By Courtney Swift
Kettleers Lead Writer
June 30, 2012

COTUIT – The long ball continued to hurt Cotuit in their 11-2 loss to the Wareham Gatemen. Lead-off man Cole Sturgeon’s (Louisville) 5-6 night at the plate helped lead the Gatemen, but it was three Wareham home runs that were the biggest cause for alarm in Cotuit’s third straight loss. The Kettleers now sit at 5-8 on the season.

The Gatemen took the lead early after a homer by clean up hitter Tyler Horan (Virginia Tech) in the second, and the hits didn’t stop there. Kyle Schwarber (Indiana) added a two-run blast in the third, which was followed up later in the inning by a solo shot from Daniel Palka (Georgia Tech). “It’s kind of a dilemma right now, we’ve got to work our way out of it without a doubt,” said coach Mike Roberts. “We look forward to doing that but we’ve got to work our way through it.”

Cotuit has allowed eight homers in their last three games. “I think every body’s talking about it,” Roberts said. “ And I’ve never seen the ball fly like this.” The entire league hit 159 homeruns in 2011, which looks to be quickly surpassed, as just three weeks into the season the league total for long balls is 123.

Patrick Biondi scores the first run for the Kettleers. Photo by Mike Buccino.

Even though the Kettleers got nine hits and five free passes on the night, they stranded base runners in 8 eight of nine innings. The Kettleers left runners at the corners in the first, and left the bases loaded in the fifth. Patrick Biondi (Michigan) led off the fourth inning with a triple to right center only to be followed up by three Kettleers strikeouts. “Pitch selection has been difficult for us,” Roberts said. “You get timely hits when you swing at strikes,” said Roberts. “When you don’t swing at strikes it’s difficult to drive runs in.” Twelve Kettleers (six in scoring position) were left on base.

The only runs Cotuit would score came in the second and ninth innings. Biondi reached on an error and later scored on a hit by Angel Rosa (Alcorn State), and Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt) scored in the ninth after hitting a triple and scoring on a sac fly. But Wareham’s bullpen pitched well, giving up just one run in four and a third innings and saving the Gatemen from any jams. “We’re working on a few things with em’ and they seem to be picking it up pretty fast pretty well,” said Wareham head coach Cooper Farris. They’re working really hard.” The Gatemen have three more arms coming this weekend from the College World Series.

Cotuit will continue tomorrow against Bourne. The Kettleers lost 5-1 in their last matchup, but look stay ahead of the Braves in the Western Division. Kevin Ziomek (Vanderbilt) will make the start for Cotuit, looking for his second win of the season. To see more post game interviews visit the Official Kettleers YouTube Channel.