Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox beat the Harwich Mariners 10-3 on Saturday to improve to a league-best 7-1 record on the season. The game consisted of a two-home run game from Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt University) and an offensive showdown from two-way player Brock Ketelsen (Stanford University).
The Harwich Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a Ty Smolinski (Kansas State) sacrifice fly to center to knock in JP Peltier (Wright State).
Harwich’s lead didn’t last long.
Y-D answered quickly with a solo home run from Goodin, for his first of the game, to right field in the top of the second to make it a 1-1 game.
Then, in the top of the fourth, Y-D continued to hit.
First, Ketelsen’s bat heated up when he hit a double to right field. This was followed by an Avery Ortiz (Oklahoma State University) single to left field, another Goodin home run, and a solo home run from Caleb Daniel (Georgia Tech).
Goodin ended the game 2-for-5 with four RBI, and a .240/.333/.480 slash. Daniel ended 2-for-4 with two RBI and one walk, and a .286/.333/.571 slash on the season.
Sunday’s other offensive device was Ketelsen, the two-way player, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Although he was humbly disappointed that he missed a diving catch in center field in the bottom of the ninth, one that was insignificant given that Y-D had a seven-run lead, he eventually acknowledged that he had one of the best games of his summer season.
He broke down the keys to his success at the plate.
“Honestly, just keeping this simple,” he said. “Being on time for a fastball, and picking up spin early, just getting to foot down early, and being ready to hit.”
Ketelsen, 18 years old, is a rising sophomore and the youngest player on Y-D. Still, he leads the team in batting average (.412), on-base percentage (.500), and slugging percentage (.588).
As he strives to make a name for himself against slugging veterans, these leads marked a rewarding milestone for Ketelsen.
“It’s cool,” he said. “I mean, I came here being a young guy, and just wanted to prove something, and you know, show everyone who I was.”
After his fourth inning double, Ketelsen singled on a base hit to left field before advancing to second on a throwing error.
He then doubled again in the seventh inning on a base hit to center field before stealing third and scoring, putting Y-D ahead 9-1.
Ketelsen attributes some of his offensive success to his understanding of how a pitcher thinks, something that he has the privilege of doing as a two-way player.
“Just knowing pitch sequences and what plays off good, like what plays off a fastball, what plays off a curveball, knowing that kind of stuff definitely helps me at the box,” he explained. “You never want to guess pitches at the plate, but it definitely helps me.”
Y-D’s next chance to roll out their hot bats will be on Tuesday at 5pm EST at home against Falmouth.
