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2009
Cotuit Kettleers Season Recaps
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all 2009 stories
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Cox
named All-Star Game MVP, Rupp second in Home Run
Derby
story by Steve McCarthy
July 23, 2009
BOSTON - The 2009 Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star
Game at Fenway Park was shortened to four and a half
innings due to rain, but the Cotuit Kettleers
players on the Western Division team made an early
impact and took home some hardware.
Third baseman Zack Cox (Arkansas) was named the
game’s Most Valuable Player, tripling in his first
at bat and adding a line drive base hit his next
time up. Catcher Cameron Rupp (Texas) filled in for
teammate Kevin Patterson (Auburn) in the Home Run
Hitting Contest and finished second behind
Harwich’s Connor Powers. Patterson could not
attend due to illness.
Cotuit manager Mike Roberts led the Western Division
team, and was joined by assistants Scott Gurss and
Noah Scott. The coaching staff had plenty to be
proud of.
Outfielder Zach Cone (Georgia) singled in his final
at bat, and Cody Stanley (UNC-Wilmington) was the
West’s starting catcher before being replaced by
Rupp in the final inning. Closer Daniel Tillman
(Florida Southern) was scheduled to pitch the ninth
inning.
Cox downplayed the MVP chants by his West teammates
during the third inning. “That would be a great
honor, but I just want to focus on the rest of the
game, have another good at bat, and have fun playing
at Fenway.”
Cox played third base in steady rain the entire
night, but said he didn’t care about the weather.
“It could be my only chance to ever play here,”
Cox said. “So I don’t really care if it becomes
a flood or a tornado, I want to stay out here as
long as I can.”
The storied ballpark didn’t sway his usual
approach to the plate, that has Cox hitting .364
this summer. “I’m always nervous. Then when I
step in the box it all goes away,” Cox said.
“You just do what you did your whole life.”
The right-handed Rupp asked the southpaw Gurss to
throw to him for the Derby, and Gurss did not have
to be asked twice. Less than a week after winning
his first Cape League game as a coach, Gurss
didn’t think much could top throwing in front of a
Fenway Park crowd. Even as a Cubs fan. “I was
pretty nervous out there,” Gurss said. “I just
told myself not to hit Rupp first pitch.”
Rupp was confident going into the contest. He had
never before lost a Home Run Derby in three tries.
According to Cotuit teammate Zach Cone, when the
press asked Rupp how many home runs he would hit,
Rupp answered, “How many balls do you have in the
bucket?”
Rupp was the final competitor to step to the plate
in the first round, so he knew what number he had to
hit. “It didn’t really matter what I got,”
Rupp said ‘I just wanted to hit one or two,
didn’t want to put up a goose egg. That was pretty
neat being able to be in the finals.”
The top two of six competitors qualified for the
finals. In the first round, Rupp hit the longest
home run of the night, reaching the seats just right
of the camera well in straight away center field.
“I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure, but I knew I
hit it well,” Rupp said, “When it went out, that
was pretty neat to be able to hit the ball over
there.”
As for Gurss’ pitching - “He was good,” Rupp
said. “He threw the ball well. He threw it in the
right spot. I just didn’t hit the ball like I
should have.”
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