FALMOUTH, Mass. – The door was shut on the Cotuit Kettleers with 10 hits and six runs from the Falmouth Commodores to propel themselves to a 6-4 win over their rivals.
The Kettleers were put away by the Commodores quickly in the top of the first with three groundouts. Dylan Carey (Nebraska) brought Jaxon Willits (Oklahoma) home with a single into left field to give Falmouth an early 1-0 lead.
Trent Caraway (Oregon State) loaded the bases with a walk and the Commodores started to rattle Kettleers starting pitcher James Ellwanger (Dallas Baptist). Falmouth furthered its lead to 3-0 with a walk and a wild pitch from Ellwanger.
Despite Isaiah Barkett’s (Stetson) leadoff triple, Ellwanger bounced back in the bottom of the second picking up two strikeouts and a fielder's choice out on Barkett to cut off the Commodores' time at bat.
The game got quiet in the third inning with no hits or runs from either team. It started to ramp back up in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run from Karson Bowen (TCU) to put Falmouth up 4-0.
“I think it was an accumulation of a lot of things,” Bowen said on his breakout game. “A good approach, trying to put a ton of work in this summer, and it felt good for it to pay off tonight.”
The bottom of the sixth was a second wind for the Commodores offense. They recorded two hits and one run to make it 5-0.
Tom Chmielewski (North Carolina) made his Falmouth debut on the hill in the top of the seventh. Cotuit broke through with two hits and a walk to load the bases.
The Kettleers punched in two runs with a double from Kien Vu (Arizona State) to cut the Commodores' lead to three, 5-2. Another two runs went up on the board for Cotuit off a single from Nolan Nawrocki (Clemson) to make it a one-run game.
Chmielewski was relieved by Parker Coil (Arkansas) after he gave up four hits, four runs and two walks. Coil got the Commodore defense out of a sticky situation with a strikeout and Barkett got the popout to defend their 5-4 lead.
Bowen clocked in his second run of the night to make it 6-4 to round out the eighth. Carey shut out the game with a popout on Tanner Thach (UNC Wilmington) to get the third and final out.
To round out the July Fourth stretch, the Commodores (5-10) will meet with the Kettleeers (9-6) for an Independence Day matchup at Lowell Park on Thursday with the first pitch set for 5 p.m.
You can get live game updates on Instagram and X @FalCommodores or tune in to the live radio broadcast featuring Aiden Blanc and MJ Newsom on YouTube @FalmouthCommodores.
