COTUIT, Mass. — Heading into the sixth inning, it was your normal 5-3 ballgame as the Cotuit Kettleers aimed to get back into the win column. However, the bats weren't satisfied and put up a 14-spot in the bottom of the inning to take an astonishingly large lead over Brewster.

After a 1-2-3 seventh, the game ended due to a mercy rule as the Ketts dismantled the Whitecaps 19-3. Cotuit tied a CCBL record for consecutive home runs (three) and a franchise record for most runs in an inning.

"It's good to see guys get on time for what they're looking for; they've been working hard with that all summer," Cotuit manager Loren Hibbs said. "Where we were offensively the first week or so (of the season) to what we are now and are becoming. It's not like we're seeing bad arms either; these guys are good. I'm proud of our guys."

It didn't take the Whitecaps long to score, as a leadoff walk in the second brought up Ryan Martin (Dallas Baptist), who mashed a pitch over the center-field wall to give Brewster a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Cam Johnson (Oklahoma) beat out a ground ball to first base for an infield single. That was followed by a fielding error that allowed Luke Matthews (Kent State) to reach safely. A groundout advanced both runners into scoring position with two outs and Easton Winfield (transfer portal) due up.

The former Texas Longhorn hit a ground ball to the Brewster shortstop, but he beat out the throw to score a run.

Cotuit's Ian May (UCLA) surrendered a single to load the bases in the top of the third with just one out and was pulled for Lukas Pirko (Texas Tech), who struck out a batter and forced a lineout to end the threat.

Ryne Farber (Auburn) blooped a one-out single into left field in the bottom of the inning. After grounding out in his first at-bat, Andrew Wiggins (transfer portal) delivered with an RBI double to tie it up.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Kettleers had runners on first and second with Jarren Advincula coming to the plate. The middle infielder ripped the first pitch into center field to plate a run and give Cotuit the lead. After a short pitching change, Caden Bogenpohl (Missouri State) joined the hit party with an RBI single into right field to extend the lead.

Brewster got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth when Brendan Lawson (Florida) took Pirko deep, cutting the lead to one run. The Kettleer reliever bounced back by retiring the final two Whitecaps of the frame to bring up his offense.

The hometown team answered that run when Jack Natili (Cincinnati) collected a one-out double, followed by an RBI single that was hit just fair down the third-base line.

The Kettleers blew things open in the bottom of the sixth with a 14-run inning. It all started on a Farber RBI single with the bases loaded, then after five hits, one error and a sacrifice fly, the lead exploded to 15-3. Farber stepped up to the dish for the second time in the inning and mashed a no-doubt, two-run shot to put a cherry on top of a blowout victory.

“He left the ball over the plate, and I was fortunate enough to put a good swing on it. I knew it had a chance, and then I saw it fly for a second. Then I knew it was gone,” Farber said.

That wouldn’t be the last home run hit. Natili and Nolan Stevens (Oklahoma) went yard for back-to-back-to-back long balls, tying a CCBL record.

Zane Coppersmith (Stetson) came into the game in the seventh for Lukas Pirko, who tossed 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts.

Coppersmith threw a 1-2-3 frame with a pair of strikeouts to end the game in a mercy rule as Cotuit thumped Brewster.

Notes

• In the sixth inning, Farber hit an RBI single from the right side of the plate, then hit a home run from the left side. That was the first time in league history that a player had collected switch hits in a single inning.
• Cotuit’s 19 runs and 21 hits are season highs across the league this season.
• While batting with runners in scoring position has been an issue for the Kettleers, they batted 10-for-20 (.500) with RISP on Saturday.

Looking ahead

The Kettleers are on the road Sunday against the Wareham Gatemen, whom Cotuit beat 2-1 in the second game of the season. First pitch from Spillane Field is at 6:00 p.m.