By John S. Condakes
JUNE 28, 2008
COTUIT — All good winning streaks, sadly, must come to an end.
The Brewster Whitecaps came to Lowell Park Saturday night (June 28) and handed the Cotuit Kettleers their third loss of the season by a score of 3-2. Seth Blair Arizona State made his first start for Cotuit and pitched seven strong innings yielding three earned runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The Kettleers were without starting centerfielder Brett Jackson (Cal Berkeley) who was out with soreness in his hand so Jason Kipnis of Arizona State took over in center and hit leadoff once again. Blair gave up an RBI single to second baseman Mike Freeman of Clemson (2 for 3, 3 RBI) to put Brewster up 2-0 in the second. The Kettleers’ offense struck back with one run in the bottom of the third when shortstop Robbie Shields (Florida Southern) drove in designated hitter Dan Black (Purdue) with a sacrifice fly to cut the Brewster lead in half.
Freeman struck again with an RBI single in the fifth to put the Whitecaps up 3-1 after five. Brewster pitcher Tim Clubb (Missouri State) continued to stifle the Cotuit bats as he allowed only three baserunners through his final four innings of work en route to his third win. Clubb received some help defensively in the bottom of the eighth as Freeman turned a spectacular double play with a dive to his right ending the Kettleers’ threat with a runner on. Blair exited in the eighth in favor of Daniel Wolford (Cal Berkeley) who retired the side in the eighth and struck out the side in the ninth.
The Kettleers gave the Whitecaps a run for their money in the ninth as second baseman Dallas Poulk of NC State drove in third baseman Jeff Kobernus (Cal Berkeley) with an RBI single with Kobernus and left fielder Mike Bianucci (Auburn) on first and second to make the score 3-2 Brewster. Black worked a walk to load the bases with two outs for pinch hitter Evan Crawford of Indiana. Crawford worked the count to two strikes but was called out on a controversial third strike call by the home plate umpire, much to the dismay of the Cotuit faithful. The loss dropped Cotuit’s record to 8-3 but they remained atop the Western Division and will travel to the Hyannis Mets’ field tomorrow for a showdown for the first of six meetings between the two inter-town rivals for the Cape Cod Times cup at 7 p.m.