As a wise PA announcer once told me, “There are three types of people when the moment gets big. There are those who watch what happens, there are those who wonder what will happen, and there are those that make things happen.”
Entering the final game of the season, the Cotuit Kettleers needed to be the type of team that makes things happen. Behind Wareham by two points, they needed to win their final game to have a shot at advancing to the 2026 CCBL Postseason.
With their season on the line, the Kettleers were a team that made something happen. Down to their final two outs, Sam Christiansen blasted a walk-off 2-RBI double to the left-center gap to keep Cotuit’s playoff odds alive. This turned out to save the Kettleers’ season, as a 2-0 loss for Wareham put Cotuit in the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season.
“I was super fired up when that ball left my bat,” Christiansen said. “I knew I put a good barrel on it, but seeing it get down and knowing it may have saved our season made it even sweeter.”
The road to the playoffs did not come easy for the Kettleers. Their 13 wins is the least the team has had since 1959, when the season was just 30 games long. Even coming into the final game, the only way that Cotuit could make the postseason was with a win and a Gatemen loss.
At first, it appeared as if the Kettleers would squander their final chance. They received stellar pitching performances from Luke Smyers (Alabama) and Hayes Melville (Oklahoma), who struck out a combined 11 Braves and allowed just four hits. Yet, the team struggled to generate runs early on. With bases loaded and one out in the third inning, Christiansen grounded into a double play to end the frame.
It did not help that Bourne was efficient with their hits. A single from Brice Estep (South Carolina) and a wild pitch allowed a runner to reach scoring position in the third inning, which Ryker Waite (Vanderbilt) capitalized on with a single of his own. One inning later, consecutive baserunners to start the inning put pressure on Smyers, before a sac bunt and a single scored two more Braves. Despite great pitching, it was 3-0 Bourne by the end of the fourth inning.
Throughout the season, there has been nobody more impactful to Cotuit victories than Landon Beaver (UAB). Fresh off the announcement of his Most Valuable Position Player award, Beaver made a statement when he sent a high pitch into the trees behind right field. All of a sudden, it was 3-2. The Kettleers had life.
With Melville locking down the final innings, it was up to Cotuit’s offense to have a hit and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It took a while, but Beaver got things started again in the bottom of the seventh inning with a backside single. Hogan Denny (Indiana) followed suit and all of a sudden the winning run was on base.
That was all the Kettleers needed, as Christiansen did the rest. High pitch, hitter’s count, double in the gap. The crowd at Lowell Park roared as Denny slid into home, sealing the victory while the rest of the team rushed out to pour the water jug on Christiansen.
“Not done yet,” was heard quite a bit around the field after the game, and it was indeed true. The Gatemen folded with the pressure on them, and Cotuit earned their way back into the playoffs.
After this slate, it is now playoff time. Records are wiped. Stats are irrelevant. Win two games, and advance. Lose two, and you are gone. Expect the Kettleers to use what they have learned in big moments this season to become the former.
“We’re going to turn it up,” Beaver said. “The best players come out at the best moments, and I know we will play our best baseball when it matters in the playoffs.”
The first game of the playoffs will take place against Hyannis at McKeon Park Tuesday. A time has not been determined yet, nor has the starting pitcher.
