COTUIT, Mass. – As the top two teams in each division of the CCBL squared off at Lowell Park on Sunday, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and Cotuit Kettleers were evenly matched for seven innings of an eight-inning contest shortened due to darkness.
However, a walk-filled frame in the top of the third inning capped off by a two-base error did in the hottest team on the Cape for the Cotuit’s first loss since July 11.
Entering that third inning in a 2-2 tie, Tyler O’Neill (Bucknell) looked poised to navigate his way around the heart of the Red Sox order for a second time by retiring the Y-D No. 2 and No. 4 batters and issuing Anthony Martinez (UC Irvine) a free pass batting in the three-hole.
However, Phoenix Call (UCLA) was all over a 1-0 fastball for his second knock of the night and the sixth off O’Neill’s heater for Y-D, bouncing the Bucknell pitcher from the game in his Kettleers debut. His Bison teammate Jack O’Malley (Bucknell) was the first out of the bullpen but struggled with command on a short leash and wound up throwing a wild pitch and walking the only batter he faced.
With the bases loaded, Kettleers manager Mike Roberts opted for submariner Dylan Howanitz (Boston College) in a tough spot against Red Sox catcher Charlie Saum (Stanford). In a seven-pitch battle, the Y-D backstop was hit by a pitch in a full count to put the visitors ahead, 3-2.
The Kettleers' skid continued one batter later, as Howanitz induced a weak grounder against Skylar King (West Virginia) that Tyler Cerny (Indiana) wound up airmailing on his running throw attempt to first base, allowing two more runs to score.
Cotuit was held at bay for the next four frames, notching just two base runners as Red Sox starter Ethan Firoved (Pittsburgh) completed his three innings of work and Ryan Sprock (Elon) went even deeper in the game as a reliever.
The Kettleers brought the tying runs to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, cutting the deficit to two runs as Jarren Advincula (Cal) cashed in Grant Jay (Dallas Baptist) after his leadoff double.
However, the strikeout bug bit Cotuit harder than it had all night, as Y-D’s skipper, Scott Pickler, picked a perfect lane for southpaw Dylan Delvecchio (Saint Mary’s) with one out. Against left-handed pinch hitter Charles Davalan (Arkansas) and lefty Brandon Compton (Arizona St.), Delvecchio punched out both to escape the seventh as the sun continued to lower over Lowell Park.
The Red Sox added an insurance run in the top of the eighth after Will Tippett (South Carolina) scored when pitcher Luis Misla (SUNY Cortland) couldn’t complete a glove flip to home on a Michael Ball (Nevada) bunt, which proved to be necessary once Easton Winfield (Texas) and Temo Becerra (Stanford) recorded back-to-back hits against the latter’s Cardinal teammate Trevor Moore (Stanford) in the home half of the frame.
But in what proved to be last licks for the home team, Moore bore down to strike out the side, catching Devin Taylor (Indiana) and Jay looking for the 12th and 13th punchouts on the night for Cotuit to end the game.
The Kettleers fell to 19-10-1 with the loss after going 6-0-1 in their last seven games but maintained sole possession of first place in the West Division for another night. Cotuit returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to McKeon Park one final time for a 6 p.m. game against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
Photo by Holden McBerty (Memphis).
