FALMOUTH, Mass. — With a scorching temperature of 95 degrees at first pitch, some may have expected sluggish movement and a slow game when the Kettleers took on the Commodores.
In reality, it was a slugfest as the teams exchanged leads, whacked four total home runs and duked it out under the burning sun. As the temperature cooled off, so did Cotuit’s bats, and the Kettleers fell 14-11 on Friday in Falmouth.
Cotuit made it apparent that it wasn’t bothered by the heat through its play early on. The Kettleers held a season-high 11 runs coming into the contest (from their 11-4 win over Harwich on Sunday), and they matched those 11 runs in five innings.
“These guys are so used to playing in heat at some point in their careers,” Cotuit coach Rob Cooper said. “You just have to do all the work before the game… hydrate, eat, that kind of stuff. Both teams have to play in it, so I don’t think that was really a factor.”
The Kettleers and Commodores got off to a hot start, with the first two innings featuring a combined 20 runs. Five of the Kettleers’ runs came courtesy of homers from Landon Beaver (UAB) and Brady Christman (Mississippi State). It marked the first time each of them had left the yard this season.
“It was really cool,” Beaver said. “I mean, (there have) been a lot of games. It's good to know I still have my juice.”
Beaver, who hit cleanup, observed as Falmouth pitcher Nate Stern (Texas Christian) tossed to Cotuit’s first three batters. He took note of Stern’s tendency to throw a cutter.
“I like facing guys like that, so I just made him a two-pitch guy,” Beaver said. “I saw the first three at-bats, a bunch of heaters, so I was like, ‘Ok, let's go jump on a heater,’ and that's what I did.”
Beaver smashed his homer with two outs on the board in the first inning to give Cotuit a 2-0 lead. Christman recorded his home run in the second, putting the Kettleers on top 10-5.
“It felt great,” Christman said. “(I was) just trying to be aggressive early. I got my pitch and hit it well.”
Christman’s homer capped off a productive inning for the Kettleers in which Will Plattner (Alabama) and Hunter Warren (NC State) doubled, and Beaver singled to drive in four combined runs.
The Commodores kept their cool, finding the answers to remain in the game. They took a 5-2 lead after the first inning before climbing out of the 10-5 hole that Christman’s home run put them in.
Falmouth turned up the heat in the sixth inning, recording four runs to take a 14-11 lead.
“We just haven't had a consistent stretch of games where we've pitched well, swung the bats well and played defense,” Cooper said. “I just told the team, ‘If you continue to go about it the right way and you show up and put forth an honest effort, at some point, the game is going to reward you.’ We'll put it all together.”
The Kettleers will try to do just that when they return to action at 4:35 p.m. EDT Saturday. They are set to take on Falmouth again at Lowell Park in Cotuit.
