The grass was green, the lines were painted, and with a Jonah Barkoff (Oregon) fastball to Landon Beaver (UAB) the 2026 CCBL Playoffs were underway for Cotuit. With each series being a best-of-three, winning the first game puts a team at a huge advantage. But when the Kettleers came to McKeon Park for the series opener they failed to get anything off of Hyannis, dropping the game 7-0.
The pivotal moment of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning. After four and a half innings of near-stalemate baseball, the Harbor Hawks got two singles from Caden Miller (UTSA) and Taylor Kirk (UCLA) to put real pressure on Ryan Buckler (Transfer Portal). While a Matt Ineich (West Virginia) single alone would have doubled the existing 1-0 lead, Sam Christiansen (Alabama) booted the ball and allowed another run to score to make it 3-0. A few batters later, and Hyannis held a 5-0 lead by the end of the inning.
While the bottom of the fifth was an offensive clinic, the previous frames were nothing of the sort. Barkoff and Buckler did an amazing job minimizing hits in the opening innings. Retiring the first 11 Kettleers, Barkoff barely faced a single threat during his outing. The lone hit he allowed with less than two outs was a Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati) single, and it was promptly dealt with when Will Plattner (Alabama) grounded into a double-play.
On the flip side, Buckler was also rolling before the fifth inning. He allowed just one hit through four innings, with the lone run coming after that hit scored Clay Thompson (James Madison), who was hit by a pitch.
Though the fifth inning put a spark in the Harbor Hawk offense, it did nothing for Cotuit. Though they started to get more hits, each hit was promptly met with a double play ball or the third out of an inning. The Kettleers grounded into three double plays, and were a measly 0-6 with runners in scoring position.
“The double plays killed us tonight,” Coach Rob Cooper said. “We just have to figure out a way to score runs and compete more with runners on base.”
With the Cotuit offense docile, Hyannis continued to put runs across. Though he retired seven of his first eight batters, Luke Raho (Westchester) struggled to maintain his prowess in his third inning of work. After three singles and one error in the next four batters, the five run lead ballooned to seven. Now needing seven runs in the top of the ninth inning, all hope of a comeback felt lost.
The Kettleers committed four errors in the game, multiple of which led to runs for the Harbor Hawks. If they are to stay alive in the postseason, Cotuit will have to clean up their play.
“We have to have short-term memory about this one,” Cooper said. “All these guys have been on teams that have lost a series opener, so I expect us to get back on track mentally and compete tomorrow in a brand new game.”
After this opening loss, the Kettleers’ season is on life support. They will have to win Wednesday’s game at Lowell Park and then come back to McKeon Park Thursday and win there as well. Though it seems unlikely, Cotuit has shown their grit at times this season and will not go down without a fight.
First pitch for game two of the West Divisional Series takes place at four pm. The starting pitcher for the Kettleers has not been announced yet.
