Falmouth, Mass. – Coming into Saturday night, it was do-or-die for the Cotuit Kettleers. They had lost five consecutive, gone from first in the West to just half a game above third and had not played their brand of baseball in several days. So, they needed to show out in Game 2 of the doubleheader against Falmouth, and they did just that.
The Ketts played a complete game of baseball, their best in nearly a week. The offense collected 15 hits while the Cotuit hurlers gave up just two earned runs in a 7-3 win over the Commodores.
“I think when you lose in the morning, you definitely don’t want to lose twice in one day,” Cotuit head coach Mike Roberts said. “The key was the four new pitchers that went out and all did a great job. With new arms, it’s exciting, but you also have no idea what you’re getting. The bats did carry us with 15 hits and seven runs, just a great job from the team today.”
Cotuit struck first in the opening frame after a couple of hits put Brandon Compton (Arizona State) and Devin Taylor (Indiana) on base. Matt Klein (Louisville) delivered an RBI single to plate Compton as the Ketts would take the early 1-0 lead.
Cotuit starting pitcher Ryan Buckler (Florida Atlantic) ran into trouble in the second inning, allowing four hits including an RBI single by Patrick Roche (Boston College). Buckler finally got the third out, but the damage was already done as the Commodores had tied it 1-1.
That would be followed by an RBI groundout by Jayson Jones (Oklahoma State) in the bottom of the third to give Falmouth the 2-1 lead.
In the fourth, Luke Hanson (Virginia) launched what looked like a home run but was miraculously caught to get the out. However, Jarren Advincula (Cal Berkeley) tagged up from third base and scored the tying run.
The Kettleers would take the lead just an inning later with a clutch Temo Becerra (Stanford) double that scored Klein to give Cotuit its first lead since the opening frame.
The Dores would threaten in the bottom of the sixth, putting two runners on with two outs, but Max Hansmann (Evansville) made sure that nothing would come of it. Battling through five pitches, it was Hansmann who came out victorious with a strikeout to end the threat.
Cotuit began to make some noise in the seventh inning with back-to-back singles to start the frame. Klein played hero again, lacing a two-run single up the middle of the infield to stretch the Kettleers' lead to three runs.
The Cotuit backstop had a phenomenal day, going 3-for-4 with three RBI while scoring a run and playing great defense behind the dish.
“I just want to do a good job and help out my team,” Klein said. “I saw a lot of off-speed stuff, so I had to adjust, but I got a few hits and feel like I did a pretty good job of settling in. But I just want to stick to my approach and show up to win ballgames, it was especially nice tonight. We had a few rough days in a row, so you always love to get back on the right foot.”
The Klein single would be followed by Hanson and Becerra RBI singles to pad the Kettleer lead, 7-2. In the bottom of the inning, Falmouth would get a run back to cut into the lead but was still down by four heading into the eighth inning.
Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic) came in and did a phenomenal job, striking out four batters with no walks and runs allowed. Completely shutting the Commodore offense down across the final two innings to lock up a 7-3 victory for the Kettleers.
“I’m so glad that our guys were able to win today to lock up home-field advantage for Tuesday,” Roberts said. "It gives us the ability to have no pressure tomorrow and kind of try some stuff out, especially on the pitching side. We plan on throwing some new guys to see what they’ve got. Then we’ll start getting ready for Tuesday against whoever we play.”
Notes
Beau Sampson, Hansmann and Martzolf, who have all been activated in the last week, made appearances Saturday, just the second time for all three this summer. They showed up and showed out. Tossing six innings with 11 strikeouts, one walk and no earned runs allowed.
Advincula went 4-for-4, giving him 51 hits on the year, and reclaiming the No. 1 spot for batting average (.392) among qualified CCBL hitters.
Klein collected three hits, just the third time this summer, while setting a season high in RBI with three.
Looking ahead
Cotuit will face the Bourne Braves on Sunday at Lowell Park in the season finale, first pitch is 4:30 p.m. Following that game, the Ketts will get an off day on Monday before the playoffs start on Tuesday. With Cotuit holding the No. 2 seed in the West, it will host either Bourne or Wareham in a one-game Western Division Semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
