COTUIT, Mass. – After a weekend-long All-Star Break for the entire league, the Kettleers looked to snap their three-game losing streak against the Chatham Anglers Monday night.
Runners reaching on errors were costly for both teams, and the Kettleers dropped their fourth straight.
Each team had an answer for the other, as the scoring was back and forth most of the game.
Chatham got on the board in the third inning on a sac-fly, which was the only run starting pitcher Beau Sampson (Tulane) would surrender in two innings.
“He came in here as a starter, and he was in the portal,” Cotuit manager Loren Hibbs said of Sampson’s time on the Cape. “It allowed him to showcase what he could do, and he got an opportunity at Tulane as a starting pitcher. It’s a win for us, and a win for him.”
First-time Kettleer starter Zan Von Schlegell (St. Thomas) ripped a double to center field in the bottom of the same inning, scoring Cam Johnson (Oklahoma) to even the score at one apiece.
A fielding error by Chatham starting pitcher Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma) cost the visitors the lead in the fifth inning. A dribbler to the Sooner off the bat of Ryne Farber (Auburn) was fielded quickly, but the throw to first drew the first baseman off the bag, and the ball soared into the first base fence.
Johnson scored on the error, Farber advanced to third and the Ketts led 2-1.
Caden Bogenpohl (Missouri State) followed up with an RBI groundout to third base, giving the Kettleers a 3-1 lead.
The Anglers started chipping away quickly with an RBI single by Jake Hanley (Indiana) in the sixth to cut the Ketts’ lead to 3-2.
With two runners on and no outs, Chase Carson (Charlotte) was tapped to relieve Jonathan Adelmann (Bucknell), who had surrendered a double and a walk. A wild pitch by the 49er advanced both runners, and a single by Ashton Larson (LSU) scored both, giving Chatham a 4-3 lead.
With sunset rapidly approaching, the umpires gathered at the end of the seventh and informed both coaches that the eighth inning would be the last of the night.
The Anglers quickly extended their lead off of Gavin Jones (Kent State), who was brought in after Ryan Egan (Fordham) gave up a lead-off single to Daniel Jackson (Georgia).
Jackson swiped both second and third, putting him in prime position to give Chatham a 5-3 on an error by Von Schlegell.
A sac-fly by Isaiah Lane (San Diego) extended the Anglers’ lead to 6-3.
Although Jack Natili (Cincinnati) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth, the Cotuit bats couldn’t battle back, dropping the game 6-4.
“We have to play almost error-free offensively,” Hibbs said. “We’re in one of those ruts the last few games where we hit hard at people.”
The Kettleers will hit the road to face the Falmouth Commodores at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow.
