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2009
Cotuit Kettleers Game Recaps
... full
season stories
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Fog
shortens 15-5 rout by Bourne in Championship Series
Game One
story by Steve McCarthy
August 11, 2009
BOURNE- A dense fog settled over Bourne’s Doran
Park and mercifully ended Game One of the Cape Cod
Baseball League Championship Series Tuesday with two
outs in the sixth inning after the Bourne Braves
posted 13 runs in the first two innings en route to
a 15-5 beat down of the Cotuit Kettleers.
The league rulebook states that a championship game
is not official until seven innings are played, but
Cotuit manager Mike Roberts declined to ask his
limited roster to play two complete games Wednesday,
one in Bourne and one in Cotuit.
“I think it was a good decision,” Roberts said.
“Bourne just played extremely well. They took
advantage of our struggles tonight, and they
deserved to win the ballgame.”
The best of three series will instead move to
Cotuit’s Lowell Park Wednesday afternoon for Game
Two scheduled for 3 p.m., with the Braves holding a
1-0 advantage.
Fog frequently affects Cape League games at
Veteran’s Field in Chatham, but Tuesday’s twice
delayed game was the first fog shortened contest the
Kettleers have been a part of this summer.
Play ensued until Bourne’s outfielders in white
uniforms were barely visible from home plate. Braves
catcher Chris Wallace (Houston) thought he had hit
his first postseason home run in the previous
inning, but the call was reversed after the umpires
conferenced and determined the ball had indeed
bounced over the fence for a ground rule double.
The initial delay after a sixth inning double to
straightaway center field by Cotuit’s Tony Plagman
(Georgia Tech) lasted fifteen minutes. Play resumed
for five more batters as the fog temporarily lifted,
but a meeting between the umpires, coaches, and
league officials decided that it was not likely
conditions would be playable in the near future.
“I could barely see the outfielders,” Plagman
said. “I was just trying to get a ball up in the
air, knowing that it would be tough to see.”
Cotuit’s bats were beginning to come alive in the
final inning of play as they scored four runs off of
Bourne reliever Michael Dimock (Wake Forest) on four
hits, but were still left with a ten run mountain to
climb. Plagman was seeing the ball well at the dish
as a pair of singles preceded his RBI-double.
“It’s tough,” Plagman said. “You never want
to have to play a game, especially a playoff game,
with this type of fog. It’s not a way it should be
played.”
Cotuit starting pitcher Andres Caceres (Connors
State JC) could not find the strike zone as he
walked the first two batters he faced on four
straight pitches. Thirteen batters stepped in to
face the struggling southpaw in the seven run first
inning as Caceres walked four and allowed five hits.
Bourne slugger Kyle Roller (East Carolina) had two
hits and two RBI’s in the inning.
Roller drove in four runs total with two hits in his
three at-bats. His teammate Stefen Romero (Oregon
State) had a double and two singles as well as an
RBI and scored in all three of his plate
appearances.
Caceres toed the rubber again in the second inning
but fared no better. He was relieved by Navery Moore
(Vanderbilt) with two outs and Moore was responsible
for just one of the six runs totaled before the
third out.
Caceres worked primarily in relief for the Kettleers
during the regular season, but was called upon as
none of Cotuit’s starters had enough rest since
their elimination round and semi-final outings.
Roberts was unsure after Monday’s semi-final win
against Yarmouth-Dennis whether Caceres or Moore
would make the start. Right-hander Justin Grimm
(Georgia) is expected to pitch Game Two.
Moore shut down the Bourne bats for two innings
before the Braves tacked on two more runs in the
fifth. He struck out the side in the fourth inning
and finished with five strikeouts in three and
one-third innings.
“(Moore) works hard,” Plagman said. “It’s
definitely great to see that. For him to throw it in
there and give us a couple good innings, that’s
awesome.”
Bourne starting pitcher Alex Wimmers (Ohio State)
was not at his sharpest in his first postseason
appearance, but did not let the comfortable lead get
away. The Kettleers notched five hits and one earned
run in Wimmers’ four innings pitched. He struck
out nine and walked three.
“It’s tough, especially when you get down quick
to get something going,” Plagman said. “We about
did, but (Wimmers) threw well, and kept us off
balance, and did a good job with runners on base.”
With his team trailing by a wide margin, Roberts
shifted his nine remaining positional players around
to give catcher Zach Maggard (Florida Southern) a
chance to get out of his gear before making the
start Wednesday. Maggard has caught all but the
first playoff game, as All-Star catchers Cody
Stanley (UNC-Wilmington) and Cameron Rupp (Texas)
have played outfield and designated hitter
respectively.
Plagman moved from first base to left field with the
change, a position he did not play all summer but
had experience with in high school.
“I’m comfortable out there,” Plagman said.
“Obviously they have two big innings to start it
off, so we got to get Maggard out.”
One positive the Kettleers can take from the loss is
the shortened game spared the remainder of their
pitching staff from working through innings without
guarantee of a comeback.
“We weren’t looking to save any pitching, but in
this situation I think it probably helped both
clubs,” Roberts said.
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