COTUIT, Mass. — Fresh faces seem to be the theme of the Kettleers as of late.
Off the heels of a home run at Citi Field on Monday, and lots of traveling, Jarren Advincula was given a well-deserved day off. Without the best bat in the lineup, manager Loren Hibbs and the Kettleers had to turn to a couple of new players to power the offense.
Enter Caden Bogenpohl and Luke Matthews.
On the first pitch he saw in the Kettleer pinstripes, Matthews scorched the ball to left field and raced to third.
In just one at-bat, Matthews ignited the Cotuit offense, and eventually scored the first run of an 8-2 win over Yarmouth-Dennis on Tuesday.
“It was fun to finally go out there and play,” Matthews said of his debut. “(I want to) just compete and play my game.”
It wasn’t just Matthews who had a debut to remember. Bogenpohl, who is 6 feet, 6 inches tall, stepped into the batter’s box with two runners on in the second inning. The Kettleers have struggled with runners on base, batting just .182 (including Tuesday) this season.
Bogenpohl broke the game open in a spot the Kettleers haven’t been the best at. On the second pitch of his second at-bat, the Missouri State Bear launched his first homer of the season.
“Just trying to see everything and do damage is the main thing,” Bogenpohl said of his plate approach. “On my second at-bat, I just got on the heater and didn’t miss it.”
Bogenpohl sent that heater out on fire at 104 mph off the bat, and a distance of 412 feet to dead center.
Cotuit isn’t Bogenpohl’s first stop this summer. The Jackson, Missouri, native played five games for his hometown Cape Catfish team before arriving on the Cape at 2 p.m. Monday.
“I just reached out and asked if I could play for a week to get some at-bats,” Bogenpohl said. “I didn’t want to come up here and see 95 (mph pitches) every day without some at-bats.”
Dean West made an immediate impact in his debut Saturday, and the success of new players is keeping Hibbs optimistic about the rest of the season.
“It’s great to have (Bogenpohl and Matthews) here,” Hibbs said. “It gives us a little bit more link to our lineup.”
The Kettleers will play their second game of their six-game stretch against the Harbor Hawks at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Hyannis.
