with an 11–3 win. In Game 2 at home, Orleans lefty Ray Tucker tossed

16920-439: The Lower Cape title. Harwich's 1961 and 1962 teams featured CCBL Hall of Famer and longtime New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello , who played in the CCBL until 1964, then skippered Sagamore to the league title in 1965. In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the NCAA . The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be

17108-400: The Mariners' bullpen. The team also featured future major leaguers John Flaherty , University of Massachusetts infielder Gary Disarcina , and slugger Bob Hamelin , who led the league with 11 home runs. Led by manager Bill Springman, the Mariners finished the regular season with the league's best record, and met Cotuit in the playoff semi-finals. In Game 1, Harwich struck early at home with

17296-424: The Mariners, and Overman came in with runners on base in the ninth to close the door on the 4–2 Harwich victory to complete the series sweep. In the 2011 title series, Harwich faced West Division champ Falmouth . The Mariners took Game 1 of the championship at home in a closely contested 5–4 game decided by first baseman John Wooten's go-ahead homer in the sixth. Wooten blasted another one in Game 2 at Falmouth, and

17484-493: The National Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1999 Orleans team featured two future CCBL Hall of Famers in pitcher Ben Sheets and league MVP Lance Niekro , as well as future major leaguer Mark Teixeira , who was named the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect. Sheets, who was an all-star the previous season with Wareham , posted a 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings for Orleans in 1999. Niekro batted .360 and clobbered 13 home runs on

17672-541: The Orleans team opted to change its moniker to the Orleans Firebirds . Throughout the 2010s, the team continued to be skippered by Kelly Nicholson, who surpassed Laurin "Pete" Peterson as the longest-tenured manager in team history. The team qualified for the playoffs in nine of ten years in the decade, winning East Division titles in 2011, 2015 and 2017, and reaching the championship series in 2013 before falling to Cotuit . Eastham, Massachusetts native Sue Horton,

17860-479: The Upper Cape Division standings for the 1949 season's second half, but was downed by first half champ Falmouth in the Upper Cape finals. The Kettleers reached the Upper Cape playoff finals again in 1950, 1951 and 1954, but in each season the powerful Sagamore Clouters prevented Cotuit from advancing to the Cape League finals. The 1955 Kettleers featured the big bat of Jim Perkins and the mound work of fellow CCBL Hall of Famer Cal Burlingame, considered by many to be

18048-425: The Upper Cape Division. In 1963, the Kettleers continued to ride their success into the newly-reorganized league, returning many of the same faces, including McCarthy, Kilroy, Mayo, Helzel, Sikorsky, and Butkus, who was the league's Outstanding Pitcher with a minuscule 1.04 ERA. All-American basketballer Cotton Nash of Adolph Rupp 's Kentucky Wildcats joined the Kettleers as a pitcher/outfielder. Cotuit finished

18236-446: The Upper Cape champion Mashpee Warriors in that year's championship series, which was played as a Labor Day home-and-home doubleheader. In Game 1 at Eldredge Park, Orleans got an 11-strikeout performance by Bruninghaus, and slugger Dave Bremner went 5-for-5 with a homer in the 12–7 win. Facing Mashpee's CCBL Hall of Fame ace hurler Donald Hicks in Game 2, Bremner continued his torrid pace, going 4-for-6, but Orleans trailed by two going to

18424-500: The West's 4–1 victory. Skipper Mike Roberts took the Kettleer helm in 2004, and became the longest-tenured manager in team history. First baseman and CCBL Hall of Famer Justin Smoak was league MVP for Cotuit in 2006, leading the league with 11 homers, 21 extra-base hits, and a .565 slugging percentage. The Kettleers reached the league championship series in 2008, but were downed by Harwich . In

18612-609: The Whitecaps in Game 3, but scratched their way back behind 5.1 innings of scoreless relief by Eddie Butler , and Overman came on to get the final two outs to clinch the series with a 3–2 Harwich victory. In the East Division finals, the Mariners faced Y-D . After a Game 1 shutout of the Red Sox at home, Harwich sent Rogers to the mound with hopes of ending the series in Game 2 at Red Wilson Field . Rogers didn't disappoint, allowing only two Y-D hits through eight innings. Austin Nola homered for

18800-495: The bandstand in center field, in a 9–4 win. Ignasiak spun another gem in Game 2 at Lowell Park , going the distance and holding the Kettleers to just two hits and no runs. The Cards got a homer from Alexander in the first, his fourth long ball of the title series. Todd Haney added the insurance with a two-run blast in the seventh to give Orleans the 3–0 win and title series sweep, with Alexander taking home playoff MVP honors for his brilliant power display. In 1988, Orleans reached

18988-499: The best Cape League player of the era. Facing old nemesis Sagamore in the Upper Cape playoff finals, Cotuit finally broke through to claim the Upper Cape crown and advance to the Cape League title series, where the Kettleers were shut down by perennial Lower Cape powerhouse Orleans . Perkins was the team's player-manager in the 1956 and 1957 seasons. Burlingame left to pitch for Barnstable in 1956, but returned to Cotuit in 1957 and 1958. CCBL Hall of Fame fireballer Donald Hicks joined

19176-666: The best funded and best supported teams in the Cape League. One of the first Harwich players to go on to the major leagues was Milton, Massachusetts native Bill Chamberlain . In 1932, Chamberlain was pitching for Harwich when he was noticed by a scout for the Chicago White Sox . Chamberlain was playing in Chicago by the end of the season. In 1933, Harwich won its first Cape League championship. The team starred all-league selection Frank Skaff of Villanova , an outfielder who "covers acres of territory, catches everything in sight," and

19364-472: The bottom half of the inning, but Pacillo doubled, and Pequignot came through with a clutch homer to send the game to extra innings. Both teams threatened but did not score in the 10th. Robbie Smith came on in relief of Souza in the 11th and set down Cotuit in order. In the bottom of the 11th, Harwich's Jim Sasko drove in Pequignot from third for the series-winning RBI and Harwich's first Cape League championship in

19552-490: The bottom of the ninth. A leadoff triple by Joe Sanders revived the Mariners' hopes, and with the bases loaded on a walk and hit batsman, skipper Steve Englert brought in pinch-hitter Mark Fleury. No stranger to late-inning heroics, Fleury had secured the East Division's 8–6 win in the CCBL All-Star Game with a two-run eighth-inning homer earlier in the season. Fleury rewarded Englert's confidence by coming through again, delivering Harwich's first league championship in 21 years with

19740-405: The championship series again, powered by CCBL Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas , who was said to have hit the longest ball ever out of Eldredge Park, and who hit three home runs in one game at Wareham . The team lost in the finals to Wareham , but Thomas went on to a stellar career with the Chicago White Sox and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Eldredge Park hosted

19928-430: The club for the next 14 years. Peterson's 1949 club finished atop the Lower Cape division and went on to meet Upper Cape champ Falmouth in the best-of-five title series. Orleans took the first two games, winning Game 1 at home, 4–2, then capitalizing on nine Falmouth errors while riding a complete game by Roy Bruninghaus and a 4-for-4 day by Dave Bremner to a 6–2 Game 2 win at Falmouth Heights. After Game 2, Orleans lost

20116-435: The decade included the 2002 CCBL Outstanding Relief Pitcher Award winner Shaun Marcum , and future major league all-star and Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the 2005 Mariners. The 2003 Mariners battled Orleans at Eldredge Park in a 20-inning marathon that set the record as the longest game in modern-era CCBL history. Harwich pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the 20th, and second baseman Tug Hulett took

20304-406: The distance on the mound for the win in both contests. Sagamore hurler Ricky Anderson almost single-handedly turned the series around as he twirled complete games in both halves of a Labor Day doubleheader, beating Orleans 8–5 in the morning Game 3 at Orleans, and 10–6 in the afternoon Game 4 at Keith Field, and helping his own cause with a 4-for-8 day at the plate. The deciding Game 5 was played at

20492-504: The eighth, and Herbst found his redemption at the plate in the ninth. With one out, he bashed a triple, then came home with two out on a ball through the second baseman's glove. In a most improbable season, an improbable hero had earned Cotuit its third consecutive league title. In 1975, the Kettleers returned Reardon and O'Neill, who led the league with a .358 batting average and was named league MVP. McCarthy's club also featured future major league hurler Joe Beckwith , and faced Orleans in

20680-484: The elder Yaz found himself with time on his hands that summer due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike . As a result, he spent much of June and July in the Harwich Mariners' dugout keeping an eye on his son's progress. The 1982 Mariners featured CCBL Hall of Fame slugger Pat Pacillo , who walloped 10 homers on the season. In 1983, Harwich finally broke through and claimed a CCBL title. Skippered by Steve Ring,

20868-412: The final frame. In the top of the ninth, Orleans exploded for seven runs, then brought in Bruninghaus to close out the 15–10 win and clinch the club's first Cape League crown. Fuller brought the club back to the title series in 1948 for a rematch with Mashpee, but this time Hicks and Mashpee came out on top. In 1949, CCBL Hall of Famer Laurin "Pete" Peterson joined the team as catcher/manager and piloted

21056-455: The finals at Orleans, 6–2, but the Cardinals stormed back to take Games 2 and 3. The Kettleers got back on track in Game 4 at Lowell Park, as Driscoll spun a two-hitter, and the Kets walked off an exciting 3–2 win in the ninth as O'Neill came home from second on a bunt single and throwing error. Prior to Game 5, an emergency call went out to Herbst, who had left the team several days earlier to return to

21244-414: The first game of the best-of-five championship series with a 4–2 home win, then went on the road and dished out a 10–1 pummelling at Falmouth Heights. The series returned to Harwich for Game 3, where the home team sent ace hurler Al Blanche to the mound. Blanche, a Somerville, Massachusetts native who went on to play with the major league Boston Braves , outdueled Falmouth's Harold Poole, 3–1, to complete

21432-484: The first round of the Upper Cape playoffs. Butkus tossed a two-hitter for the 2–1 Game 1 win, and the Kettleers finished the Bourne sweep in Game 2 with a 5–1 Kilroy three-hitter powered by longballs off the bats of Helzel and McCarthy. Cotuit managed another sweep in the Upper Cape finals, disposing of Sagamore in two straight, including a 15–4 Game 1 pasting of the Clouters. The Cape League championship series against Harwich

21620-484: The first three innings. The Cards shut down Bourne hitters behind the stellar pitching of Brad Meyers and closer Wright, and cruised to a 13–1 title-clinching victory. Meyers shared playoff MVP honors with Burriss, who reached base five times and scored three runs in the finale. In 2006, Nicholson's team starred future CCBL Hall of Famer and Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner Matt Wieters . A league all-star catcher, Wieters batted .307 with eight home runs, including

21808-481: The first two games of the series, Cotuit took the decisive Game 3 on a masterful three-hitter by Doug Swearingen. In the best-of-five Cape League finals against Orleans , the Kettleers dropped Game 1 at Eldredge Park , but came back to take a tight Game 2, 9–8 in 10 innings. Cotuit sent Swearingen to the mound for Game 3, and jumped out early, taking a 3–0 lead after only four Orleans pitches. The Kettleers walloped four homers, two of them by Billy Dees, and came away with

21996-411: The first two innings of Game 3 on home turf, and Nagy came on in relief of starter Dave Menhart. For the second time in the series, Nagy no-hit the Red Sox over 4 1/3 innings of relief, and the Mariners came away with a 7–2 victory to secure the championship. Nagy, the playoff MVP, recorded the final out by way of strikeout against league MVP and batting champ Mickey Morandini , whom Nagy caught looking on

22184-411: The following day as another doubleheader. With their backs against the wall and trailing through much of Game 4 at home, the Kettleers staged a late-inning comeback to knot the series with an 8–7 win. The Game 5 finale at Harwich was an all-time classic. Cotuit got a three-run homer in the top of the first, and Harwich answered in the bottom of the frame with a Pacillo grand slam. Harwich starter Mike Ulian

22372-408: The front end of the twinbill, Harwich jumped all over the Kettleers with a seven-run second, including a grand slam by Jon Pequignot. Souza went the distance in a 16–6 Mariner rout at Lowell Park . The back end of the doubleheader was played at Whitehouse Field, where Harwich hurler Jeff Koenigsman stymied the Cotuit attack. The Mariners took it, 7–3, to go up two games to one. Games 4 and 5 were played

22560-401: The game away with a four-run 11th, capped by Junie Lee's three-run bomb, to take a 10–6 win that completed the repeat championship sweep. In the teams' fifth consecutive championship series meeting, Orleans bowed to Sagamore in the 1954 title tilt, but Peterson's boys were back to face a new opponent the following season. After playoff series wins over North Truro AFS and Yarmouth to claim

22748-459: The game went to the bottom of the ninth with Harwich leading, 7–5. With the title just three outs away, Englert brought in Overman to try to close out the Commodores in the final frame. Overman, who had not allowed an earned run in 28.1 innings during the season, proceeded to load the bases with no outs, but wiggled out of the jam by getting Falmouth's hot-hitting Reid Redman to pop out, then striking out

22936-472: The land for the park was donated to the town by baseball enthusiast Louis Winslow "Win" Eldredge, "in consideration of [his] affection for and interest in the young people of Orleans and [his] desire to provide a playground for them." In 1923 the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and included four teams: Falmouth , Chatham , Osterville , and Hyannis . This early Cape League operated through

23124-808: The league split its regular season and crowned separate champions for the first (A) and second (B) halves. In two of those seasons (1936 and 1939), a single team won both halves and was declared overall champion. In the other two split seasons (1933 and 1935), a postseason playoff series was contested between the two half-season champions to determine the overall champion. Played from 1927 to 1929 as combined "Chatham-Harwich" team * Regular seasons split into first and second halves are designated as (A) and (B). (*) - Indicates co-recipient Italics - Indicates All-Star Game Home Run Hitting Contest participant (1988 to present) (*) - Season count excludes 2020 CCBL season cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic . Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds , formerly

23312-526: The league with a .321 batting average and was honored with the league's Sportsmanship Award. Joining Merloni were league MVP Rick Ellstrom, and the CCBL Outstanding Pitcher, John Kelly. The talented '92 squad returned to the league championship series, but was shut down by Chatham . First-year manager Mike Coutts led Cotuit to another first-place finish in 1995. His club's unquestioned star was CCBL Hall of Fame catcher/outfielder Josh Paul , who won

23500-421: The league with an impressive 28–14 record, and met Harwich in the playoff semifinals. The Kettleers got a three-run dinger from Amaro, and Hall got the win on the mound as Cotuit took Game 1 at home by a 6–3 final. Games 2 & 3 were played as a doubleheader, with the Mariners taking the Game 2 front end, 1–0. Cotuit bats erupted in the Game 3 finale, taking the series with a 10–2 win. In the championship series,

23688-414: The league's 1984 playoffs were contested in a four-team double-elimination round-robin format. The tournament came down to a final pair of games between Cotuit and Wareham , a team skippered by a young Mike Roberts . The first game was a must-win for Cotuit, and hurler Joe Lynch was up to the task. Lynch spun a two-hitter, and CCBL Hall of Fame slugger Greg Vaughn doubled and scored the game-winning run on

23876-493: The league's Outstanding Pitcher award winner, tossing six perfect innings. The 2023 Firebirds were led by CCBL All-Star Game MVP Jo Oyama, Outstanding Relief Award winner Sean Matson, and 10th Player recipient Derek Clark, and swept through the East Division playoffs before falling to Bourne in the league championship. The CCBL Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame honoring past players, coaches, and others who have made outstanding contributions to

24064-479: The league's Outstanding Pro Prospect who became a first-round pick in the following year's MLB draft . In 2002, Orleans was led by the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Brian Rogers , who posted a microscopic 0.40 ERA for the season, and all-star catcher Ryan Hanigan , an Andover, Massachusetts native who was named the league's Outstanding New England Player. The team finished atop the East Division with an impressive 29–13–2 record, and prevailed over Y-D in

24252-432: The league's batting crown with a .364 mark, and slugged .652 on his way to being named both the league MVP and Outstanding Pro Prospect. The team also boasted CCBL Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Cressend , who went 7–1 with a 2.44 ERA for the Kettleers. In the playoff semifinals against Wareham , Cressend had the Kets tied 1–1 going into the final frame of Game 1, but couldn't hold the lead as the Gatemen pushed across two to take

24440-404: The major leagues, and finished tops in the Cape League in 1937 with a .440 batting average, as his "potent bat of bygone glory still [carried] a mean threat." Kenney played in the following season for the major league Boston Bees (Braves) . Mahoney's 1938 team narrowly missed bringing Harwich its second league title, finishing the season just one game behind pennant-winning Falmouth . After

24628-481: The majors with the Boston Braves before returning to the Cape League in 1938 to play for Orleans. CCBL Hall of Famer Bill Enos played for Orleans during this period, and went on to be a longtime scout for the Boston Red Sox , as well as the first-ever scouting liaison for the Cape League to Major League Baseball . The Cape League reorganized in 1946 after a hiatus during World War II , and Orleans began play in

24816-446: The mid-1980s. The Mariners qualified for the playoffs in 1974 behind CCBL Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Andy Muhlstock, but were bested in the semi-final round by Orleans . Piloted by first-year manager Don Prohovich, Harwich advanced to the CCBL title series in 1978 and followed up that appearance with a return to the finals in 1979. In both title series, the Mariners were defeated by a dominant Hyannis team that had rolled through

25004-419: The modern era. The 1984 Mariners finished the regular season atop the league with an impressive 27–15 record, due in large part to the contributions of four CCBL Hall of Famers. League Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner Mike Loggins batted .343 with 13 homers and was MVP of the CCBL All-Star Game at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium . Joe Magrane led the league with six wins and six complete games, posted

25192-427: The mound and recorded the save for the Mariners in the 5 hour, 52 minute affair. The Mariners' playoff drought continued well into the 2000s, as the team reached the postseason only once during the 20-year span from 1988 to 2007. The Mariners' woes ended in 2008. The club featured future major league all-stars Brandon Belt and DJ LeMahieu , as well as one of the CCBL's top hitters, Tommy Medica , who batted .352 for

25380-702: The mound, 6–2. Game 2 at Yarmouth was tied 6–6 after 11 innings and had to be called. The Red Sox took the following game to knot the series, but Cotuit took the next two to claim the crown. Plagued by injuries, the 1974 Kettleers eked into the playoffs as a fourth-place team with a record just above the .500 mark. The team featured two CCBL Hall of Famers in Boston College third baseman Paul O'Neill and pitcher Jeff Reardon , who went on to amass 367 big league saves. The team also featured Stanford University 's Bob Hampton, who clouted 10 homers, Harvard University hurler Don Driscoll, and pitcher Ken Herbst, who returned from

25568-473: The neutral Ezra Baker Field in Dennis, and Orleans left no doubt, riding back-to-back homers by Buzzy Wilcox and Bob Bremner in the fourth, and a complete game six-hit shutout by Bruninghaus to a championship-clinching 8–0 victory. Peterson's club was downed by Sagamore in the 1951 CCBL championship, but was back on top the following season. In the 1952 best-of-five Cape League championship series, Orleans swept

25756-436: The next batter, and finishing the job with a popout to the catcher to secure the Mariners' championship. Playoff MVP honors went to Mariner Mike Garza, who went 5-for-9 in the championship series. Notable players during the 2010s included 2012 league MVP Phil Ervin , who batted .323 with 11 homers for the Mariners, CCBL Hall of Famer Ian Happ , a two-time CCBL all-star in 2013 and 2014, and 2016 league MVP Ernie Clement ,

25944-521: The opener, 3–1. Game 2 provided more late-inning drama as Josh Gandy tossed seven scoreless innings and Cotuit won it in the 10th on Brandon Berger 's two-run dinger. Cotuit's Ryan Lynch pitched brilliantly in Game 3, and the game was scoreless until the eighth when the Kettleers pushed across the game's only run on a sacrifice fly to win the series. In the finals, Cotuit met East Division champ Chatham , and took Game 1 handily, 16–6. Cressend got touched up for seven runs in Chatham's 9–3 Game 2 win, setting up

26132-453: The opening round of playoffs at Wareham . Cotuit responded with an offensive eruption in Game 2, pummeling the Gatemen, 22–2, behind a five-RBI performance by Kettleer Oraj Anu. In the decisive Game 3, the Kettleers got a homer from Matt Mervis , and Casey Schmitt twirled the final five innings of two-hit shutout relief in the 4–1 win. In Game 1 of the West Division finals at Falmouth , Cotuit moundsmen Trey Holland and Bo Hofstra combined for

26320-473: The playoff semi-finals, but was shut down by Wareham in the title series. Manager Carmen Carcone brought the Cards back to the title series for a second consecutive season in 2003, the team powered by playoff MVP and CCBL home run derby champion Cesar Nicolas. After taking the semi-final series from Brewster , the Cardinals faced Bourne in the championship series. Game 1 was a low-scoring extra-innings affair at Eldredge Park. After Bourne went ahead, 1–0, in

26508-430: The playoff semi-finals. In Game 1, Beckwith went the distance, and Boston College 's Al Bassignani provided the clout with two homers and five RBI's to go with his ninth-inning home run robbery of a Roger LaFrancois drive with two men on, as the Kettleers took the opener, 7–1. Reardon got the start in Game 2, and Cotuit came away with a 5–2 win to sweep the series. The best-of-five Cape League finals matched Cotuit against

26696-417: The playoff semifinals, and swept the Gatemen in two straight. The Game 2 finale was a masterful 5–0 complete game two-hit shutout by pitcher Andy Warren, with the offensive highlight coming in the third with a three-run blast by Atkins. Cotuit met Chatham in the finals for the third time in the decade, having split the previous two meetings. The teams split the first two games of the 1999 title tilt, setting up

26884-415: The power-hitting Zylka, and also featured future major leaguers Jack Kucek and Danny Goodwin , a CCBL all-star who tied the Cotuit team record with six triples. The team finished the regular season in second place and swept Wareham in the playoff semi-finals, getting wins from Ken Herbst and lefty Rob Klass. The Kettleers faced Yarmouth in the best-of-five CCBL title series, and took Game 1 with Kucek on

27072-451: The previous season, joined the team as a 17-year-old Boston Latin School student. The '62 Kettleers boasted ten batters with season averages over the .300 mark, including McCarthy, Capo and Mayo, as well as the infield quartet of Jeff Helzel (1B), Bill Prizio (2B), Paul Morano (SS) and Stan Sikorsky (3B). The team finished another dominant regular season with a record of 25–5, and met Bourne in

27260-575: The previous three seasons. Mayo one-hit the Indians in Game 1, but it wasn't enough as the Kettleers took a tight 3–2 loss at home. Cotuit bounced back in Game 2 with a 5–0 Kilroy shutout at Yarmouth. The Kettleers sent Butkus to the mound for the pivotal Game 3 at Lowell Park, and the home team came away with a 7–2 win, clinching Cotuit's first CCBL championship. The 1962 Cotuit club returned outfielder Capo and hurlers Kilroy, Butkus and Mayo, and added CCBL Hall of Fame catcher Jack McCarthy. McCarthy, like Butkus

27448-420: The previous year, leading the league in batting with a lofty .414 mark, and being named league MVP, while also setting a league record with 33 stolen bases. Future major leaguer Will Clark hit .367 with 10 homers as the Kettleers' first basemen. The talented 1983 team reached the CCBL title series, but was downed by Harwich . The 1984 Kettleers finished the regular season in third place, and in an unusual move,

27636-399: The prior decade, and brought Cotuit its eighth championship overall. The Kettleers' streak was stopped in 1976 by a talented Wareham team that bounced Cotuit in the playoff semifinals and went on to take the league title. McCarthy's boys rebounded quickly, finishing in first place in 1977 with a team that starred CCBL Hall of Famer Del Bender, an all-league left fielder who led the CCBL with

27824-429: The regular season with a 28–4 record and first-place finish in the Upper Cape Division, and earned a bye in the first round of playoffs. The Kettleers met Wareham in the Upper Cape finals, but dropped Game 1, 1–0, for the hard-luck loser Butkus, who had tossed a two-hitter. Cotuit bounced back to take Game 2 by a 3–1 tally, and Butkus got his revenge in Game 3 as he pitched the Kets to a 5–2 series-clinching win. Game 1 of

28012-448: The rest of the 1960s. Hubbard's 1961 Kettleers featured a pair of CCBL Hall of Fame southpaws: Bob Butkus, a 17-year-old from Boston Latin School posted a 4–1 record with a 1.75 ERA, and Boston College 's Bernie Kilroy, who had joined Cotuit the previous season and been named Upper Cape league MVP. Both became perennial CCBL all-stars throughout the 1960s. The '61 team also featured all-star hurler Dick Mayo and fellow all-star Tony Capo,

28200-564: The revived league in 1947. The team was originally known as the Orleans Sparklers , but soon became known as the Orleans Red Sox . Orleans dominated the post-war period, appearing in the CCBL championship series in each of its first nine years in the league, and 11 times total between 1947 and 1959. During this span, the club won seven CCBL titles, including back to back championships in 1949 and 1950, and again in 1952 and 1953. The club

28388-465: The season, and also recorded a save on the mound as the Cardinals and Wareham Gatemen set the record for the longest game in modern-era CCBL history with an 18-inning, 5 hour, 14 minute affair in Wareham. Four years later, Eldredge Park saw that record broken, as the 2003 Cardinals were downed in 20 innings by Harwich after 5 hours and 52 minutes. The 2001 Cardinals featured second baseman Russ Adams ,

28576-455: The season, and ace hurler Ken Schultz, who won eight games for Cotuit, striking out 89 in 86 innings. The Kettleers took the semi-final series against Falmouth, two games to one, and met fourth-place upset winner Chatham in the best-of-five Cape League title series. Cotuit came away with a three games to one series victory over the A's, winning the Game 4 finale 5–4 on two homers by Sherrill and another by Rick Burley. The 1973 Kettleers returned

28764-412: The season. The Mariners opened the postseason with a two-game sweep of Orleans in the semi-finals, then faced Cotuit in the title series. After going on the road and pounding the Kettleers, 11–2, in Game 1, Harwich returned home for Game 2 with ideas of a sweep. Over 6,000 fans packed Whitehouse Field for the second game, but the series seemed headed back to Cotuit as the visitors took a 1–0 lead into

28952-450: The series win, and send the Kettleers to the title series to face the Orleans Firebirds . In Game 1 of the 2013 championship, Bryson bashed a two-run first inning homer and Bradley Zimmer belted a two-run single to give Cotuit the 4–2 victory in the opener. Game 2 at Eldredge Park was tight until the eighth, when Cotuit blew it open with four runs on an Orleans error and a two-run knock by Nolan Clark. The Kettleers prevailed, 6–2, to sweep

29140-474: The services of stars Bruninghaus and Bremner, who were unavailable for the remainder of the series, and the result was a Game 3 drubbing at Eldredge Park as Falmouth stayed alive by an 11–5 tally. Game 4 was marred by controversy and charges of poor sportsmanship as Orleans brought in Stan Wilcox, who had not played for the club all season, and who had played professionally earlier in the year. Falmouth's defense

29328-401: The seventh to narrow the margin, and Derek Lee proved the hero with a three-run go-ahead blast in the eighth. Nagy no-hit the Red Sox in 4 1/3 frames of relief, and the Mariners took the opener, 5–3. Kite went the distance for Harwich in Game 2 at Red Wilson Field , but scattered four runs and got little help from his bats in a 4–1 loss that knotted the series. Harwich got three runs in each of

29516-412: The stalemate in the top of the 15th with an RBI single to put Cotuit up 7–6, and closer Kyle Nicolas came on in the bottom of the frame to strike out the side and preserve the Kettleer win. Game 2 at Lowell Park saw Schmitt, who was named playoff MVP, blast two home runs then come in to pitch the ninth inning in relief in a 10–3 rout of the Mariners that secured the crown for Cotuit. The 2019 title brought

29704-477: The sweep in Game 2 as Redus stole three bags and scored three runs in the Kettleers' 12–1 shellacking of the Gatemen. The best-of-five championship series matched the Kettleers with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox . Game 1 seemed to portend a lopsided series, as the Kettleers ran roughshod over the Red Sox, banging five homers and getting five RBI's from Bender in a 19–3 rout. The Cotuit bats exploded again for

29892-534: The team returned the powerful Pacillo, who was good again for eight homers and a .338 batting average, and even went 1–0 with a 4.82 ERA as a pitcher. Rob Souza went 7–2 on the mound in the regular season, and led the league with a 2.45 ERA. The star of the team however was the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner, Cory Snyder . The CCBL Hall of Famer clouted an amazing league record 22 home runs with 50 RBI and 47 runs scored. He hit home runs in four consecutive at bats on July 7–8, and twice hit three home runs in

30080-523: The team's general manager since 2000, received the league's Dick Sullivan Executive of the Year Award in 2016. Notable players of the decade included CCBL Hall of Famer Kolten Wong , who hit .341 with 22 stolen bases to claim the league MVP Award in 2010. CCBL Hall of Famer Marcus Stroman played for the Firebirds in 2010 and 2011, allowing zero earned runs over 34 career innings pitched, and Trevor Gott

30268-500: The team, posting a combined ERA of 3.36 with 18 wins and two league all-star selections. Ford later served as a Cape League vice president, and was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2010. Harwich's 1966 team featured CCBL Hall of Famer Ed Drucker, who batted .382, set a league record with eight triples, and was named league MVP. The 1967 Harwich team featured Northbridge, Massachusetts native and future major leaguer Glenn Adams ,

30456-422: The third, the Cards tied it in the fourth on a deep Nicolas dinger to left, his third homer of the playoffs. The teams remained even at 1–1 going into the bottom of the tenth, when the home team loaded the bases and won it on Myron Leslie's walk-off RBI single. Game 2 at Bourne was another tight one, with Game 1 winner Ryan Schroyer coming on in relief to get the final six outs, five of them by strikeout, to nail down

30644-409: The three-game sweep and secure the title for Harwich. In 1937 and 1938, Harwich was led by player-manager Neil Mahoney , an all-Cape League selection at catcher who went on to be scouting director of the Boston Red Sox . Mahoney's 1937 Harwich team featured Holy Cross pitcher Art Kenney and former Chicago White Sox outfielder Bill Barrett . Barrett had played several productive seasons in

30832-448: The title series and claim the crown, with Zimmer taking playoff MVP honors. The Kettleers retired uniform number "1" in 2016, in honor of the passing of Cotuit legend Arnold Mycock, whose decades of service and contribution to the team and league were unparalleled. 2017 saw the passing of another Kettleer mainstay in superfan Ivan Partridge, who began attending Kettleer games in the 1950s, and whose booming encouragement for batters to "Have

31020-484: The title series, but were downed in the ninth inning of a decisive Game 5 by Cotuit . The 1975 and 1976 Cardinals featured Boston College baseball and hockey star Tom Songin , who went on to play for the Boston Bruins . Orleans' Chuck Dale was the league's Outstanding Pitcher in 1978. In 1980 and 1981 the Cardinals featured shortstop Wade Rowdon , the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Award winner in 1981, he

31208-579: The town's "Old Home Week" featured a three-game baseball series in which the Harwich team defeated Sandwich twice and Hyannis once. The home club was described as "the best that ever represented Harwich," and featured several collegiate players, as well as local hurler Dick Gage, who in 1905 was described as "by far the best pitcher on the Cape." In 1923, the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and initially included four teams: Falmouth , Chatham , Osterville , and Hyannis . This early Cape League operated through

31396-400: The two regular seasons with records of 31–11 and 33–7–1. In both 1981 and 1982, the Mariners boasted the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award winner: Greg Myers in 1981, and Scott Murray in 1982. The 1981 team featured Florida State University 's Mike Yastrzemski, son of Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski . Nearing the end of his major league playing career,

31584-412: The village and the summer guests in town are well pleased with the various games played here this season," and that team manager David Goodspeed "has been able to give to the public an interesting series of games." In 1923, the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and originally included Falmouth , Chatham , and two teams representing villages from the town of Barnstable: Osterville and Hyannis . After

31772-441: The village of Cotuit dates back to the early days of the sport on Cape Cod . The Cotuit team split a home-and-home series with a team from Osterville in 1883, and defeated West Barnstable in a July 4 baseball game in 1888. Cotuit took both ends of a July 4 doubleheader against Falmouth in 1904, and repeated the feat in 1905, sweeping Falmouth in another holiday twin bill. It was reported of Cotuit's 1905 team that, "the people of

31960-465: Was "the dread of all opposing pitchers", and who went on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers two years later. The Cape League split its regular season in 1933, and held a playoff for the league title between the winners of the first and second halves of the season. Harwich, winners of the season's second half, faced first-half winners and back-to-back defending league champion Falmouth . Harwich took

32148-475: Was MVP of the 2017 All-Star Game for his game-winning RBI in the East Division's 5–3 win. The 2018 Firebirds featured league Outstanding Pro Prospect J.J. Bleday , a CCBL all-star outfielder who hit .311 with five home runs, and hurlers Mitchell Senger and Aaron Ochsenbein, who tossed a combined no-hitter against Brewster . New Bedford, Massachusetts native Jared Shuster was the league's Outstanding New England Player in 2019. A league all-star, Shuster posted

32336-419: Was a second-inning solo shot by Boyce. Harwich starter Nelson Arriete made the lone run stand up, going the distance in the 1–0 shutout to advance the Mariners to the title series against Y-D . In Game 1 of the 1987 championship series at Whitehouse Field, the Red Sox chased Mariners starter Everett Cunningham from the mound in the fifth, and Nagy came on in relief trailing, 3–1. Boyce hit yet another clout in

32524-418: Was again riddled with errors, and Orleans walked away with a 6–1 series-clinching victory. Orleans was back in the title series in 1950, this time facing Upper Cape champ Sagamore in what became the first of five consecutive championship matchups between the perennial Upper and Lower Cape powerhouses. Orleans seemed ready to sweep the Clouters, taking Game 1, 8–3, and Game 2, 19–9, with Roy Bruninghaus going

32712-492: Was also the MVP of the CCBL All-Star Game at Fenway Park , a game that ended in a 4–4 tie. Rowdon tied a league record with three homers in a single game against Wareham , and led the 1981 team to the playoffs where they bounced Harwich in the semi-finals, but were downed by Cotuit in the league championship series. The 1985 season was highlighted by Cardinal hurler Bob O'Brien's no-hitter against Cotuit in which he came short of

32900-509: Was billed by the CCBL as being "the largest scoreboard in New England south of Fenway Park ." The 1998 Mariners were skippered by CCBL Hall of Famer Billy Best, who had played for Falmouth in 1979 where he set a CCBL record with his 32-game hitting streak. The 2004 Mariners featured CCBL Hall of Famer Craig Hansen , a hard-throwing closer who recorded a perfect 0.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 22.1 innings of work. Other notable players during

33088-480: Was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic . The 2021 Mariners boasted the league's MVP as well as its Outstanding Pitcher as third baseman Brock Wilken and hurler Trey Dombroski took home the awards. In 2023, longtime league executive Mary Henderson marked her 40th year as President of the Harwich Athletic Association and was named to the CCBL Hall of Fame. The CCBL Hall of Fame and Museum

33276-564: Was described as "the hardest hitting team in the league." 1927 Chatham-Harwich first baseman Jack Burns went on to play in seven major league seasons for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers . In all three seasons from 1927 to 1929, the team featured Boston College batterymates pitcher Pete Herman and catcher George Colbert, as well as flashy infielder Artie Gore . The trio of Herman, Colbert and Gore later teamed up again with Barnstable to bring that club multiple Cape League championships in

33464-487: Was held at Eldredge Park, and the Cardinals' own Chuck Seelbach emerged as the winning pitcher. Seelbach also tossed a no-hitter that season at Eldredge Park against a Chatham team that featured future major league star Thurman Munson . The 1968 Orleans team featured CCBL Hall of Famer Phil Corddry, who went 9–2 with 108 strikeouts in 92 innings for the Cardinals to win the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award. Another future CCBL Hall of Famer, Jim Norris , batted .415 for

33652-512: Was hit hard for seven runs, and Souza, who had pitched a complete game the day before, came on and was effective in long relief. Mariner Doug Shields cranked a three-run homer in the seventh, and the score was tied at 7–7 going to the final frame. Cotuit's Greg Barrios launched a two-run dinger in the top of the ninth to put the Kettleers up, 9–7, and hope was waning for the Whitehouse faithful. The Mariners came down to their final out with nobody on in

33840-419: Was league MVP for Harwich in 1986; the outfielder/catcher slugged six home runs and led the league with a .358 batting average. Harwich wore the league crown again in 1987 for the second time in five years. On the mound, team MVP Dan Kite posted six wins and four complete games with a 2.21 ERA, and future major league all-star Charles Nagy of the University of Connecticut and Andy Berg were CCBL all-stars in

34028-499: Was named playoff MVP, and Greer had his second consecutive title and third overall. The 1986 Kettleers featured the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect, Cris Carpenter , and reached the league title series for the fourth consecutive season, but fell to Orleans . Skipper Roger Bidwell led the Kettleers to a first-place finish atop the West Division in 1992. The team starred CCBL Hall of Famer and Framingham, Massachusetts native Lou Merloni , an infielder from Providence College , who led

34216-426: Was played as a Labor Day doubleheader. In Game 1, the Kettleers dished out a 14–0 clubbing at Lowell Park, with Butkus tossing the two-hit shutout. Kilroy was almost as good in Game 2 on the road, allowing only four Harwich hits. Helzel's three-run homer was all Kilroy needed in a 3–0 victory that secured Cotuit's second consecutive Cape League title. In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by

34404-437: Was shutting down the Red Sox on the mound. The Kettleers rolled to a 6–0 victory for the team's 15th CCBL title and first under Roberts. Jordan Leyland was named playoff MVP, hitting .461 with six RBI's in the postseason. Cotuit's Victor Roache was the CCBL's Outstanding Pro Prospect in 2011, and in 2012, the Kettleers' Dan Slania won the league's Outstanding Relief Pitcher award. CCBL Hall of Famer Patrick Biondi flirted with

34592-414: Was skippered by Herb Fuller in 1947 and 1948, and featured CCBL Hall of Famers Roy Bruninghaus, a Cape League all-star pitcher for three decades for Orleans who had been playing with the team since the 1930s, and Allen "Buzzy" Wilcox, another three-decade player, who was an infielder for Orleans for 17 years from the 1940s to the 1960s. Orleans won the league title in its inaugural 1947 campaign, defeating

34780-622: Was skippered in the 1960s by Dave Gavitt , an Orleans pitcher in the late 1950s and later the CEO of the Boston Celtics and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . Gavitt brought Orleans to the league championship series in the 1963 inaugural year of the modern era, but the team fell short against Cotuit . CCBL Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello played for Orleans in 1963, as did fellow CCBL Hall of Famer Tom Yankus,

34968-542: Was the league's Outstanding Pitcher with a 1.44 ERA and 72 strikeouts with only 16 walks in 62.1 innings. To this championship core, the Kettleers added outfielder/pitcher and league MVP Ken Huebner, as well as 1964 All-American hurler Keith Weber , who pitched later that summer for the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan . The Kettleers finished the regular season with an astonishing 31–3 record, and faced

35156-457: Was the league's Outstanding Relief Pitcher for Orleans in 2011. The Firebirds boasted the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award winners in back-to-back seasons with Kolton Mahoney in 2014, and CCBL Hall of Famer Mitchell Jordan, who tied the league's modern era single season record with a 0.21 ERA in 2015. Firebirds Stephen Scott and Carter Aldrete won back-to-back All-Star Game Home Run Derby crowns in 2017 and 2018, and center fielder Jimmy Herron

35344-618: Was voted to the CCBL's 1960's all-decade team, and went on to play in parts of two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers . The 1967 Kettleers pitching staff included Jim Courier and Doug Smith, both of whom tossed no-hitters for Cotuit, as well as Bill Richardson , who went on to become the Governor of New Mexico and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations . Longtime Kettleer star Jack McCarthy succeeded Hubbard as skipper in 1970. The Kettleers qualified for postseason play in eight of nine years under McCarthy's leadership, and claimed

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