WAREHAM, Mass. — The best feeling after suffering a brutal loss is coming out the very next day and earning a win. The Kettleers experienced this high when they bounced back from a 6-0 loss to Brewster with an 8-4 victory over the Gatemen on Thursday in Wareham.
The Gatemen nearly spoiled it for Cotuit when they loaded the bases in the eighth inning. Cotuit pitcher Hayes Melville (Oklahoma) entered the game in a tough spot, but he couldn’t hold the Gatemen off as they added three runs and cut the deficit to 6-4.
However, the Kettleers added two runs in the ninth after Jesse DiMaggio (Dallas Baptist) whacked an RBI single and JJ Moran (Stanford) notched an RBI double to secure the victory.
Cotuit scored its first run in the third inning when Owen Paino (Ole Miss) recorded an RBI forceout to give the Kettleers a 1-0 lead. It marked Paino’s first RBI of the season.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “(I’ve) been here a couple weeks, and I saw I had zero RBI. I was like, ‘Man, that might be an error in the book, or I don't have any.’ But I did realize that was my first one. I'm just excited.”
Cotuit added to its lead in the fifth and seventh innings. Isaac Sturgess (Wake Forest) logged a sacrifice fly to put the Kettleers on top 4-1 before Park scored on a fielding error. Sturgess then notched an RBI single that resulted in Cotuit’s sixth run.
After a productive outing just one game before in which he led the Kettleers with two hits, Sturgess led the way yet again in RBI with two.
“You see the ball a little bit better when you're feeling simpler at the plate,” Sturgess said. “Being able to relax and focus on what (I’m) doing for the team (has) been helping recently, and I’m going to try and stick with it.”
Another player who stuck out was Cotuit pitcher Jacob Burnham (Boston College), who tossed five innings and allowed just two hits and one run.
“I'm very happy with it,” Burnham said of his performance. “I felt like the defense helped me out a lot, got me off the field in some tough situations. I was pretty excited about it overall.”
It meant more considering that Burnham made his debut the last time the Kettleers played in Wareham. He struggled a bit then, but this time, he gave Cotuit “one of the best starts of the year,” according to Cooper.
While the Kettleers performed well on the mound and in the catcher’s box, the Gatemen struggled. Wareham catcher Coen Niclai (Arizona State) struggled to get on the same page as his pitchers.
In the fourth inning, Moran smashed a double before passed balls advanced him to third base and home, which gave Cotuit its second run.
The Gatemen made a pitching change in the fifth, but even with a new body, Wareham’s woes persisted. The frame featured two walks, a wild pitch that gave the Kettleers their third run and a catcher’s interference that landed DiMaggio on base.
“When you get more opportunities to try to score runs, and you win the freebie war, usually you’re in a good position to win,” Cooper said.
With the victory, the Kettleers have created some separation from Wareham, as the Gatemen sit at the bottom of the West Division. Cotuit is now tied with Falmouth for third in the division, and the Kettleers and Commodores are slated to face off at 5 p.m. EDT Friday in Cotuit.
