
Hall’s homer was the turning point early in a game full of playoff intensity from both dugouts. Wareham and Cotuit trotted out their two workhorses, who put on strong performances with short leashes in the win-or-go-home scenario for both teams.
The Gatemen appeared to take an early 1-0 lead when Nate Earley (Louisville) crushed a 2-0 fastball off Mikey Ebner (USC) over the fence in right, initially ruled a leadoff home run but was overturned after Cotuit’s dugout became irate and the umpires convened for a discussion.
The Kettleers Pitcher of the Year retired Earley after the at-bat continued and cruised through the rest of the inning, making for a big moment when Charles Davalan (Arkansas) crushed a legitimate homer off Tate McGuire (Arkansas) to give Cotuit a lead they never looked back from.
The Ketts started to tack on with that fourth-inning bomb from Hall, set up by two-out hits from Matt Klein (Louisville) and Advincula. Cotuit added to its lead in the next frame, with the first two batters drawing walks before Tanner Thach (UNC Wilmington) won a left-on-left matchup against Hudson Lee (Clemson) to put the Kettleers up 5-0.
By the inning’s end, the Ketts were up seven thanks to a Klein RBI groundout and another Advincula infield single to plate Thach. With the sizeable cushion, Roberts was able to put more trust in his pitching staff.
Ebner only lasted 3 1/3 innings and 48 pitches, despite facing the minimum the first time through the Wareham order and allowing two baserunners. Ebner utilized an increased usage of his changeup with assistant coach Danny Crossen calling the shots for the first time this season, pitching to contact for success in his second start on the Cape.
“The coaches did a bunch of scouting on their guys and we trusted what they had, and it worked well for us,” said Ebner. “They were calling all the pitches, and I really liked the way it was going.”
Even still, Roberts took the ball from Ebner after a one-out walk in a one-run game at the time, giving it to Taylor Seay (Texas St.) who needed just six pitches to get out of the fourth.
In the fifth, there was a lane for southpaw Beau Sampson (Oklahoma) to face a majority of left-handed batters. Working around a leadoff single, Sampson left the fifth unscathed, allowing Roberts to entrust him for five more outs. In his longest outing with the Cotuit in just his third appearance with the club, Sampson went 2 2/3 innings and earned the win, allowing one earned run on five hits.
“There’s always nerves for games like this, it’s a win-or-go-home,” said Sampson. “I just took a deep breath before I came out and I just trusted my stuff and my teammates. Certainly went well.”
Still possessing a large margin for error, Roberts went with another left-hander to close out the win in Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic). Wareham was able to rough up the fourth and final pitcher Cotuit used a bit, notching three earned runs over the final seven outs of the game on a two-RBI double by Gray and a solo home run from Antonio Jimenez (UCF) to bring the Gatemen within three runs.
Even with putting the tying run in the hole, Martzolf induced a flyout from Jacob Jarrell (Clemson) to punch Cotuit’s ticket to the second round.
The Bourne Braves upset the top-seeded Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the other West Division opening round bout, setting up a rematch with Cotuit from the 2023 first round as the two-time defending CCBL champions swept the Ketts in two games.
The Kettleers will host Game 1 of a best-of-three series at Lowell Park at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Photo by Holden McBerty (Memphis).