story by Steve McCarthy
July 28, 2010
FENWAY PARK, BOSTON - Each of the five Cotuit
Kettleers selected to participate in Wednesday's Cape
Cod Baseball League All-Star Game festivities at Fenway
Park were rewarded for their summer-long efforts with a
memorable night.
Even hitting coach
Scott Gurss made his mark as the Western Division squad
topped the East 5-0 and Cotuit slugger Paul Hoilman won
the Home Run Hitting Contest. More than 10,000 fans
attended.
Southpaw Gurss
pitched to right-handed Hoilman for the two-round derby.
Last year Cotuit catcher Cameron Rupp (Texas) used Gurss'
assistance in the contest, resulting in a runner-up
finish. Gurss also served as third base coach for the
West during the three innings in which all five runs
were scored. A few gutsy calls of his paid off to break
open what started as a pitching-dominated affair.
Kettleers first
baseman Jordan Leyland (UC-Irvine) had a pair of
singles, the second of which drove in the West's fifth
run, and outfielder Chad Wright (Kentucky) singled in
his second of three at-bats. Both were named starters
for the game.
“I came out here
with a goal of just to play my best, and now making the
All-Star's has exceeded that goal,” Leyland said.
“It's a big
honor,” Wright said. “In this league especially,
being the best league in the country. There's a lot of
deserving people out there and I'm just glad I got the
opportunity to play here.”
Austin Wood (St.
Petersburg JC) earned the start on the mound and showed
off his 95 mile-per-hour heater in a one-hit inning.
Each squad selected nine pitchers to work no more than
one frame.
Reliever A.J.
Achter (Michigan St.) allowed a pair of two-out
baserunners in the seventh but escaped unscathed. His
.90 earned run average in 12 appearances for the
Kettleers is bettered only by closer Ryan Duke
(Oklahoma), who has not surrendered a run in four
appearances.
“It's such a
privilege (to play at Fenway), and you never know if it
will ever happen again,” Achter said.
Prior to the game,
Hoilman put on a long ball display which preserved his
title as college baseball's “Home Run King”. Hoilman
also won the Home Run Derby at the College World Series
in Omaha, Nebraska, earlier this summer, facing some of
the same
contestants but using an aluminum bat.
“I'm not calling
myself a defending champ or anything, but just to kind
of have that target is a good feeling,” Hoilman said.
Hoilman advanced to
the final round of Wednesday's contest along with
Bourne's Daniel Bowman (Coastal Carolina) and Chatham's
Ricky Oropesa (USC) as the only three of six contestants
to homer in the first round. Hoilman's third and winning
home run of the second round cleared the Green Monster
just right of Fisk Pole and came while down to his final
out.
“It was a lot
tougher here than at Omaha,” Hoilman said. “I was
pretty nervous and, luckily, (the last one) had just
enough.”
The junior from
East Tennessee State was selected in the 49th round of
this year's Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay
Rays.
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