Cotuit, Mass. – The homestand full of fans. Chairs lined across the fences out to center field. The dugout full with white jerseys. Kids running after foul balls. Cheers of “Have a Hit!” Dogs on leashes. Fans cheering. “Here come the kettles!” Hot dogs and candy. The crack of the bat. The sound of the ball to gloves. It was all back. Opening Day was here.
The Cotuit Kettleers started their season Saturday to much fanfare. Fans from all over came to watch the opening matchup between the Kettleers and the Harwich Mariners. The homestand was filled to the brim with fans. All along the park fence, people sat in chairs as summer baseball returned to Cotuit.
“Great weather and college baseball. What could be better?” said fan Bill Keltey, echoing the sentiment of many as baseball returned to Lowell Park. Kelty brought his family along to watch the game, with his daughter, Bridget Kendall, saying she enjoys rooting for college kids.
Fans came early to make sure they got their perfect seat. One fan came yesterday evening and locked their chair to the fence with a bike lock to ensure they got the seat they wanted.
Brian Knowles of Mashpee arrived at the park at 2:45 p.m., and placed his chair on the hill behind the homestand on the third base side.
“This has been my seat ever since they built the hill,” Knowles said, a regular of the ballpark since the 1990s. He also wanted to get a good parking place.
While some fans came from close by, others traveled far for opening day. One couple came as far as Connecticut to see the game.
“I came from Marshfield,” Barry Sullivan said. “It’s an attraction. There’s nothing like the Cape Cod Baseball League.”
Opening day came with its fair share of festivities, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new field. Cotuit Athletic Association President Fran Maycock cut a green ribbon by the home plate gate to celebrate the field renovation during the offseason. The construction crew leveled eight inches of the field to make way for new sod and dirt. They replaced fences and foul poles as well.
After that, the Little League teams that Cotuit sponsors, one from Barnstable and one from Mashpee, took the field, introduced as the Kettleers of tomorrow. Fans were delighted and cheered for the future Ketts.
Father James Irving of St. Michael Church read an invocation, praying for a good season, respect for the opposing teams, and no injuries. Troop 52 of Cotuit took the field after the invocation for the National Anthem, equipped with the troop and American flag. Colleen Ellis, the daughter of a host family, sang the National Anthem, to much applause from the fans. The winners of the Manuel Robello Scholarship, a scholarship given to seniors from the area in memory of Robello, threw out the first pitch one at a time, all of them throwing on the mark.
While most fans had been to Kettleers games before, Carrie Freshour and her family experienced the Cape League for the first time on Saturday. She and her husband came to the Cape for their wedding anniversary in 2020 but could not see a game due to COVID-19 canceling the season.
“We said we would love one day to take the kids and see a game,” Freshour said. “Four years later and here we are!”
While the result may not have been what fans wanted, they were still happy to return to Lowell Park and watch baseball.
“It’s a special place,” fan Gwen Manross said. “We’ve been to the other ballparks. They're not the same as here.”
