COTUIT, Mass. – Before the Kettleers took on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks Saturday, three words were written on the white board of the home dugout: “THEY WILL RUN!”
Heading into this afternoon’s 3-1 loss to Hyannis, the Kettleers coaching staff put a heavy emphasis on preventing stolen bases. The Harbor Hawks had 13 swiped bags before the game.
“We knew they were a very athletic team and they could really run,” head coach Loren Hibbs said. “I thought our guys did a pretty good job controlling the run.”
Even though Cotuit only held Hyannis to three base swipes, stolen bases were the least of the Kettleers’ concerns.
The long ball was lethal for Hyannis, with all three of the Harbor Hawks’ runs coming off the bat of Chris Rembert. A two-run shot in the first was the only hiccup for Kettleers starter Reed Moring (UC Santa Barbara), who played in the Hyannis uniform last summer.
After the first inning, the Santa Cruz native seemed to settle down, only giving up one hit and striking out three on 62 pitches. He credits the improvement to the confidence he has in himself.
“I think it was just trusting my ability,” Moring said. “I’m here for a reason.”
The Kettleers got on the board quickly thanks to a Luke Lavin (Stanford) RBI single to plate Case Sanderson (Nebraska), to bring the score to 2-1. It was Cotuit’s first RBI hit since Sanderson’s walk-off single against the Gatemen on June 15.
With the exception of two singles from Sanderson, the Kettleer bats went quiet the rest of the game.
Multiple opportunities were present for the Ketts, but the offense went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, a statistic that they rank last in the league in.
With two runners on and one out in the eighth, Rintaro Sasaki (Stanford) was tapped to pinch-hit for Easton Winfield (Texas). Despite a shutout inning of pitching from Adam Troy, Hyannis brought in a face Sasaki knows well: fellow Stanford teammate Ryan Speshyock.
Dozens of fans pulled their phones out, hoping to capture a game-changing moment from the all-time high school home run leader for Japan.
Sasaki struck out on a low ball, seemingly ending the offensive momentum for the Kettleers.
Lavin followed up with a strikeout looking to end the inning.
The Kettleer bullpen was once again dominant, with Preston Crowl (Virginia Tech), Tyler Albanese (San Jose State) and Adam Buckler (Florida Atlantic) combining for three hits and one run in five innings, which was a solo shot into the Cotuit bullpen from Rembert in the eighth.
“Our bullpen was good again,” Hibbs said. “We’re gonna get there and figure it out.”
The Kettleers will look to snap their five-game skid against the Braves tomorrow in Bourne at 6:00 p.m..
