ORLEANS, Mass.-- In a heavyweight bout between starting pitchers Mikey Ebner (USC) and Itsuki Takemoto (Hawaii) that lived up to the expectations of two titans with sub-2.00 ERAs going toe-to-toe, the Orleans Firebirds used four arms to hold the Cotuit Kettleers scoreless for the first time since Aug. 3, 2022.
In a huge game for the Firebirds, who entered the night two points behind the Brewster Whitecaps for the final playoff spot in the East Division, Orleans skipper Kelly Nicholson managed with a big-game feel.
Trotting out one of the Cape League’s best pitchers in Takemoto for his second start of the summer, the All-Star answered the call and then some.
Continuing his recent run of dominance, Takemoto turned in six scoreless innings on 78 pitches, extending his span to 12 consecutive frames without allowing a run and 16 without being charged with one.
“They had good pitching. I mean, they worked good spots. They didn't make very many mistakes,” said Kettleers catcher Matt Klein (Louisville), who recorded two of the four hits allowed by Takemoto. “With the wind the way it was, it's hard to get the big hit, but just couldn’t string them together tonight.”
In the same right, Ebner stepped up for the Kettleers in his first start of the summer. He matched Takemoto’s excellence after one inning, but Orleans got to him in the bottom of the second with back-to-back opposite-field hits by Lorenzo Meola (Stetson) and Mike Mancini (Vanderbilt) to score a run as part of a two-out rally.
Ebner stayed in for two more frames, facing the minimum across the third and fourth innings before exiting after 70 pitches as he matched his longest outing of the summer.
“Having a steady mix of pitches, using everything and just getting ahead in counts was the game plan,” said Ebner. “And I think we had a lot of two-strike counts and they had a good two-strike approach, put the ball in play and got some two-strike knocks and stuff so credit to them for that.”
But as Cotuit moved to the bullpen, the offense continued to struggle to provide any run support. The defense didn’t do any favors behind the pitching, either.
Making just his second start ever at first base in his collegiate career, Luke Hanson’s (Virginia) instincts as an infielder at the other spots on the diamond proved to be a huge detriment.
With a runner on second base and one out, Landon Moran (Stetson) trickled a chopper up the first base line that Hanson charged. Misjudging the long hop, Hanson whiffed on the ball as it rolled into shallow right field to allow a run to score. Extending the inning on what would have been a sure out at first base, Meola was able to score on a two-out RBI single from Chris Barr (Army) to put the Firebirds up 3-0.
“We made a mistake on a routine ground ball and should’ve been 1-0 to give us a chance to do some things in the ninth,” said Roberts. “They threw out good pitching but not necessarily good enough to win a game.”
After Takemoto left the game, Orleans used the trio of Alex Kranzler (Vanderbilt), Michael Foltz Jr. (George Washington), and Mauricio Rodriguez (Richmond) to shut down the Kettleers over the last nine outs, holding the visitors to just one hit in the late innings.
The Kettleers maintained their position at the top of the West Division with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks falling to the Chatham Anglers as well on Wednesday. The two teams will clash in the final rendition of the 2024 Barnstable Patriot Cup on Thursday with major playoff seeding implications before traveling to Spillane Field to take on the Wareham Gatemen on Friday as just two points in the standings separate the top three teams.
Photo by Chris Jones (High Point University).
