Cotuit Drops Fourth of July Match-up With Hyannis, 6-1

For Immediate Release

Kettleers Remain Tied for First Place with Wareham in Western Division

By Megan Kerr

COTUIT, MA — The fourth of July started off well for Cotuit fans as the pre-game festivities that were arranged went off without a hitch. “Ambush corner,” where the players and fans engaged in a humongous water fight during the parade, was popular for both sides of the fight as literally thousands of water balloons were thrown, causing Kyle Russell to put a container over his head to try to avoid some of the firepower being thrown at him. After the parade, a hitting competition that took place at Lowell Park, which amused many as they cheered on those who took on Coach Roberts and attempted to use wood bats to send the ball as far as possible in this long-distance competition. Unfortunately, the game wasn't as favorable as the other holiday events as Cotuit lost their third home game to Hyannis as the Mets bats were very active in their six to one victory.

  The Mets attacked Cotuit starting pitcher Tim Ladd (Georgia Tech, 3BB, 2 K, 3H) from the very beginning as he was forced to throw thirty-nine pitches in the first inning alone. Hyannis loaded the bases in the first, but Ladd was able to limit the damage to one run, but he didn't look very sharp, which showed as he again was pressured by the Mets in the second inning. With men on first and second, Coach Roberts elected to take Ladd out of the game having only pitched one and a third innings and put in Bobby Bramhall (Rice, 1 BB, 3 K, 5 H) to try to keep the deficit to only one run. Unfortunately, Bramhall was unable to keep the Mets from adding to their lead as Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt, 2 for 5, 3 RBI) doubled to bring in three runs and give the Mets a four run lead that seemed to be insurmountable due to the strong pitching they were getting from their starter Charlie Furbush (St Josephs, 3 BB, 6 K, 7 H).

  Furbush, who is now two and one on the season, kept the Kettleers off balance for most of the game as Cotuit was unable to put a sustained attack together. The only signs of life by the Cotuit offence came in the third inning as Matt Angle (Ohio State, 1 for 4, 1 RBI) hit his first homerun of the season put the Kettleers on the board and give their fans hope that Cotuit was ready to take over. Furbush didn't allow that to occur though, as he continued to quiet the Kettleers over eight and a third innings and then Daniel Latham (Tulane, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 H) finished out the game to give the Mets their seventh victory of the season.

  With the loss, Cotuit drops to ten and five on the season and is suddenly having trouble defending their home field. That won't be an issue today though as Cotuit travels to Y-D for a makeup game and where they hope to regroup before three straight home games.