BOURNE, Mass. — Before Saturday, the Cotuit Kettleers had only been walked off one time this season: June 22 in a 5-4 loss to the Bourne Braves at Doran Park.
The Kettleers experienced déjà vu Saturday night, when they were walked off by the Braves again on a 5-4 loss.
This time around, however, it took 10 innings.
For the fourth game in a row, the Kettleers broke the scoreless tie. Luke Matthews (Kent State) came home on a sacrifice fly from Cam Johnson (Oklahoma) in the third inning.
With the bases loaded in the same frame, Dean West (UCLA) dribbled an infield single down the third base line to plate Ryne Farber (Auburn) and give the Kettleers a 2-0 lead.
After that run, bats were quiet on both sides. Rob Evans (Miami) continued the dominance of the Cotuit starting rotation, throwing five innings of shutout work and striking out six batters.
“Mixing early and getting ahead is the biggest thing,” Evans said of his efficiency. “Once you do that, the hitter is in a position where they have to swing and they have their backs to the wall.”
After Evans was pulled, Zane Starling (North Florida) couldn’t find his footing in the sixth. Four consecutive base hits from the Bourne offense quickly tied the game, and Starling only recorded one out before Chase Carson (Charlotte) came out of the bullpen.
With a runner on and one out, Carson made quick work of the Braves. The lefty needed only seven pitches to end the inning and record the last two outs.
Both bullpens held down the fort for the final third of the game, with Logan Bevis and Dominic Mauro (Cincinnati) shutting down the Kettleers’ bats.
As for Cotuit, Carson pitched into the eighth inning before Dylan Scudder (Bryant) trotted out of the bullpen. With the speedy Ryker Waite (Vanderbilt) on second, Scudder forced a popup to first to end the inning.
After neither team took the lead in the ninth, the game headed to extras.
Two wild pitches by Packy Bradley-Conney (Miami) allowed Farber, the ghost runner, to score and give the Kettleers a 3-2 lead. Zan Von Schlegell (St. Thomas) plated another run on a single to extend the lead to 4-2.
When the bottom of the 10th came up, so did a new arm. Ryan Egan (Fordham) was tapped to secure the save for Cotuit.
Egan hit the first batter he saw, putting two on. After a lineout to short, Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) tied the game at four on an RBI double to center.
Down to their final out, Kade Lewis stepped into the batter’s box. Two runners were on for the Wake Forest outfielder. On the third pitch of the at-bat, he looped the ball in right, and Holcomb came around to score, ending the game.
“We just told the guys, ‘You need to be ready,” Cotuit manager Loren Hibbs said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re the 25th or 30th guy. You need to be ready to go.”
The Kettleers return to Lowell Park on Sunday to face the Brewster Whitecaps with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch.
