Cape Cod Baseball League wraps up season, Bruins fail to represent in playoffs
The Bruins' season fizzled out in the NCAA tournament this spring – a few rounds away from a championship, but still good for their fourth-consecutive postseason berth.
Of the players who kept the ball rolling in Massachusetts for the summer, only one even made the playoffs.
UCLA baseball had six representatives in the Cape Cod Baseball League this summer, five of whom didn't make it past the end of the regular season on Aug. 3. Infielder Michael Curialle and right-hander Charles Harrison finished the year 14-19-2 with the Falmouth Commodores, while right-hander Jack Filby, right-hander Max Rajcic and left-hander Jake Saum went 13-17-5 with the Orleans Firebirds.
Right-hander Jake Brooks was the only one whose club made the four-team playoff bracket, as his Cotuit Kettleers went 18-17-1 and led the league in runs scored. Even though Cotuit played the maximum three games in the semifinals against the Bourne Braves, Brooks did not make an appearance on the mound in the series.
Brooks finished the season No. 12 in the league with a 3.06 ERA, and he was the only Bruin to earn a spot on the All-Star team in July. He also put up a 1.18 WHIP and went 3-3 across his eight appearances, the last of which was a three-inning, four-earned run no decision on July 31.
Brooks would go either six or seven days between outings throughout the season, and the deciding semifinal game was eight days after his previous appearance.
The other five Bruins all had at least one other UCLA player on their team.
Curialle was the only player on the Commodores to play in all 35 games, hitting .243 with a .708 OPS. Harrison posted a 5.06 ERA across nine appearances and 16 innings of work, but he still managed to finish 1-0.
Saum and Filby each posted below average stat lines mostly working out of the bullpen, putting up 6.40 and 7.20 ERAs, respectively. Saum finished 1-2 with a save, while Filby finished 2-1 and made one start.
Rajcic appeared exclusively as a starter for the Firebirds, despite serving as UCLA's closer this past spring. He put up the best ERA and WHIP of the three Bruins with Orleans, but saw most of his success come in the first half of the season.
In his first three appearances, Rajcic tossed 10.1 innings without allowing a run. Across his next four games, the righty had a 7.36 ERA and went 0-3. The Firebirds scored an average of 2.7 runs per game when Rajcic started, so he ended the summer without a win.
Coach John Savage told the Los Angeles Times that Rajcic would be moving into the starting rotation in 2022, so his experience in Orleans should serve him well.
The Bruins' lack of postseason success on the Cape stands in opposition to how the past few summers ended for their transplants out East.
The Kettleers won the 2019 league title with former UCLA closer Holden Powell on the roster, while the 2018 Wareham Gatemen won the championship with outfielder Jeremy Ydens, right-hander Ryan Garcia, shortstop Ryan Kreidler and right-hander Jack Ralston all chipping in.
The 14 Bruins playing in the West Coast and Northwoods Leagues are still wrapping up their regular seasons, while the seven playing in the Appalachian and California Collegiate Leagues also had their league championships take place earlier in the week.
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