By Katie Vieth
June 21, 2004

LOWELL PARK — It began with a home run. The third batter of the game, Adam Rogers, had a hit to left field after taking a strike… and it was gone. After only seven pitches, it was beginning to look a little bit uncertain for the maroon.

But the show must go on, so the Kettleers battled the Wareham Gatemen bravely, allowing only two runs in six innings. But Wareham was holding their ground, as no Kettleer would begin to tally runs until the sixth inning.

And tally they would.

Geoff Strickland led off with a double, with Tony Sipp following with a single. With Strickland on third, Bryan Harris would hit a fly ball to right field, scoring Strickland. Sipp would then Steal third, and would reach home on a Ben Ingold single (Justin Maxwell, the previous batter, had been walked and reached third on the Ingold hit). Nathan Southard would then walk and steal second… and on a 1-0 count, Chase Headley (1-4 in the game) hit a fly ball to the right fielder, scoring Maxwell and advancing Ingold. But, with second and third occupied, Ben Crabtree would ground out, ending the three-run rally.

3-2 Cotuit.

But the score would not stagnate…

Leading off the inning, Whit Robbins hit a single up the third-base line, and advanced o third on a Zak Farrkes double. The Kettleers would then swap pitcher Cody Evans for Michael Koehler, but both Robbins and Farrkes would score. A Chris Gutierrez ground out got Robbins home, while Matt Alling’s only hit of the game would get Farrkes home. Alling would advance to third on an error (E7), and Warner Jones would get to first on another error in a different play (E5). Travis Tully stepped to the plate, and with one out, third and first occupied, things were not looking good… until a Bryan Harris-Ben Crabtree double play ended the inning. The fans cheered and hoped for another Kettleers rally. 3-4 Wareham.

Armed with all the hope a three-run inning and a two-run rebound could give them, the Kettleers managed only one hit in the last three innings of the game, while the Kettleers’ pitching staff also held Wareham to only one hit in the last two innings.

But in the end, the score would stay at 3-4, and thoughts turned back to the first inning. What if that third batter of the game, Adam Rogers, would not have had a hit? What if there had been no first-inning home run?

Ah, but we are left to contemplate this as we leave the ballpark, with hope for a victory still burning.