story by Steve McCarthy
July 30, 2010
COTUIT - Since the Cleveland Indians selected
6-foot-6 right-handed pitcher Cole Cook in the fifth
round of the Major League Baseball Draft in June, Cook
had been sitting at home in Los Angeles playing XBox
while in contract negotiations with the club. He decided
he'd rather be throwing a baseball, and just over two
weeks ago was assigned to the Cape Cod Baseball League's
Hyannis Harbor Hawks (13-24), where he has earned a pair
of victories in three starts for the last place team.
On Friday, the
Pepperdine product was perfect through four innings
facing the first place Cotuit Kettleers (18-17-2) and
went six-plus innings to earn the 4-2 win at Lowell
Park. The teams will meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. in
Hyannis.
Cook (2-1) called
his 15 strikeouts in his previous 11 innings
“Absurd” and “Weird”, and got back to inducing
weak swings with his changeup and a pair of double plays
late in the outing. Both Cotuit runs crossed in the
seventh inning after Cook left a pair of baserunners
aboard for reliever Drew Verhagen (Oklahoma), who
surrendered a triple to Michael Yastrzemski
(Vanderbilt).
“I was lucky that
my ball was down today and I could work that changeup
and it was effective enough to get swings,” Cook said.
Cotuit cleanup
hitter Jordan Leyland (UC-Irvine) broke up Cook's bid at
a perfect game to lead off the fifth inning and doubled
to chase him from the game. Cook finished with four hits
allowed, two strikeouts, and a walk.
“(Leyland) is a
very, very good hitter,” Cook said. “I figured he's
a big righty, if I can get him to ground out then that
will give me seven innings. Hats off to him, he hit a
ball very hard.”
Verhagen and closer
Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston) one-hit the Kettleers the
rest of the way to squelch the rally. Gallant picked up
his eighth save.
Cook worked with a
70 pitch limit and threw 47 of them for strikes. He
bounced back from a six-run second start.
The Harbor Hawks
gave Cook a 3-0 cushion with timely hitting. Cody Stubbs
(Tennessee), a 6-foot-3, 220-pound first baseman with
one steal on the summer, legged out a two-out infield
single in the second inning to bring in the first run
from third.
Jeff Lusardi
(Missouri) served in the second spot of Hyannis' batting
order in place of regular A.J. Petterson (Minnesota) and
came through with an RBI single up the middle in the
fifth.
“I feel like
every day I'm somewhere else in the lineup,” Lusardi
said. “Wherever (Coach Chad Gassman) puts me I'll play
my hardest and hopefully get the job done each time.”
The Harbor Hawks
opened the sixth inning with a Charley Thurber
(Tennessee) double and a Dan Sheppard (Iowa) single and
Hector Crespo (Appalachian St.) bunted Thurber in.
Cotuit starter Matt
Andriese (UC-Riverside) was replaced after Sheppard's
hit and took the loss (1-2).
Brooks Pinckard
(Baylor) walked the first batter of the eight inning and
paid for it on Sheppard's RBI single off Pinckard's
replacement, A.J. Achter (Michigan St.). Achter finished
the game.
Sheppard had a
game-high three hits to pace the Harbor Hawks.
“We've been
hitting the ball well lately and unfortunately don't
have much to show for it,” Lusardi said. “Tonight we
had some key hits and came together as a team.”
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