After missing the 2020 season because of the CoViD-19 pandemic, the Cape Cod Baseball League is back in full swing in 2021.
The league sees some of college baseball’s finest players head to the Cape for the summer, where they compete for ten local teams. Cape Cod residents and visitors love this league because it provides high-quality baseball action and gives an early glimpse at some of the next stars to hit the Major Leagues.
All Cape Cod League games are free to attend and take place in Brewster, Harwich, Yarmouth, Orleans, Chatham, Bourne, Falmouth, Cotuit, and Hyannis. There’s also an off-Cape team in Wareham.
Here’s a look at what has been happening during the 2021 season and what you can expect if you can check out a game on your Cape Cod vacation.
The Standings
Thus far, three teams are dominating the Cape Cod Baseball League: the Brewster Whitecaps, Harwich Mariners, and Bourne Braves. No other squads are above .500, so it looks like the battle for the league championship will come down to those teams.
The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Orleans Firebirds, Falmouth Commodores, and Cotuit Kettleers are competitive, too, while the Chatham Anglers, Wareham Gatemen, and Hyannis Harbor Hawks have struggled.
The playoffs get underway on August 6 and should provide a highly entertaining conclusion to the season.
Stand-Out Players
A few players are lighting it up for their respective Cape Cod League teams in 2021, starting with Tyler Locklear of the Orleans Firebirds.
Locklear is a 20-year-old infielder from Abingdon, Maryland, who’s going into his junior season at Virginia Commonwealth University. Although he’s hitting just .233 on the season, he leads the league in home runs, with nine, and RBIs, with 26, in only 103 at-bats. Scouts have surely taken notice of Locklear’s power numbers this season, and he’s a name worth watching in the future.
Brock Wilken just turned 19 in June, but he’s having a fantastic season for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Wilken, who plays both third base and catcher, will begin his sophomore season at Wake Forest in the fall, and he’ll be getting significant attention from scouts thanks mainly to his hitting ability. On the season, Wilken is hitting .321 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. These numbers put him in the top four of every major offensive category and give him a realistic shot at a triple crown if he gets hot over the last few games of the season.
On the other side of the ball, two names worth watching are Bryce Hubbart and Trey Dombroski, two southpaws that have been nearly unhittable this season.
Hubbart, a junior at Florida State University, is sporting a 3-1 record with a league-leading 45 strikeouts. He also has a 0.87 ERA on the season. He has surrendered only 14 hits in his 31 innings pitched, as well.
Dombroski, a junior from Monmouth University, has started and come out of the bullpen in relief this season for the Harwich Mariners. He has a 2-0 record with an impressive 38 strikeouts in just 24.2 innings and has shown excellent control by only walking a single batter.
Adam Mazur and his sparkling 0.38 ERA are also worth keeping an eye on as he competes for the Wareham Gatemen. Mazur is a sophomore with South Dakota State University and is 2-0 on the season.
There are stand-out players every season on Cape Cod who end up improving their draft positions through their performances, making themselves a lot of money in the process.
What’s Next?
Even if you don’t get out to a Cape Cod Baseball League game this season, you can expect similar performances by next year’s crop of college players, too. This league attracts some of the best young baseball players in the country each summer, giving locals and visitors alike the opportunity to experience something special whenever they attend a game.
Past Cape Cod Baseball League players include Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Frank Thomas, and Carlton Fisk, all of whom are honored in Cooperstown. Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Aaron Judge, and Thurman Munson offer a small sample of the league’s other notable alumni.
In addition, roughly one in seven MLB players goes through the Cape Cod Baseball League, and some seasons see Cape Cod League alumni account for about a third of all first-round picks in the MLB draft.
This league is something special, and it’s truly worth checking out a game or two on your Cape Cod vacation because you never know who you’ll get to see in action.
