All Star Game Halted by Rain

On July 23rd, the Cape Cod Baseball League All Star Game was held at Fenway Park for the first time in 22 years. But the day could not have been worse to have the best players in the Cape League from the East and the West to compete as the game was called early due to rain. Before the game began the home run derby contest got the 14,000 Cape League fans at friendly Fenway ready for the East to take on the West. The home run derby is usually held in a Cape League field without the Green Monster in the way, so the home runs were minimal in this derby. Only two home runs were needed to advance to the second round and only two to win the final round. Connor Powers was the winner of the contest and his showing at Fenway was much better than the previous All Star game at Chatham. Powers was the only returning hitter from 2008 and was finally able to escape the first round of the derby. Powers proved why he was this year’s winner with his home runs that were smashed over the Green Monster and out of Fenway. Powers said he was more relaxed this time around so it was easier to hit. Hard to imagine this college baseball player to be more relaxed in a professional arena in front of the biggest Cape League All Star attendance of all time.
After Powers was awarded the homerun award, the East and West began to warm up for the game that would only last 4.5 innings. As fans huddled under the roofs of Fenway Park, the West took the field as the home team. Brandon Workman (Texas) from the Wareham Gatemen got the start for the West. Workman had a quick 1, 2, 3 first inning including two strikeouts. Rob Rasmussen (UCLA) from the Orleans Firebirds was given the start for the East but did not match Workman’s performance. Rasmussen gave up a triple to Zach Cox (Arkansas) of Cotuit scoring his West teammate Todd Cunningham after he reached on an error. Cox was then able to score off of a fielder’s choice to make the score 2 – 0 after one inning. These were the only runs the West needed to score to clinch the win. The West added one more run in the second inning giving them a 3 – 0 win over the East. The East only had one hit in the contest compared to the West’s four hits. As the rain picked up in the middle of the 5th inning Fenway’s ground crew laid down the tarp on the field and announced that the game had been called, they also wanted to uphold the field for the Red Sox’s home stand this weekend.
The MVP’s from both the East and the West were decided shortly after the game was called. For the West Zach Cox was named MVP for being responsible for two of the three runs for the West. Pitcher Chris Sale (Florida Golf Coast) was named the MVP for the East after throwing just six pitches in the third inning and struck out two batters. Although the game ended quickly and Cape League fans left a little bit wet, the All Star game was a success and allowed these college students to play at the most beloved ball park in the country.

Trent Mummey Making the Best of Cape Opportunity

Here is another article I wrote for MVP Scout

HARWICH, MA – Hariwch Mariners’ Trent Mummey has been the anchor to Harwich’s offense this summer at the Cape Cod Baseball League. As an incoming junior at Auburn University, Mummey leads the Harwich Mariners in home-runs so far this summer with 3 homeruns. One of Mummey’s homeruns was a walk off in just the second game of the season making his mark on the Cape a memorable one.
As a sophomore at Auburn, Mummey fell into a hitting slump towards the end of the season. But instead of getting down Mummey concentrated on his defense in the outfield. This proved to his benefit as he ended the season with a .995 fielding percentage and was awarded the 2009 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I Gold Glove Award. This award is given based upon coaches’ opinions of players, and Mummey seemed to impress all the coaches in his conference. “I didn’t really know about the award,” said Mummey. “When I got the All FC defensive team I kind of expected something. I played good defense this year but struggled at the plate. I was just helping the team everyday defensively. It’s something to take a lot of pride in, defense, so it was pretty exciting for me,” said Mummey. Although Mummey’s hitting momentum slowed towards the end of the season he still ended with a .289 average with 15 homeruns, 42 RBIs, and stole 17 bases. Mummey said,“I had a lot better numbers than last year. I felt better about this season than last season. I am hoping to take this summer to improve my game and go on from there.” Mummey says his improvement from his freshman year is due to the help from his Auburn batting coach Matt Heath who made him go from a slap hitter to a homerun driver. The 5’9” 170 lb. outfielder says he looks up to Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox because of his size and also his determination and speed.
Mummey suffered an injury before his 2009 season with Auburn when he broke his wrist during the fall after diving back to a bag. Mummey said hitting during the winter helped a lot and he was back into the swing of things by the time April rolled around. He proved his injury was not an issue as he started of Auburn’s season hitting lights out. Mummey’s choice to go to Auburn was not his only choice getting out of high school. The senior was drafted out of high school but decided that going to college would allow him to mature and learn to grow as a player. Mummey realizes the opportunity that he has been given by playing at the Cape the summer. “It is fun but it is tough seeing the best pitching everyday,” says Mummey. “It’s a pitcher’s game up here so it is a mental game. You just have to learn to go about your days - not too many highs or too many lows just stay in the middle and be mentally tough, said Mummey. He knew a few players that came to the Cape that gave Mummey some advice – “They said just focus on getting better and don’t worry about the outcome. Don’t worry about your numbers because if you do it will be a lot tougher,” said Mummey. The difference between the Cape and the regular season are the wooden bats and the transition for Mummey does not seem to drastic if you look at his numbers on the summer so far. “It is a little different. The first week or so [with wooden bats] it’s a little tough but once you get the hang of getting the barrel on the ball it’s not too different. It’s more challenging,” he said. Mummey is very focused on improving his game yet again for his next season at Auburn and has a few goals this summer at Cape Cod. “Some of my goals are just to improve my game, seeing a lot more pitches, improving walk to strikeout ratio – things like that,” said Mummey. “I don’t really have number goals although I would love to make it to the All-Star Game at Fenway. I’d love to play there it would be a lot of fun.” The All Star Game will be held on July 23rd at Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts for the first time in 22 years.
At Auburn Mummey is a lead off hitter but his coach in Harwich has been moving him to different spots in the batting order. Mummey said, “Some days other people are better at lead off and some days it’s better for me to be in the three-hole. It just depends who is in the zone, who is pitching, and what the coaches think. It’s not up to me where people play in the line up. I hit lead off at Auburn but it isn’t that big of a deal where I hit, just go out and play.”
As for going pro Mummey has not talked to anyone since his draft his senior year of high school. “I haven’t really talked to anybody but everyone is looking at everybody,” said Mummey. “It is just too soon to tell.”
Harwich is the Cape League’s defending champions and they have a chance to bring back the title. When asked if the title could return to Harwich Mummey said, “Definitely. We have a really good team. We will have our ups and downs but I think we have a real good chance at winning.”