Jankowski Named Cape Cod Baseball MVP

Sean Stires — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:07:33 +0000

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BOURNE, Mass. – The Bourne Braves called in Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) for the last ten games of the season in 2010. Now, a little over a year later, he is the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Most Valuable Player.

Travis Jankowski

Bourne’s General Manager Mike Carrier said thankfully Jankowski scored a chance on the Cape because a former Brave’s assistant was working with Jankowski at Stony Brook. When current field manager, Harvey Shapiro, started calling around looking for good players, he found the 6-2, 190 pound outfielder.

“Not only is he a great baseball player, but a good person, student, citizen and overall nice person. Sometimes you don’t see nice people and ballplayers in the same combination,” said Carrier.

The ballplayer from Lancaster, Penn., played well from start to finish. The numbers do not lie. He was made a Cape League All-Star for the Western Division because of it.

Jankowski finished one of the top ten hitters and base stealers in the league. He batted .326 with 22 RBIs, 60 hits, 35 runs and a .444 OBP.

“I actually like his defense most of all. He played right center to left center and just caught everything in his way, everything. Balls I could never see anybody else get to during the season,” said Carrier.
Jankowski credits his speed and defense to his father and his brother chasing him around as a kid.

“That speed is good but you also need to be able to know how to use it. You need to be able to get a jump on balls and be able to track them well too. You can’t teach that. It’s inside you. That is instinct,” said Carrier.

The Stony Brook player, who didn’t make an error in 115 chances over his sophomore season, ranked second in America East with a .355 batting average.

“Before leaving for the year, the one thing he said to me was he wanted to come back. But in my mind I hope he has another great season at Stony Brook and ends up getting drafted high enough so he doesn’t have to come back and continue on to have a great baseball career,” said Carrier.

FLASHING THE HARDWARE – Congrats to the 2011 CCBL Postseason Award winners including: MVP – Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) of Bourne; Batting Champion – Stephen Piscotty (Stanford) of Y-D; Top Pro Prospect – Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) of Cotuit; Top Pitcher – Ryan Eades (LSU) of Bourne; Top Relief Pitcher – Trevor Gott (Kentucky) of Orleans; 10th Player – Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville) of Orleans; Sportsmanship – Patrick Cantwell (Stony Brook) of Bourne; Top New England Player – Nate Koneski (Holy Cross) of Falmouth; Top GM – Bill Bussiere, Hyannis; Top Field Manager – Chad Gassman, Hyannis; Star of Stars Playoff MVP – Mike Garza(Georgetown), Harwich.

VANDY BOUND – Social Media/PR maven Ashley Crosby has landed a sports information position with Vanderbilt after four years working in the CCBL. She was presented with a specially engraved Barnstable Bat before last Thursday’s Wareham at Falmouth playoff game broadcast on WEEI Cape Cod (96.3 FM).

CCBL SPONSOR HONORED – Randy Shepard, CEO of Eye Health Services, was honored for 10 years of support of the CCBL during pre-game ceremonies at last Friday’s Falmouth at Harwich championship series playoff game one.

FALMOUTH KO ARTIST – Joe Bircher (Bradley) led the Cape League with 48 strikeouts and compiled a 1-1 record with a sparkling 1.44 ERA, good for second in the league;

TOP RUN PRODUCER – Catcher Dane Phillips (Oklahoma St.) of Chatham, who finished a mere .0002 points behind CCBL batting champion Stephen Piscotty, led the league with 34 RBI.

STINGY HURLER – RHP Scott Firth (Clemson) of Hyannis won the league’s ERA crown with a microscopic 1.15 ERA as he and Dylan Floro (Cal State-Fullerton) at 4-1 gave the Harbor Hawks a lethal 1-2 pitching punch.

MEMORIES OF YESTERYEAR – It was 85 years ago that Truro native Danny “Deacon” MacFayden was mowing down opposing batters in the fledgling Cape Cod League. The right-hander posted a 9-2 record leading Osterville to its second straight CCBL title in 1925 before switching to a Falmouth uniform in 1926 and hurling a one-hitter against Hyannis. He signed with the Boston Red Sox and led the AL with four shutouts in 1929 and enjoyed a 17-year career before coaching at Hebron (ME) Academy and Bowdoin College.

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East Downs West In Cape Cod All-Star Game

Sean Stires — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:18:42 +0000

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Pitching The Key At Fenway…

Boston, Mass—As the 2011 Cape Cod League All-Stars found themselves taking the field at Fenway Park, walking the same steps that Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and many of the best to ever play the game have walked, no one could blame them for being a little nervous. Those butterflies translated into some uncharacteristic hiccups in a frantic first three innings of the 2011 Cape Cod League All-Star Game, which the East won 4-1.

The West wasted no time getting on board, opening the scoring in the first inning off East starter Taylor Rogers (Kentucky). Bourne’s Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) led off with a single, and scored on an error by East first baseman Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State). The RBI was credited to Eric Stamets (Evansville) of Hyannis, who bunted for a base hit before Waldrip threw the ball away.

The jitters continued in the top of the second, where the East scored two runs off Scott Firth (Hyannis). Y-D’s Stephen Piscotty (Stanford) reached on an infield single to begin the inning, and teammate Mason Katz (LSU) picked him up with a double. The throw home was high, and Firth threw the ball into left field in an attempt to catch Katz at third. Katz would score on his own double, helped home by two errors.

“We made a couple mistakes in the second inning there,” said West coach Harvey Shapiro, manager of Bourne, “they probably should have got one run, but we threw the ball around there a little bit.”

Before fans could catch their breath, the East struck again in the top of the third. Ryan Jones (Michigan State) of Brewster singled off Bourne’s Josh Conway (Coastal Carolina), moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by teammate Jason Monda (Wahington State).

That was all the East staff would need, as the West did not sniff the scoreboard again for the rest of the game. Matt Koch (Louisville) of Chatham, Tony Bucciferro (Michigan State) of Brewster, Tyler Johnson (Stony Brook) of Orleans, J.T. Chargois (Rice) of Brewster, Chris Overman (NC State) of Harwich all posted consecutive scoreless innings for the East.

“When you get these starters and closers who can go out for one inning and blow it out…pretty nice, isn’t it?” said Y-D manager and East coach Scott Pickler, in reference to the strong pitching of the East staff.

Chris Beck (Georgia Southern) was able to throw a scoreless top of the fourth for the West, but the East stuck again in the fifth, when Y-D’s James Ramsey (Florida State) laced a John Farrell (William and Mary) offering into the bullpen in right-center for a solo home run.

“Just got a fastball, put good wood on it,” Ramsey said. “The adrenaline’s obviously going, playing in this park.”

Hyannis’ Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) was able to survive the sixth unscathed for the West despite surrendering a leadoff double. Bobby Wahl (Cotuit) followed suit with mid-90s fastballs to leave the score at 4-1 after six and a half.

After the crowd belted out “Sweet Caroline” during the seventh innings stretch, the East pitching picked up where it had left off, as Brewster’s Austin Voth (Washington), Harwich’s Carter Capps (Mount Olive), and Trevor Gott (Kentucky) of Orleans finished off a flawless three innings for the East.

Wareham’s Konner Wade (Arizona) and John Simms (Rice)of Falmouth would also throw scoreless innings to end on a high note for the West.

All told, the East staff would surrender only one unearned run to the acclaimed West lineup. The final score of the 2011 Cape Cod League All-Star Game ended in a victory for the East, 4-1.

“Their pitching was a little bit better than ours, and it showed up in the score,” Shapiro said.

The official attendance for the game was 7,007. Ramsey was named East MVP, while Stamets was named West MVP. Rogers was the winning pitcher, while Firth took the loss. Gott earned the save for the East.

(Release)

College Baseball 360 » Travis Jankowski

Jankowski Named Cape Cod Baseball MVP

East Downs West In Cape Cod All-Star Game