story by Steve McCarthy
July 18, 2010
WAREHAM - The Cotuit Kettleers visited Wareham's
Spillane Field for the third and final time of the
regular season Sunday night. During the trip the
Kettleers went to a place they have not been all summer:
Above .500.
The Kettleers held
on for a 3-2 win over the Gatemen and remain two points
behind the Bourne Braves for the lead in the Cape Cod
Baseball League's Western Division race. Cotuit
(14-13-2) is 3-1-1 against division foe Wareham on the
season with the lone loss coming in the season opener.
Wareham (12-17-1)
ranks third in the five-team division.
The Kettleers will
enjoy a rare off day on Monday while carrying a
three-game winning streak into Tuesday's game at
Hyannis.
Brooks Pinckard
(Baylor) launched his first home run of the season
Friday, a two-run shot over the right field fence off
Wareham starting pitcher Josh Urban (Texas), to give
Cotuit a 2-0 advantage in its first at-bat. An unearned
run in the seventh inning was the difference as the
Kettleers bullpen held for starter Bobby Shore
(Oklahoma).
“Striking first
is what you always want to do,” Pinckard said. “That
way you don't have to worry about coming from behind.”
Urban was saddled
with the loss despite allowing just three hits over
seven innings. Two came in the first inning and John
Hinson (Clemson) doubled in the seventh. Hinson broke
for third with two outs as James Foster (Wofford)
grounded to Wareham third baseman Tyler Bream (Liberty).
Bream's throw to first touched down two-thirds of the
way across the diamond, allowing Foster to reach and
Hinson to score on the error.
Shore was
responsible for both Wareham runs in six innings of work
and allowed six hits while striking out four. He walked
just one batter in earning his first Cape League win in
his second start.
“I felt good
right from the start of the game,” Shore said. “I
was throwing strikes and that was important. We were
able to not show my curveball until the last couple of
innings.”
Cotuit reliever
Matt Andriese (UC-Riverside) allowed an inherited runner
in scoring position to cross in the seventh inning, but
induced three groundouts before handing the ball over to
closer Ryan Duke (Oklahoma). Duke made his third
appearance of the summer and earned his first save,
striking out three batters in an inning and two-thirds.
Nico Rosthenhausler
(Oklahoma St.) hit a pinch-hit double in the ninth
inning as Wareham's potential tying run, but could not
advance.
Wareham's seventh
inning effort made it a one-run ballgame for the second
time. Bream singled home a run in the fourth to make it
2-1.
An inning-ending
double play squelched Wareham's hopes of changing the
tide in the three-hit fourth inning. A baserunner left
on third was the first of four Gatemen stranded in
scoring position in the game.
“Double plays are
momentum killers and that's what it did right there,”
Shore said. “That was a big pitch for me.”
Urban's Texas and
Wareham teammate Andrew McKirahan fanned four Cotuit
batters in the final two innings and forced two
groundouts.
Zach Wilson
(Arizona St.) paced the Gatemen with three singles.
|
