story by Steve McCarthy
June 30, 2010
WAREHAM - The Cotuit Kettleers rallied for three runs
in the ninth inning Wednesday to break a 5-5 tie with
the Wareham Gatemen and earn just their second road win
in the first month of the Cape Cod Baseball League
season 8-5.
C.J. Cron (Utah)
sailed the game-winning RBI double out to the center
field fence and Kyle McMillen (1-1, Kent St.) cruised
through his third shutout inning of relief to finish the
win.
“We've lost a lot
of close ones, that's for sure,” Cron said. “To be
able to win a tie game in the ninth on the road is huge
for us and hopefully we can build off it.”
With the victory,
Cotuit (5-10-1) opened up a three point gap ahead of the
last place Gatemen (4-11-0) in the Western Division
standings. Wareham is enduring a four-game losing
streak. The teams will meet again on Friday at Cotuit's
Lowell Park.
“Right now, we'll
take any win we have,” Cron said. “We're not playing
great baseball right now, so we'll definitely take the
win and look forward to Friday to capitalize on it.”
The tie had held
since the sixth inning, when Wareham completed a
comeback after going down 5-2 early. The Kettleers used
a four-run third inning to go ahead and tacked on one
more in the fifth after surrendering two runs in the
opening frame.
Leadoff hitter Cron
sparked Cotuit's 13-hit attack, going 3-for-5 with two
doubles,a run scored, and an RBI, while Levi Hyams
(Georgia), Jordan Leyland (UC-Irvine) and Brooks
Pinckard (Baylor) had two hits apiece.
Alex Dickerson
(Indiana) went 3-for-3 for Wareham with a pair of
doubles. George Springer's (UConn) only hit of the game
was an RBI triple to plate the game's first run. Jerrud
Sabourin (Indiana) and Derek Dennis (Michigan) had to
hits each.
Both starting
pitchers had exited the game by the seventh inning.
McMillen allowed one hit over three and two-thirds and
struck out three. Wareham left the bases loaded in the
sixth inning against McMillen and in the fifth against
David Colvin (Pomona-Pitzer). Colvin worked the final
two outs of the fifth inning in relief of Cotuit starter
Matt Andriese (UC-Riverside).
“You've got to be
able to score runs late and you've got to be able to
shut them out late, and that's what we did tonight,”
Pinckard said.
Devin Burke (0-2,
Duke) was Wareham's second of four pitchers on the
evening, but was responsible for Cotuit's final three
runs and took the loss. He followed Josh Urban's (Texas)
six inning start for two and one-third. Burke struck out
three of the first four batters he faced, but exited in
the ninth inning after giving up the game-winning hit
and left baserunners on first and second.
Left-handed
specialist Jake Davies (Georgia Tech) allowed an RBI
double to the only batter he faced in the ninth and
Keith Bilodeau (Maine) got the final two outs on a pair
of strikeouts. Bilodeau inherited runners on first and
second and allowed Pinckard's RBI single.
The Gatemen tagged
Andriese for three hits in the first inning and
Springer's triple and Dickerson's first double made him
pay. Andriese was able to settle in for the next three
innings while receiving support from the Kettleers'
offense.
Wareham committed
two fielding blunders in the third inning and Cotuit
pushed four runs across on swings by Pinckard and
Leyland. Cotuit's fifth run crossed in the fifth inning
when Leyland's bunt down the first base line resulted in
a throw into right field by Wareham catcher Chris Walker
(Fordham) and allowed Paul Hoilman (East Tennessee St.)
to score from second.
Dickerson doubled
home a run in the fifth inning and Walker singled him
in. The Gatemen tied the game in the following inning on
an RBI double by Max Muncy (Baylor).
Andriese allowed
four earned runs on eight hits and struck out two in the
no-decision. Four of the five runs Cotuit scored off
Urban were earned, on nine hits. Cotuit out-hit Wareham
13-11.
The Kettleers have
an off day Thursday.
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