Impressive Cape Cod Baseball League Prospects

Yarmouth-Dennis celebrates winning the 2016 Cape Cod
Baseball League Championship
photo by author

The Cape Cod Baseball League features some of the best college players from around the country. Every summer, players from all over the country head to the Cape to impress scouts and improve their draft stock.

This year was no different.

Many players impressed not only the plethora of scouts that visited the island over the summer, but fans, coaches and other players as well.

During my week up on the Cape this summer, I went to six Cape League playoff games, This included all three games of the thrilling championship series where the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox won their third consecutive championship behind manager Scott Pickler.

While attending these games, I was impressed, as I always am, by the skills of many of the players in the league. However, these four players below continue to stick out in my mind for the attributes they showed at the games I attended.

Calvin Faucher, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, University of California, Irvine

While scouting a baseball player is far from an inexact science, there are always certain character traits that are inane and can be observed from just a single appearance or even at-bat. For Calvin Faucher, the one at-bat you needed to see was against JJ Matijevic in the winner-take-all game three of the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series. Matijevic was one of the best hitters in all of the Cape this summer, hitting .376 in the regular season and .300 in the playoffs (with three playoff homers). Faucher came on to face Matijevic in the bottom of the eight inning with two runners on and one out. Calm, cool and collected, he managed to get ahead in the count quickly. With two strikes, he got Matijevic to swing on pitch low and away to get the strikeout. It was one of the biggest strikeouts in the man's career. He then got cleanup hitter Josh Watson to strikeout to end the inning. Faucher was impressive the entire summer, pitching in 20 games overall with 29 strikeouts and only eight hits (albeit with 11 walks). But, all you had to see was his battle against Matijevic to know that the man is extremely comfortable and confident coming out of the pen in big spots. That is something you cannot teach.

Austin Filiere, OF, Harwich Mariners, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The feel good story of the Cape summer, Austin Filiere proved that Division III players can play with the big boys. The rising junior at MIT was very impressive this summer playing against greater talent than his is accustomed to seeing. He had a slash line of .248/.362/.504 and was tied for second in the league in home runs with seven. In game three of the Eastern Division Semifinals, he showed off his strength. In the third inning Filiere crushed a ball to straight away centerfield, easily clearing the wall for a homer. It was a no-doubter that showed the power of Filiere. He was awarded the Manny Robello 10th Player Award for his contributions to the team and it well deserved. Filiere is a ballplayer and should, one day, be playing at the next level.

Deacon Liput, 2B, Falmouth Commodores, University of Florida

Liput had a very impressive Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series. Hitting out of the two hole, Liput set the table multiple times for his Commodore teammates. In game one of the series, he scored two of the biggest runs of the game. In the first inning, he hit a single, stole second base and then scored on a double to tied the game at one. Then, in the fifth inning, he led off the inning with a single and would come around the score the go-ahead run as Falmouth would not relinquish their lead. Liput would continue to get on base in the series, but his teammates had trouble knocking him in. On defense, he was solid and proved to be very capable at the position. After a so-so regular season where he hit .260, the rising sophomore broke out in the playoffs. Florida is hoping that he can continue his quality play and confidence in the spring.

Kevin Smith, SS, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, University of Maryland

Kevin Smith with the 2016 Playoff MVP Trophy
photo by author

Playoff MVP Kevin Smith was the best player I saw on the Cape this summer. He showed prowess with both the glove and the bat. Defensively, he proved to be sure footed, have a good arm and good feet and look extremely comfortable. While there were some plays that he got to but could not make the throw, few balls got past him in the whole, which is an undervalued skill. The one play that sticks out in my mind occurred in game one of the Eastern Division Finals. With runners on third and second and one out, a groundball was hit towards third base. It hit off the glove of third baseman Will Toffey and bounced up in the air. Smith ran over to deep in the hole, barehanded the ball and threw the runner out at first by a step. While the runner on third scored, the runner on second did not advance and was later left stranded. It was arguably the biggest play of the game. If Smith had not gotten the runner, it would have been a one run game with one out and two runners on. Instead, it is still a one run game, but there is only one runner on and two out. That is a major swing in favor of the Red Sox. Smith made a myriad of those plays, both at the plate and in the field. The Maryland man proved his skill this summer on the Cape and should be a player to watch in the Big Ten this spring.