The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have had a nearly perfect season, sitting at 12-1 and atop the East Division. What was the lone loss? It was a 4-3 nail-biting defeat to the Cotuit Kettleers at Red Wilson Field. When the two met again, this time at Lowell Park, the Red Sox avenged that lone blemish. Yarmouth-Dennis secured another win to keep their hot streak alive, defeating the Kettleers 5-0 off the back of 10 hits.
The Kettleers had their first offensive opportunity in the first inning, when Noah Coy (Notre Dame) hit an leadoff infield single and advanced to third on a stolen base and a botched pickoff attempt. However, pitcher Hunter Watkins (Oklahoma State) displayed his grit, striking out two Cotuit hitters before forcing a lineout to end the inning.
The second inning saw both teams knock on the door of big two-out rallies. The Red Sox put two runners on with two outs. But Grady Bivens (Transfer Portal) forced a lineout to put a zero on the scoreboard. Cotuit had a similar chance when a single followed by a Chase Kroberger (Alabama) double put two in scoring position with two outs. Watkins got to work again though, forcing a popout to keep a clean sheet.
It was self-inflicted errors that put Y-D on the scoresheet first. A Ty Mainolfi (Boston College) walk put a runner on, but a botched pickoff attempt from Bivens put him on third. Brock Ketelsen (Stanford) took advantage, hitting a single up the middle to put the Red Sox on the board in the third.
The same appeared to be happening in the following inning, with Bivens putting two runners on via a hit-by-pitch and a walk. After a sacrifice bunt put both in scoring position, a big inning was inevitable unless Bivens could regain his composure. Fortunately, he did and forced two flyouts to keep the game a one-run affair.
The Red Sox threatened to score again in the sixth, this time with a leadoff double from Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt). A single from Caleb Daniel (Georgia Tech) did not inherently score Goodin, but an overthrow to home plate assured the Cotuit deficit grew to two runs. This knocked out Bivens from the game, who had the longest start of any Kettleer pitcher so far this season. However, in a situation where the team has another five games in the next six days, the 5.1 innings Bivens gave the team is a huge performance.
“I thought Bivens had a great outing today,” Coach Rob Cooper said. “Y-D executed on some things but that doesn’t take away the significance of Brady’s outing for us as a team.”
Despite a Kettleer call to the bullpen, the hits did not stop. Ryan Buckler (Florida Atlantic) gave up four consecutive singles that led to three more Y-D runs.
This hole became too big to dig out of, especially given the performance of Red Sox reliever Peter Dubie (Brown). The right-hander threw five innings of no-hit baseball, allowing just one baserunner while striking out seven.
This loss ends a three game unbeaten run for Cotuit, but there are still some positives to take away from the defeat. Owen Paino (Ole Miss) and Kroberger made their team debuts and each contributed positively. Paino had five defensive plays including a Willie Mays-esc basket catch on a flyball to short center field. Meanwhile, Kroberger notched an extra-base hit and played a great center field.
“[Paino] is a really good defensive player…” Cooper said. “I think he’s just going to get better and better as the summer goes on and he plays more.”
The beautiful thing about baseball is that the Kettleers will have a chance to get back in the win column tomorrow when they start a three-game road trip at Hyannis. First pitch at McKeon Field is slated for six p.m. EDT, and Adam McKelvey (Georgia Tech) is the projected starting pitcher for Cotuit.
