Almost two weeks ago the Kettleers made the trek out East to Whitehouse Field to take on the Mariners, but fell 11-8 after being overpowered by the Harwich offense. Sunday’s affair was the opposite, as it was Cotuit (5-6-2) whose offense ruled the day with a 12 hit performance in an 11-4 victory.
“That was a good win, the bats came alive a little bit and we played great defense…” Coach Rob Cooper said. “We competed today and found ways to avoid big innings and get outs when needed.”
While Cotuit’s offense would eventually take over, it was Harwich who notched the first run in the opening frame by exploiting the Kettleers' baserunning defense. After Tyler Smolinski (Kansas State) got a two-out walk, he stole second and third base before scoring on a passed ball. However, the Kettleer bats made up for it immediately when Jake Hanley (Transfer Portal) scorched a two-out double to center field to score Hunter Warren (NC State).
Cotuit had a big wrench thrown into their gameplan when starting pitcher Alex Sotiropoulos (Columbia) left the game after just 1.1 innings with discomfort in his shoulder. Cooper had to turn to Tyler Brashear (Eckerd) and Aaron England (Louisville) on short notice to make up the innings, but both responded well to the call.
The Mariner offense looked to be picking up right where it left off in the second inning, putting runners on the corners with one out after a walk and a Sean O’Leary (UMass Lowell) single. However, Brashear bore down and forced a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game tied. The same could not be said for Harwich pitcher Andrew Basel (Northeastern), as he walked the bases loaded for Cotuit before a Dawson Park (LSU) line drive single gave Cotuit the lead. Landon Beaver (UAB) then doubled the lead with a sacrifice fly to left field.
But, trouble soon came for the home team. Brashear’s control faltered a bit in the top of the third, loading the bases with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Jackson Hotchkiss (Arizona State) made the right-hander pay with a double down the left field line to even the game up at three.
The Cotuit offense got right back to threatening in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with a Hanley single followed by a hit-by-pitch and an intentional walk of Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati). With the count 2-2, Brady Christman (Mississippi State) laced a fast ball past the third baseman, clearing the bases with a double to put the Kettleers up three. The offense was not done yet though, as Isaac Sturgess (Wake Forest) hit a sacrifice fly to bring Christman in after he had advanced to third on a passed ball.
The middle innings were largely uneventful thanks to the work of England. The southpaw went 3.1 innings and gave up no runs and just two hits. England also fanned five Mariner batters — including three in the sixth inning — using a devastating fastball-curveball combination to keep them off balance.
“[England’s] performance was huge today,” Cooper said. “Anytime you have a lot of innings to cover in a game that close you have to cover them well, and Aaron did such a good job at keeping us in the game.”
The last true effort for Harwich came against Luke McGrath (James Madison) in the eighth inning. While McGrath got into trouble with a couple free passes, a 4-6-3 double play neutralized a lot of hope for the road team. The Mariners would get one run off of a passed ball, but McGrath got out of the jam with a sizable lead. To put the cherry on top, four added runs in the bottom of the eighth from a flurry of Kettleer hits negated the Harwich rally.
With this win the Kettleers have now taken a point in each of their last three games, winning two. A third of the way through a stretch of nine games in 10 days, Cotuit is passing their biggest test of the season so far both at the plate and on the mound.
“The bats have started to wake up, and I think they are here to stay,” England said. “If the arms can just keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep this train up we can beat anybody.”
Tomorrow brings another test when the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox come to town. A league-leading 12-1, the Red Sox will look to beat the Kettleers and avenge their only loss on the year. First pitch at Lowell Park is slated for five p.m. EDT, and Grady Bivens (Transfer Portal) is the projected pitcher for Cotuit.
