Cotuit’s current roster was hit harder than most by the draft, with 11 players departing after hearing their nakes called. No surprise that the Kettleers hit a rough patch soon after the proceedings. Beginning July 16, they lost seven of 10 games.
But the Kettleers have clearly put things back together, with their offense to thank.
In a key matchup with Falmouth on Saturday, the Kettleers racked up 20 hits en route to a 16-6 victory. It’s their fourth straight win, and in three of those games, the offense has really been humming, with 13, 12 and now 16 runs on the board.
Up and down the lineup, the Kettleers have guys who have gotten hot. On Friday, Jace Grady (Dallas Baptist) went 4-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Grady is hitting .474 in the win streak.
Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) also had four hits, including a home run, plus three runs scored and two RBI. He was hitting .236 before the winning streak and is now up to .274.
Brett Roberts (Florida State) was the third player with a four-hit night, going 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. He’s logged a hit in five of his last six games.
Ryan Ritter (Kentucky) is riding an eight-game hitting streak and has raised his average from .218 to .325. He went 2-for-4 on Saturday and now ranks fifth in the league in hitting.
The list goes on, but suffice it to say, the Kettleers are clicking. Saturday’s game was a good one to win, too. Thought Cotuit sat ahead of Falmouth in the basic standings, the playoff field is being chosen based on points per game to account for teams possibly playing different numbers of games this summer. By that measure, the teams were tied for the second playoff spotheading into Saturday’s game.
With the Kettleers winning, they’re tied no longer.
Brewster 8, Harwich 4
Harwich is really good, but Brewster is a perfect 4-0 against them this summer, a big reason why the Whitecaps have a hold on first place in the East. The latest win featured a five-run rally in the eighth inning, after Harwich had taken a one-run lead. Chad Castillo went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Trey Bullard (Arizona) went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jake Thompson (Oklahoma State), Chris Lanzilli (Wake Forest), Nick Biddison (Virginia Tech) and Trey Faltine (Texas) all had one RBI as Brewster’s entire lineup got in on the act. Brewster’s pitching was good throughout but its bullpen was especially strong. John Mikolaicyk (Hofstra) worked out of trouble for 1.2 scoreless innings and Brendan Girton (Texas Tech) struck out two in the ninth for his first save. The Mariners got a home run from Dylan Phillips (Kansas State). Brewster is 21-9-3 and Harwich is 18-11-4.
Y-D 12, Hyannis 2
The Red Sox have won two in a row and still have an outside shot to catch Harwich for the second playoff spot in the East. More games like this would help, as the Red Sox scored early and often and totaled 16 hits. Kody Huff (Stanford) was the star of stars, going 4-for-6 with two home runs and six RBI. Wyatt Hoffman (Pacific) had three hits and two RBI, Tanner Smith (Oregon) had two hits and Brooks Lee (Cal Poly) had two hits. Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt) drove in a run. Off his 12-strikeout performance, Adam Maier (British Columbia) came back to earth a bit, but still pitched well. He gave up two runs in four innings. Ryan Wiltse (St. Mary’s) pitched three scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts for the win. Joe Moran (Taylor) was also good out of the bullpen with two hitless frames. Y-D is 14-13-7 with four games remaining. Hyannis is 7-26.
Bourne 5, Wareham 4
The Braves seemed to be headed for a second straight loss, but they rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the seventh and took the lead with one in the eighth en route to a comeback win over Wareham. Christian Knapczyk (Louisville) raced in on a wild pitch to start the comeback scoring. Dalton Rushing (Louisville) followed with an RBI single and Benjamin Huber (UConn) – in his Cape League debut – knocked in the tying run with a two-out hit. In the eighth, Hunter Jump (Kentucky) singled and Bourne eventually loaded the bases. Joe Lampe was hit by a pitch to force in Jump with the go-ahead run. After solid relief work by Cole Chudoba (UConn) and Kelsey Ward (Embry-Riddle), Eric Adler pitched 1.1 hitless innings for his seventh save of the season. Bourne goes to 23-7-3. Wareham has lost four straight and is 11-18-5.
Chatham 5, Orleans 3
Orleans scored two in the top of the first, but Chatham took control in the middle innings en route to its second win over the Firebirds in four days. Nolan McLean (Oklahoma State) went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Angler attack. Joshua Rivera (Florida) also had two hits and knocked in one run. Jake DeLeo (Georgia Tech) doubled and drove in a run. Alexander McFarlane (Miami) allowed three runs in five innings for the win. Sebastian Keane (Northeastern) tossed three scoreless innings of relief and Kade Bragg (Weatherford) worked a scoreless ninth for the save. For Orleans, Trae Harmon (Stetson) went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Chatham is 14-18-3 and Orleans 12-16-4.
WHAT TO WATCH
Cotuit and Falmouth will meet agains as they battle it out for the second playoff spot in the West. This will be their final meeting of the regular season.
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