HYANNIS, Mass. — Chase Carson’s first outing as a Kettleer was certainly not what he hoped for. In a 7-6 loss to Falmouth, the Charlotte 49er surrendered four runs on five hits and only recorded two outs.
In the home stretch of the season, the Kettleers need all hands on deck. That is exactly what Carson has provided since July 11.
After that outing, Carson knew that that was not going to happen again.
In his next appearance against Yarmouth-Dennis, the left-hander threw two innings of shutout work.
That trend has continued in his last three appearances, as Carson has seemingly settled into his role in the Cotuit pinstripes.
“It’s definitely been a little rocky so far,” he said. “Tim (O’Connor) and I have talked a lot. We settled it down to too many things in the zone.”
Although a pitcher’s goal is normally to throw strikes, Carson was targeting the zone more than he and the coaching staff preferred.
“We want to pound the strike zone,” Cotuit manager Loren Hibbs said. “But he was throwing too many strikes. We got feedback on that, and coach O’Connor has done a really good job with him.”
His most crucial appearance of the season came against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. Even though neither team walked away with the win, the pitchers' duel was the main event.
After another solid start from Ryan Buckler (Florida Atlantic) and three innings of shutout relief from Wyatt Halvorson (Arizona State), Carson came trotting out of the bullpen with a runner on second and two outs.
The Cotuit rotation has been an unspoken hero this season. The starting pitchers hold a 3.84 ERA, which ranks third in the league.
“It’s certainly nice when you have your starters usually go five or six innings with very minimum damage,” Carson said. “You kind of try to hold that pace as a reliever and put up as many zeroes as you can.”
As the Kettleers head into their final five games of the regular season, Carson plans on keeping his shutout streak alive and utilizing the modifications he and O’Connor discussed.
“We were just like, ‘Throw it,’” he said of his adjustments. “We just decided to throw (my) best stuff. And throw it hard.”
