COTUIT, Mass. — The Cotuit Kettleers came into Wednesday as the No. 2 team in the West Division but could move into first with a win over the Y-D Red Sox. The Ketts had CCBL All-Star Payton Manca (Florida State) on the mound, so the odds were in their favor.
The FSU hurler is usually a dependable arm, but was hit around for five runs in the first, putting Cotuit in an early hole. The Ketts slowly clawed back and were down by only two runs at one point. However, it was not enough to come back from the early deficit, as the Kettleers were downed, 8-5, by the Red Sox at Lowell Park.
The Y-D offense came out of the gate scorching. Yomar Carreras (Rutgers) singled on the first pitch of the game, and that was only the start. The Red Sox saw seven batters reach safely while scoring five runs in the first frame.
The Kettleers got a run back on a Ryne Farber (Auburn) RBI single in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1, but Cotuit still had work to do.
Manca rebounded nicely and tossed two consecutive scoreless innings with a strikeout before being pulled for Wyatt Halvorson (Arizona State).
The Sun Devil struggled to find the strike zone in his first inning of work, handing out three free passes and walking in a run to extend the Y-D lead to 6-1. Halvorson eventually got out of the frame by punching out Garrett Wright (Tennessee).
The Ketts answered that run when Nolan Stevens (Oklahoma) collected a one-out base knock, then scored on a backside single by Cam Johnson (Oklahoma). Y-D scored in the top of the fifth to make it 7-2 before both offenses stalled for the next few innings.
Cotuit was running out of time heading into the bottom of the seventh, but that’s when the Kettleers' bats made some noise. Tagger Tyson (Kentucky) ripped a one-out double that plated a run before back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Farber.
The Auburn Tiger wasted no time at the plate, mashing the first pitch into right field to score two more runs, cutting Y-D’s lead to 7-5. The Red Sox scored an insurance run on an RBI groundout in the top of the ninth to give them a three-run lead with the Kettleers down to their final three outs.
Cotuit had one final shot to tie or walk it off with Luke Lavin (Stanford), Dean West (UCLA) and Easton Winfield (transfer portal) due up. Those three went down quietly, going 1-2-3 to drop the ballgame against the Y-D Red Sox, 8-5.
Notes
RHP Nick Greaney made his Kettleers debut Wednesday, tossing two innings in relief and giving up one unearned run.
Luke Matthews went 2-for-4 with an RBI on Wednesday, extending his hot streak. Over the last week, the middle infielder is batting .333 with seven RBIs.
While Manca has been a reliable arm all summer, that blow-up inning saw him surrender more runs (four) than he had given up all season prior to his Wednesday start (three).
Looking ahead
Cotuit has a date Thursday with the West Division’s No. 1 team, the Wareham Gatemen. The Kettleers can take sole possession of first place with a win Thursday. First pitch from Lowell Park is at 5 p.m.
