The Cape Cod Baseball League kicked off its Centennial Celebration on Friday morning with a trip to Fenway Park.
The 10 teams that comprise the nation’s premier summer baseball league arrived at Fenway in staggered groups of two beginning with the Harwich Mariners and the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. The league stretches from Wareham on the mainland side of the Bourne Bridge to its last outpost in Orleans, the home of world famous Nauset Beach.
Each team participated with infield and batting practice while most of the field managers were getting their first look at the players who will kick off the season on Saturday. A large contingent of CCBL players are still competing in the College World Series.
There was a festive atmosphere on Jersey Street as fans, friends and family members filled the seats under a warm, partly cloudy sky. Scouts from across MLB gathered along the first base line and behind the batting cage, logging their salient observations on clipboards and iPads.
“I think it is exciting for everyone to come to Cape Cod and Fenway Park,” said Hyannis manager Eric Beattie. “There is no better place to spend a summer playing baseball than Cape Cod. I played here (Fenway) in 2003 with the Bourne Braves and I was here as a manager last year.”
NU connection
Alex Lane of Andover is one of six Northeastern players who have or will be tendered CCBL contracts for its 100th anniversary season.
Lane participated in his first practice with Hyannis while his Huskies’ teammate, Mike Sirota, who played for the Harbor Hawks last summer, is expected to join the club in two weeks. Tyler MacGregor of Peabody is committed to play for the Mariners but did not attend the Fenway festivities. The other three are pitchers Jake Gigliotti (Cotuit), Eric Yost (Yarmouth-Dennis) and Griffin Young, who is waiting assignment.
Lane, Sirota, and MacGregor were fixtures at the front end of NU coach Mike Glavine’s batting order that led the Huskies to a 44-16 record and a trip to the Winston-Salem Regional of the College World Series.
Sirota batted .346 from the leadoff spot with 18 home runs, nine double and 54 RBI while Lane and MacGregor comprised the meat of the order. MacGregor batted .332 with 18 home runs, 11 doubles and 54 RBI. Lane batted .318 with 16 homes runs, 12 doubles and 58 RBI.
Lane transited the portal from Bryant to Northeastern while MacGregor was a graduate transfer from Columbia. MacGregor and Lane were high school teammates at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.
“He was a year ahead of me at St. John’s and it was kind of funny that we both ended up in the same spot,” said Lane. “It was cool coming to Northeastern and seeing a familiar face.”
Lane made the most of his opportunity to impress the Harbor Hawks coaching staff. Lane looked sharp fielding grounders at first base but made his best showing with the bat. In the second of his three flights in the cage, Lane launched a 400-foot bomb into the visitor’s bullpen at the right flank of the triangle.
“Obviously when you grow up coming to Fenway and seeing the pros do it, it is kind of cool to do it yourself,” said Lane. “It was good day to get out here and a great event run by the scouts. I am very thankful to be here.”
The manager
Beattie has spent the last 14 springs coaching baseball at Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Fla., preparing his players to compete in college. In his second season managing Hyannis, Beattie tenders CCBL contracts to college kids looking to make it in the pros.
The beauty of playing in the Cape Cod league is that it encompasses a college lifestyle with a professional regimen. Each team plays six nights a week and the hours before each game are filled with drills and conditioning.
“I will tell the guys when we have our meeting that this is the closest thing to professional baseball without being in professional baseball,” said Beattie. “They play, play, play and they have to take care of their bodies and their skill development on a day-to-day basis. This is a good taste for them.”
The scouts
Matt Hyde of Canton scouts the Northeast for the New York Yankees and he views the CCBL as a treasure trove of raw talent waiting to be refined.
There were 377 CCBL alumni on MLB rosters in 2022 and Aaron Judge of the Brewster Whitecaps graces the cover of the first edition of Cape League magazine. Hyde spent the morning conducting infield and was behind the cage when Lane swatted his homer.
“This is always a huge day because we get to see all these players workout in a major league stadium and that is a huge difference maker for us,” said Hyde. “They play every day and that dynamic is what separates the men from the boys.”
Ron Vaughn of Connecticut was on the first base side scouting for the Oakland A’s.
“You get the whole league together here and that’s an advantage,” said Vaughn. “You are here looking for everything you normally scout and the Cape league is a very good league. You see good ballplayers here.”
