The Cape Cod League is about making adjustments, to a new environment and a different level of competition. Hitters can't pad their stats on middle relievers or back-of-the-rotation starters, and pitchers can't work around a lineup the same way they might in college. Everything isn't supposed to run smoothly.
For Connor Powers, using a wood bat hasn't been the problem you might expect. Instead, he's had trouble with the lights.
The Benet graduate certainly wasn't complaining, and he could laugh about it last week. But on certain nights at particular fields, during the game's first few innings, he's struggling to pick up the ball.
"I can't see anything," Powers said. "You don't know what pitch is coming at you because you can't see the spin."
Falmouth has good lights that are positioned too low - it's like putting a spotlight on a baseball. Other teams, like Orleans, have fields that are facing the wrong way, so that the sun is shining in your eyes during your first at-bat.
"Have you ever been to Benet?" Powers asked. "So let's say - I'll put this so you can understand it. It's like, ok, you're standing in the right-handed batter's box on Benet's field, and picture the sun (right) where the old gym is...the building (on) the right-hand side. The sun is coming from right there."
That's the sort of adversity players are expected to handle. It's a small price to pay for the exposure.
Naperville Central graduate Colin Bates understood the importance of this summer immediately. After helping North Carolina reach the College World Series, Bates joined the Hyannis Mets and is 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA in five starts.
In the fall the Tar Heels conduct a special intrasquad scrimmage set up specifically for scouts. On Cape Cod, Bates' North Carolina teammates told him, every day is Scout Day.
"That's a dream come true (to) get that opportunity, cause you hear all the major league names that go through there," Bates said in May. "It's something (that) you definitely can't say 'no' to if you get invited."
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