The Y-D Red Sox won their second straight game on Wednesday, defeating the Cotuit Kettleers by a score of 8–5.
Michael Catalano took the mound on Wednesday at Lowell Park for his second start of the season. Before moving into the starting role, he served as the team’s primary option out of the bullpen.
“My best pitch tonight was the first pitch strike. When I get ahead of hitters, I tend to put them away a lot quicker,” Catalano said. “That’s huge for me, especially trying to get deeper into games up here.”
The right-hander faced Cotuit just seven days ago, tossing four scoreless innings in an 8–2 loss. He followed that with another impressive outing, going five innings and striking out seven. Catalano allowed two runs but relied on his slider as an effective putaway pitch.
“I kind of knew how to attack them, having already faced all of them. I knew what their weaknesses were, but it was kind of the same for them, too. They knew how I pitched, so it was a double-edged sword,” Catalano said when asked about his familiarity with the Cotuit offense.
Payton Manca (Florida State) took the mound for the Kettleers, entering the game with a 1.69 ERA. He had allowed just three runs over his first four appearances, but Y-D quickly changed that narrative within the first few batters.
Yomar Carreras led off by driving the first pitch to left field for a single, followed by a double from Chris Hacopian. Sean Yamaguchi then singled to bring both runners home, giving Y-D an early 2–0 lead. A walk to Dean Carpentier and a single by Brayden Dowd loaded the bases before Manca had recorded an out. Connor Capece followed with a double to center field, clearing the bases and driving in three more runs. Will Baker capped off the rally with a single that left his bat at 102 mph—one of the hardest-hit balls of the evening.
Brayden Dowd walked in the fourth inning to reach base for the second time, driving in Y-D’s sixth run of the game. In the fifth, Connor Capece scored on a throwing error, extending the lead to five.
The Kettleers threatened in the seventh, scoring three runs off Joshua Landry in his Y-D debut. Tagger Tyson (Louisville) got Cotuit on the board with an RBI double, and Ryne Farber followed with a two-run single to cut the deficit to 7–5.
Will Gasparino made the most of his lone plate appearance in the ninth, laying down a sacrifice bunt to bring home Garrett Wright. Dominic Desch, who entered in the eighth, closed out the game with 1.1 scoreless innings to earn the save.
Wednesday’s win marked Y-D’s first back-to-back victories in July. Despite a rough start to the month, the team remains atop the league standings with a 15-9-2 record. They are set to face the fourth-place Harwich Mariners on Thursday at Red Wilson Field, with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.
