No one likes to get their heart broken. And that goes for baseball teams, too. One of the worst ways to lose a game is not by a blowout, but rather by a walk-off hit or home run.
The Gatemen, despite a fantastic pitching performance, were heartbroken in a walk-off loss to Cotuit on Sunday. The pitching staff delivered a stellar performance beginning with a five-inning start from Chase Richter (Arkansas State), who gave up 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 hits, and got 6 strikeouts.
From there, the Gatemen's pitching delivered nine scoreless innings; however, the Gatemen's offense had no answer for Cotuit’s defense. The Gatemen bats grabbed only three hits on the night, thus going scoreless through nine. The score knotted up at “0” forced bonus baseball in the tenth, where the Gatemen got a run, but it was not enough as the Ketts grabbed two to walk-off Wareham.
The loss was tough on the team, who were visibly upset over the loss, wanting to win that game so badly. They hope to turn that into motivation to grab their first win of the season tonight against the Chatham Anglers.
The Anglers are coming off a 4-2 road loss against the Bourne Braves in Doran Park’s opening day on Sunday. The Anglers, like the Gatemen, find themselves sitting at 0-2 to start the season, being the only remaining winless teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Wareham split their season series with Chatham last season, going 2-2. The last time they played was at Veterans Field on August 1, where they lost 4-0. They hope to start the season series strong by grabbing their first win of the season.
Starting Pitchers
Tonight, the Gatemen give the starting privileges to left-hander Cooper Consiglio (NC State). The rising junior is not unfamiliar with starts as he made 6 of them in 17 appearances with the Wolf Pack this spring. He finished with a 1-4 record and a 10.59 ERA, giving up 52 hits, 47 runs (40 earned), 25 walks, and 38 punchouts in 34 innings pitched.
His best performance of the spring was against UNC Greensboro, where he threw four scoreless innings and struck out six batters, a season-high for him. Tonight, he makes his Cape League debut as a starter and hopes to lift his Gatemen into the win column.
On the other side, the Anglers will place righty Nate Taylor (Georgia) on the rubber. The rising sophomore had a great first season with the Bulldogs, posting a 1.08 ERA during 9 appearances of relief. He pitched 8 and ⅓ innings, giving up only 1 earned run, 2 walks, striking out 17, and holding batters to a .107 batting average.
Taylor has not seen much time, but has proven he can pitch on the big stage. In a matchup against No. 14 Georgia Tech, he struck out two batters en route to a perfect inning in front of a crowd of 15,000 at Truist Park. He could be trouble for the Gatemen lineup, which only collected 3 hits against Cotuit.
Players to Watch
The Gatemen only struck three hits in Sunday’s loss to Cotuit, two of them came from Colby Turner (Michigan), who recorded his first multi-hit game of the season. He went 2 for 4 and drove in the Gatemen’s only run.
The second-year Gateman has at least a hit in both games so far and now holds a .375 batting average. Look for him to continue to be impactful in the heart of the Gatemen lineup tonight.
Another name to watch is Shamaar McDuffie (Kennesaw State). McDuffie recorded the other hit on Sunday, going 1 for 3. He also has a hit in each game so far this season, but made his first defensive start at shortstop against Cotuit.
Despite a throwing error, caused by a runner in the way of his throw, he looked solid in the middle infield. In the bottom of the ninth, he caught a line drive that forced the game into extra innings. Look for him to make another start tonight and continue to play great defense.
For the anglers, names to look out for are Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) and Henry Ford (Virginia). Freeman is currently Chatham’s best hitter, batting .286 on the season. He went 2 for 3 with a walk on Sunday against Bourne, getting two of the five hits for Chatham.
Henry Ford, not to be confused with the inventor of the Model T, also had a good night against Bourne, going 1 for 4 with a walk, driving in one of the two Anglers’ runs against Bourne. Look for both of them to make an impact tonight in Chatham’s lineup.
One team will grab its first win of the season tonight, and the Gatemen hope to be the one to do it in front of their home crowd. First pitch is tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Spillane Field in Wareham.
You can watch the game at the ballpark for free, or you can tune into the Gatemen Broadcast on Cape League TV with Cory Miller, Josh Richardson, and Rayna Maggelet on the call by clicking HERE.
