Harwich Announces Team Award Winners
by Elizabeth Layton, 8/3/10 12:00 AM

Prior to this evening's game against the Y-D Red Sox, the Harwich Mariners presented four members of the team with customized Barnstable Bats in recognition of their on and off the field performances this season. Members of the Harwich Mariners Organization, including President Mary Henderson, Secretary Peg Rose, Director Bill Markot, General Manager Ben Layton and Head Coach Steve Englert and his coaching staff were on field to give the awards.

The George Lane Sportsmanship Award is named in honor of the late George Lane, a long time supporter and board member of the team. This year's recipient was Austin Nola (Louisiana State University).

Al Graeber was the voice of the Harwich Mariners for over 20 years and in 2004, the Mariners opened the new "Al Graeber Press Box" in his memory. The Al Graeber Pitching Award was awarded to Matty Ott (Louisiana State University).

Pratt Maynard (NC State University) received the Marty McDonough Most Valuable Player Award. Maynard appeared in a team-high 36 games and is currently tied for 5th in the League with 20 RBI.

The Fred Ebbett 10th Player Award is given to the player who goes above and beyond expectations. Fred Ebbett is a former Commissioner of the Cape League, former Harwich Public School Administrator (24 years) and former Manager of the Harwich Mariners. Clint Moore (United States Military Academy at West Point) was this year's recipient of this award. Moore saw action at 2nd base, Short Stop, 3rd base, DH and Pitcher over the course of the season.

Ott, Maynard and Moore all represented the East Division in this year's Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star game at Fenway Park. Nola had a brief hiatus from the team in early July as he was a Team USA invite, but ultimately made the decision to return to the Mariners to complete the season

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

It won’t be long before Matty Ott becomes the all-time career leader in saves at LSU. He piled up a single-season record 16 his freshman year and notched 11 more this past spring, putting him three shy of surpassing Rick Greene’s 1990-1992 record of 29.

This summer, Ott has given Cape League fans a glimpse of his greatness.

The Harwich hurler is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and has compiled a team-best six saves to help the rapidly rising Mariners recover from a shaky start and put them in a prime position to clinch a playoff berth.

“The key has been to go right after hitters, and if they can beat you with a couple of hits in a row, then they beat you, but I try not to give anything away,” said Ott. “I try to not walk any guys and make them swing the bat.”

Ott, who’s issued just three walks and seven hits in 18 innings, has carried out the plan nearly to perfection. In his first seven appearances, the Chalmette, La. native was untouchable, going 10 straight innings without giving up an earned run.

A highlight during that stretch came on July 3 when Ott earned a two-inning victory in Harwich’s 1-0, 11-inning win over Chatham, in which he struck out the final two batters, the latter with the tying run in scoring position.

Since then, Ott has earned saves on back-to-back nights, slamming the door on Brewster and Chatham (July 8 and 9) and Bourne and Orleans (July 20 and 21). Ott has been so dominant that his selection to the Cape League all-star team was a slam dunk.

“There’s so many good guys in this league, so many pitchers with an ERA below one, and really every pitcher here could be an all-star,” said Ott. What separates the all-stars from the non all-stars, he said, “can be just one bad inning. That’s all it takes to hurt your stats. I’m just fortunate I haven’t had that.”

As a result, third-place Harwich (19-16) has held onto several late leads, and is now in contention for a CCBL title.

“It’s my first summer playing summer ball and it’s been a great experience,” said Ott. “I’ve heard stories from guys at LSU about how summer ball can be long, but I cannot say I’ve been bored or wanted to go home. It’s flown by, especially since we’ve been on a hot streak lately. It’s made it that much easier and that much more fun.”
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