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College  | Story | 9/16/2024

Cape Cod Notebook: Postseason

Perfect Game Staff
Photo: Ethan Petry (South Carolina Athletics)
Ethan McElvain (Vanderbilt, ‘26 Eligible)

Ethan McElvain made three regular season starts for the Bourne Braves, recording an 0.77 ERA and leading the Bourne Braves to hand the LHP the ball for their single-game playoff series against Hyannis. McElvain made a brief start but set his team up to win, surrendering one earned run and striking out four in an impressive showing for one of the freshman arms with the highest upside on the Cape this summer.

Pitching out of a lower 3/4 slot with a loose arm and smooth, relaxed delivery, the 6’4” lefty throws a three pitch mix. His fastball, which sat at 92-95 mph in his playoff start, is a high octane pitch that he can run in on either side of the plate and throw consistently for strikes. McElvain has ticked up the velocity of his fastball during his college season, showing an ability to hit 97, but the lower-velocity offering still played well on the Cape. The slider, which McElvain tossed at 82-85 mph, showed all of the qualities of a nasty put away pitch when the lefty executed, with a good sweeping shape dotting the corner and generating lots of swing and miss. However, it could be prone to take off and lose control, leading to a few wild pitches in the outing. Making sure the pitch is thrown with consistency, as it has been in some of McElvain’s previous outings on the Cape, will ensure it continues to develop as his plus breaking pitch going forward. McElvain’s third pitch is a changeup delivered at 83-86 mph, and while the lefty didn’t turn to the pitch as often, it played well with some late drop, and has the potential to be a solid third offering with room for development. 



McElvain also struggled quite a bit with control and putting away hitters during his appearance, issuing five walks and several long at-bats that drove up his pitch count significantly and contributed to his short start. However, he worked well with traffic on the bases and limited damage. In our looks at McElvain, while there are a few areas of his game to be refined, his arsenal plays against elite hitting. As he continues into his sophomore year, McElvain has all of the potential to develop into one of the better arms in college baseball.

Ethan Petry (South Carolina, ‘25 Eligible)

Ethan Petry was one of the stars of the summer with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, coming away from his Cape season with league MVP honors and leading qualified players in multiple offensive categories, including OBP, SLG, OPS and home runs. In our look at Petry during the Red Sox’s single-game playoff series, Petry continued to show his hitting talent, going 2-for-4 and getting great contact on a night that was otherwise a pitcher’s duel, with both lineups struggling to pick up hits. 

Standing at 6’4”, Petry is physical righty bat who looks every bit the power hitter that he is. Visually, the load has several moving parts, with Petry’s hands prone to some drift, along with a toe tap into a step forward that adds some complexity going into the swing. However, having watched several of Petry’s at-bats, while his motions may not look the smoothest, the approach is repeatable and consistent and seems to serve Petry well. At its best, Petry’s swing is short and compact with explosive speed through the zone, and the raw power is obvious, with the righty getting easy juice and plenty of lift off the bat. When his timing is off or he is fooled by a pitch, the swing can get long - shortening it up will help improve the contact part of Petry’s hitting game. 

Petry made most of his appearances in the outfield this summer, and while he could continue there at the next level, he is a bat-first player who may also project at first base in the long term. With a power tool second to none and consistent standout performances this summer from day one to the playoffs, Petry has solidified his position as one of the top names going into the 2025 draft regardless of where he takes the field, and his bat should carry him to a first-round selection.

Brandon Compton (Arizona State, ‘25 Eligible)

After swinging a powerful bat throughout the regular season on the Cape, Brandon Compton showed no signs of slowing down through the Cotuit Kettleers’ playoff run. While the redshirt freshman put up a massive 1.114 OPS through all of his postseason appearances, keeping in line with his .903 OPS on the regular season, his most impactful performance came in his 2-for-4, 2 RBI outing in the playoff semi-finals where he made an impact on all four runs scored by the Kettleers in the game. 

Taking a quiet step into the load, the redshirt freshman stays loose and balanced through the swing, generating a quick bat that is direct and covers the zone well. Compton’s raw power is evident on contact, where he gets easy lift and carry off of the barrel and can shoot elevated drives to all fields. This power was on display in the playoffs, where the lefty shot a towering two run home run with an explosive swing through the zone. While power is the biggest part of Compton’s game, the freshman also hit for average at .331, the fifth highest average among qualified hitters in the league, and kept strikeouts at a good rate of 16.6%.

With one of the best hit tools on the Cape and the ability to impact the ball with power at a consistent level, Compton will go into next year as a draft-eligible sophomore sporting a well-rounded offensive skill set that should get his name called early next July. 

Marek Houston (Wake Forest, ‘25 Eligible)

Marek Houston has shown solid tools on the Cape since day one, making impressive plays as one of the top defensive shortstops in his class and making consistent contact with the bat. However, Houston really shined throughout the Bourne Braves’ playoff run, with his 3-for-5 performance with his team facing elimination being one of several outings that helped kickstart the Bourne offense through to the Cape championship series.

Houston’s swing is smooth and compact, with the righty drawing the hands back to get good leverage in an otherwise simple and quiet load. The swing plays to all fields, with Houston being particularly adept at finding gaps and sneaking balls through to the outfield. Houston is also disciplined in his approach at the plate, with the sophomore seeing the ball well and rarely being tempted to chase outside the zone. Power isn’t a huge part of his game, something which may concern teams barring improved numbers in his junior season, but his bat-to-ball and discipline skills look elite, combining for a .452 OBP in the postseason that followed a regular season where he was consistently getting on base with a .465 OBP. In the field, Houston looked equally impressive, making several diving stops at shortstop throughout the playoffs and showing excellent range.

With his top of the order qualities with the bat and excellent abilities in the field, Houston played a big role in Bourne’s postseason push on the Cape, and is setting up for a big junior season at Wake Forest. With contact and defensive skills that already look ready to take the step to the next level, keep an eye on Houston on the first day of next years draft. 

Macon Winslow (Duke, ‘26 Eligible)

Macon Winslow and the Harwich Mariners are the 2024 Cape Cod League Champions, and after a disappointing regular season this summer, particularly compared to his lofty performance with Duke in the spring, the freshman put himself right in the middle of Harwich’s championship run and showed many more of the qualities that have made him a top follow at the catching position for the 2026 draft.

Looking at the mechanics of Winslow’s swing, there is a lot to like about his actions at the plate. Starting in an open, balanced upright stance with a slight bend in the knees, the righty loads the hands right at the top of the shoulders and keeps them level and direct through the swing. Winslow can use either a toe tap or leg kick approach, but both swings look comfortable and smooth. The freshman gets great speed through his swing and can take tight turns to get the barrel in the zone, leading to some hard contact when he gets hold of a ball. However, throughout the season, Winslow struggled to get the bat to the ball and at times looked long through the swing, with his 26.7% strikeout rate, alongside weak contact, plaguing his average and slugging numbers. In the postseason, however, Winslow looked more controlled with the bat - while strikeouts remained an issue, his paths looked much more direct and the swing more compact, allowing him to impact and lift the ball. This improvement helped him deliver one of Harwich’s biggest hits of the postseason, a loud RBI fly ball single that flew off the bat and gave Harwich a lead they wouldn’t surrender in the final championship game.

We were only able to see one of Winslow’s playoff starts behind the dish, but during our looks in the regular season, Winslow was a good mover with a solid arm and looks able to remain at the position long-term. As Winslow likely moves into the starting catcher role in his sophomore season, he will make for an interesting follow over the next two years as he develops as a solid backstop and makes the adjustments needed to continue to unlock the full potential of his swing prior to the 2026 draft. 

Joe Ariola (Wake Forest, ‘25 Eligible)

With his Bourne Braves facing elimination, LHP Joe Ariola was handed the ball and put on a display, tossing six innings, surrendering two runs and six hits and striking out five. While Ariola’s regular season was shaky at times, with the sophomore struggling with walks and run prevention, his start in the playoff semifinals was a glimpse at the kind of pitcher the lefty could develop into through his junior campaign.

Standing at 6’2”, the lefty has a loose, comfortable delivery, driving off his back leg well and tossing from an overhead slot. Ariola used his full four pitch arsenal in his playoff start, and some looked to be potential plus pitches for the sophomore. His fastball sat at 91-94 mph through his outing and had some good sink to it, which played well against his 85-87 mph changeup that also had some late life at the bottom of the zone and got some outs. However, his breaking pitches, particularly his high spin curveball (79-80 mph), could prove to be his best offerings. Ariola’s curveball had great depth and a 12-6 shape that drew lots of swing and miss. His mid-80s slider similarly had some big movement, with the amount of spin causing the pitch to take off on the lefty and end up near the dirt, although it also drew some swing and miss during his appearance. 

In our look at Ariola, his arsenal looked sharp, with the sophomore only issuing one walk. However, control plagued the lefty during the season, and with the amount of spin and movement in his arsenal, it is easy to see how he can struggle to locate the zone and keep pitches outside of the zone competitive. However, when Ariola puts it together, the movement could play very well. While Ariola’s ceiling is likely late day two or early day three of the 2025 Draft, there is certainly a lot to like about his arsenal as he works on refining it through his junior season.
 
-Abigail Leblanc
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