COTUIT, Mass. — Bases loaded, bottom of the 10th, 1-1 count and Case Sanderson (Nebraska) at the plate. He gets set in the box, the Wareham pitcher gets the sign, he throws, and Sanderson hits it. The ball soared through the air and landed in shallow center field, and Jarren Advincula (transfer portal) was able to score easily as Cotuit walked it off against Wareham, 2-1.
After an extra-innings loss on Opening Day, the Ketts were able to rally late in Sunday night's contest and pick up their first win of the 2025 season, the first of Loren Hibbs’ CCBL career.
“I’m happy for our players. I think we learned from last night. We were in a similar situation last night,” Hibbs said. “We pitched very well and played tremendous defense. If you do those two things, you’ll have a good chance to win.”
After four consecutive scoreless innings from both sides to begin the game, the Kettleers threatened in the bottom of the fifth.
Andrew Wiggins (transfer portal) used his great speed to beat out a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Ryan Jaros (Rutgers) grounded into a fielder’s choice that placed him at first base, but not for long. Advincula singled up the middle, and Jaros strolled into third base after a throwing error.
With runners at the corners and two outs, Camden Johnson (Oklahoma) stepped up to the dish, trying to break the scoreless tie. On the third pitch of his at-bat, the newly committed Sooner grounded softly to the second baseman, who threw to first, ending the inning.
Cotuit reliever Preston Crowl (Virginia Tech) posted another scoreless frame in the sixth, then was pulled for Wyatt Halvorson (Arizona State) in the seventh. Crowl went four innings while giving up one hit, no walks, no runs and striking out one batter.
Halvorson dominated in his first inning of work, striking out the side on 14 pitches to bring up the Kettleers bats.
After two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh, Wiggins legged out his second infield base knock of the game. Anderson French (Virginia Tech) came in to pinch-hit with a chance to do some damage late in the ballgame. However, he grounded out to first base.
Both teams failed to score a run in the eighth and ninth innings, and for the second straight day, Cotuit was headed to extras.
Halvorson returned to the mound for his fourth inning of work with a runner on second due to the extra-innings rules. Colby Turner (Michigan) quickly put the Gatemen on the board with an RBI single into center field. Halvorson was pulled for Brandon Langley (Western Carolina) after three innings of solid work on the mound. Langley made quick work of the Wareham lineup, going 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to bring up the Cotuit bats.
Advincula singled to begin the frame, putting runners at the corners with no outs. A batter later, French scored from third base on a wild pitch to tie things at one apiece. Johnson drew a walk to put a pair of Kettleers on base with no outs, which drew immediate excitement from the Cotuit dugout.
That excitement quickly dialed down after Jack Natili (Cincinnati) and Nolan Stevens (Oklahoma) recorded outs to bring the home side to its final out. After a seven-pitch at-bat, PJ Moutzouridis (transfer portal) walked to load the bases with Sanderson coming to the dish.
The Cornhusker patiently let two pitches go by, and on a 1-1 count sent a ball into shallow center field to score Advincula and walk it off against Wareham.
“I came into the at-bat looking for a fastball. I was trying to be patient, and whenever I got that pitch at the end, I got a good swing off and it landed for a hit,” Sanderson said.
Notes
The Cotuit bullpen has been lights out to begin the season. In 13 innings pitched, the 'pen posts a 0.69 ERA with 12 strikeouts, no walks and just six hits allowed.
The Kettleers' offense had seven hits Sunday, and its 14 hits on the young season rank No. 2 in the CCBL.
Looking ahead
The Ketts play the Orleans Firebirds on Monday, where they’ll be looking for revenge after a walk-off loss on Saturday night. First pitch from Lowell Park is at 5 p.m.
