story by Steve McCarthy
July 29, 2010
COTUIT - Just over a week ago Bourne Braves starting
pitcher Austin Stadler (Wake Forest) held the Cotuit
Kettleers scoreless for six innings at Lowell Park, but
the Braves still ended up on the short end of a 2-1
decision. Last night, Stadler two-hit the Kettleers in a
4-0 victory at the same venue.
Stadler and Kevin
Brady (Clemson) combined on the three-hitter and Jason
Coats (TCU) went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in
as the Braves closed to within two points of the Western
Division leading Kettleers.
Bourne (18-19)
ended a four-game losing streak and is 4-6 in its last
10 games. Cotuit fell to 18-16-2 with seven wins in its
last 10.
Seven of southpaw
Stadler's season-high eight strikeouts came between the
second and fifth innings and he faced just two batters
over the minimum. He did not walk a batter.
“After we got a
few runs, (Cotuit) got a little bit more aggressive,”
Stadler said. “I think that's what (Cotuit) Coach
(Mike) Roberts' approach against me is, because I'm not
an overpowering type of guy. I just try and get a little
movement and hopefully get some ground balls. My ball
was moving a lot today and I could control it.”
Stadler's ability
to go deep in the ballgame was important for the Braves
as set-up man R.J. Alvarez (Florida Atlantic) and closer
Tony Zych (Louisville) both pitched an inning of
Wednesday night's All-Star Game.
“Our coach came
up to me before the game and said, 'We need a lot of
innings out of you today.',” Stadler said. “Luckily
they swung at a lot of first pitches.”
Brady Rodgers
(Arizona St.) took the loss for Cotuit, allowing three
runs – two earned – over six and two-thirds innings
while walking three and striking out six. Kyle McMillen
(Kent St.) finished the game and allowed the final run
on three hits.
The Braves recorded
a hit in all but one inning and finished with 10. Tommy
LaStella (Coastal Carolina) and Creede Simpson (Auburn)
joined Coats with multiple hits, each going 2-for-4 with
a run scored.
LaStella's double
led off the third inning and was followed by a pair of
sacrifice flies to bring him in.
In the fifth
inning, Nick Ahmed (UConn) reached on a fielding error
by Cotuit third baseman Levi Hyams (Georgia) and
advanced on a walk and a groundout before Coats lined an
RBI single that dropped just in front of diving center
fielder Zach Cone (Georgia).
Coats laced a
two-out double up the right-center field gap in the
seventh to plate Zach MacPhee (Arizona St.) and chase
Rodgers from the game. Coats is tied for second in the
Cape League with eight doubles despite arriving late due
to TCU's appearance in the College World Series.
“They thought he
got himself out of the jam, and for any team it's a
letdown when somebody gets a two-out hit to drive in a
run,” Coats said.
McMillen struck out
the first batter he faced to get Cotuit out of the
inning but hit MacPhee in the helmet with the bases
loaded in the eighth. MacPhee was not injured.
Brady allowed a
base hit to pinch-hitter James Foster (Wofford) in the
ninth inning but struck out the other three batters he
faced to end the game.
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