story by Steve McCarthy
August 6, 2010FALMOUTH - The factors which
contributed to the Cotuit Kettleers' regular
season-ending six game losing streak the potential
runs left on base, the two-out runs against, the shaky
bullpen did not carry over into the Cape Cod
Baseball League playoffs, which opened Friday night with
a 6-1 victory for Cotuit over the Falmouth Commodores.
The Kettleers
gained the advantage in the best-of-three series on the
road at Guv Fuller Field. The quarterfinal series will
shift to Lowell Park in Cotuit on Saturday afternoon and
return to Falmouth on Sunday, if necessary. Saturday's
game starts at 3 p.m.
Cotuit starting
pitcher Austin Wood (St. Petersburg JC) struck out a
season-high 10 over seven innings, while allowing
Falmouth's only four hits. It was also Wood's longest
outing of the summer. His previous best strikeout total
of seven came in Falmouth on July 5.
Wood struck out the
side in the fourth and sixth innings and did not
surrender a hit after the third. Falmouth loaded the
bases with no outs in the second inning but came away
with the lone run on a B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss.)
RBI single.
Wood slipped and
fell while fielding a ball in front of the mound, which
loaded the bases. He then recorded his first two
strikeouts and faced one batter over the minimum the
rest of the way.
That (slip) kind
of made me mad, so I decided to step it up a little
bit, Wood said. I just really attacked hitters and
kept them off balance.
Wood, who finished
the regular season with a 3-0 record and .74 earned run
average, walked one batter and displayed pinpoint
command of a fastball-changeup combination. In his
previous appearance, against Hyannis, Wood walked three
and struck out just one, lasting five and one-third
innings.
I was king of
losing my mechanics in that Hyannis game and rushing,
Wood said. I just worked on staying back and just
letting it go.
A three-run second
inning and an opposite field solo home run by Jordan
Leyland (UC Irvine) in the fourth supported Wood's
efforts. The Kettleers also produced runs in the bookend
frames.
The top four in
Cotuit's batting order all had multiple hits, with Chad
Wright's (Kentucky) three leading the way. Leyland and
Zach Cone (Georgia) each had two hits and two RBIs and
Deven Marrero (Arizona St.) was 2-for-3 while driving in
one.
We definitely
turned it around tonight, Leyland said. We hit the
ball hard and got the ball to go through and fall.
Marrero's
sacrifice-fly got the job done in the first inning to
score Cone, who singled and moved over on Wright's first
of two doubles.
The Kettleers
strung together four hits and a walk to break out in the
second. Wright poked a two-run single through the right
side of the infield and Leyland lined one up the middle
to bring in the third run of the inning.
Wright's RBI double
in the ninth added some insurance for A.J. Achter
(Michigan St.), who closed out the win with a pair of
no-hit innings.
The Commodores sent
out five different pitchers, which allowed a combined 11
hits. Christian Jones (Oregon) was given the hook after
just four innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits
and took the loss (3-4). Jones was a Cape League Western
Division All-Star.
Nate Koneski (Holy
Cross), Matt Stites (Jefferson County CC) and Steven
Gruver (Tennessee) each appeared for an inning while
Doug Simmons (Rice) worked the final two.
Four different
Falmouth batters recorded hits off Wood, with Matt Skole
(Georgia Tech) driving in the run.
Now they have to
be on their toes and we've got their backs to the
wall, Leyland said. They've got a long road ahead
of them.
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