Article By: Joseph McLaughlin

Chatham, Mass. — The sun shone bright in Chatham ahead of the Gatemen’s matchup with the Anglers. It was a special day as ESPN was in town, covering the game and the Cape Cod Baseball League for a national audience as part of their 50 States in 50 Days SportsCenter show.

Before the Gatemen arrived at the field, ESPN’s Molly McGrath talked to media interns from all over the league on the first base side, taking questions and sharing her story of breaking into the industry from her time at Boston College to where she is now.

She then could be seen live on SportsCenter directly behind home plate, delivering her opening hit. Then she traveled to the Chatham Anglers dugout where she interviewed Anglers’ Manager Dennis Cook.

People packed the stands to not only see the game but see ESPN’s show happening right in front of them, possibly getting themselves on TV. However, the addition of ESPN did not change the Gatemen’s task at hand, as they had another game they wanted to win.

The Gatemen came off a tight 6-5 victory over the Y-D Red Sox on Monday, where the ball club got off to a hot start and controlled the pace of the game despite an attempt at a Red Sox comeback. They went into their matchup with the Anglers with the same mindset as Monday, to be relentless through nine innings.

The Gatemen (16-14) proved that to be a winning mindset as they defeated the Anglers (13-14-3) by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday. The win strengthens their grip over the West Division, placing them four points ahead of Bourne, who holds second place.

The Gatemen got off to another hot start, striking first in the first inning. Right Fielder Colby Turner (Michigan) hit a one-out single to get on base, then advanced to second base after a failed pickoff attempt by Chatham Starting Pitcher Jacob Turner (Bowling Green) that rolled to the fence.

That brought up First Baseman Chris McHugh (NC State), who hit an RBI single to right center and drove in Turner. It was the second night in a row that McHugh put the Gatemen on the board first with an RBI and got his team off to a hot start.

The hot start allowed them to control the early part of the game and keep putting the pressure on the Anglers’ pitchers. In the third, Second Baseman Brayden Randle (Ole Miss) blasted a line drive double that deflected off of Chatham First Baseman Reed Stallman (Mississippi State) and carried into the right field corner.

Randle then advanced to third to put another Gatemen run 90 feet away. The very next at-bat, Turner crushed a two-run home run down the left field line to put the Gatemen up 3-0.

Turner was on a hot streak earlier in July, especially in his four-for-five night with seven RBIs against the Kettleers on July 6, which helped award him a spot in the All-Star Game. However, his bat went cold heading into the All-Star weekend, but his bat heated up at the right time to deliver a Gatemen lead.

Then in the fifth inning, Designated Hitter Caden McDonald (Florida) crushed a line drive home run to left center field to give the Gatemen a 4-0 lead. The homer was McDonald’s fourth of the summer and sums up a successful July that McDonald has had, being named Franklin Player of the Week.

“It was cool. I think that some of my teammates have been almost as deserving of this recognition due to this offense. You could pretty much pick a guy at this point, and they're going to have outstanding numbers. I'm very appreciative of the award; it's an honor, but I just attribute it to the team,” said McDonald.

The Gatemen’s offense was flying high, but it was not the only part of their game that dominated. Once again, Wareham’s pitching controlled the game, limiting the Anglers to only two hits. Starting Pitcher Cooper Consiglio (NC State) dazzled during his outing. He went for five innings scoreless, only allowed two hits, four walks, and struck out six batters.

“I felt really good. Felt like I had command of my fastball for the most part. I was getting around my cutter a little bit, but it was working,” said Consiglio.

“That was one of the best games I've seen him or anybody throw out here. It was a perfect time for it, leading into an off day, let our offense kind of chip away and add on. Overall, it was a great team win,” said Gatemen Field Manager Ryan Smyth.

Shortstop Chris Ramirez (California Baptist) then tacked on the final run for the Gatemen in the top of the sixth inning after he was brought in by a hard-hit ground ball by Randle. The Gatemen secured a 5-1 victory, and strengthened their grip on the top spot in the West.

The separation from the rest of their division is crucial for the Gatemen as they approach the final ten games of the season. From here on, every game is extremely important with playoff implications, and having momentum going into those games will only help the Gatemen.

“Baseball is a game of momentum most of the time. Usually, the team that wins in baseball is the hottest team at the right time, not necessarily the best team, which I do think we're both. We just got to keep riding it. This is a very important stretch to pad our lead in the division and give us some confidence going into the playoffs,” said McDonald.

“It's always good to have momentum going to the end. We still got some work to do, so we're gonna have a foot on the gas pedal. We have some big games coming up, so it's still a tight race. We got to keep playing good baseball, and we'll see how it ends up,” said Smyth.

The Gatemen will enjoy a day off on Wednesday before starting the final quarter of the season on Thursday against the Orleans Firebirds. First pitch will be at 6:00 p.m. at Spillane Field in Wareham.