story by Steve McCarthy
June 26, 2010
COTUIT – University of Arkansas catcher James McCann homered in his second at bat as a Cotuit Kettleer Saturday afternoon, and teammates Paul Hoilman (East Tennessee St.) and Jordan Leyland (UC-Irvine) followed suit, as the Kettleers ended a three-game skid with a 9-2 victory over the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox at Lowell Park.
It was the most run production in a game by a Kettleers lineup stacked with power bats but struggling to produce. Cotuit erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to gap their opponents.
“Long balls obviously can change a game in a hurry,” Cotuit manager Mike Roberts said. “Today, three of them changed it in a hurry.”
Y-D’s loss squelched a five-game winning streak. They fell to 8-4, while Cotuit improved to 3-8-1.
McCann’s fifth-inning solo shot into the trees behind the left field fence broke a 1-1 tie which had held since the second. McCann’s arrival on Cape Cod was delayed due to Arkansas’ appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals. He was activated on Cotuit’s roster Saturday morning and was the starting catcher.
“It felt good to get us on the right track and get us a win,” McCann said. “It felt good to be here and finally be on the field.”
Hoilman, coming off a 25 home run spring at ETSU, sent his first long ball of the summer in the same direction, as the second batter of the sixth inning. Leyland followed two batters later with a two-run blast. C.J. Cron (Utah) added a two-run double and Joey Hainsfurther (Baylor) bunted in a run to complement the scoring in the inning. Hainsfurther also bunted across Cotuit’s first run.
“Hitting is contagious,” McCann said. “We started putting the bat on the ball and all of a sudden everyone started hitting. It was a good team effort.”
Levi Hyams (Georgia) scored on Michael Yastrzemski’s (Vanderbilt) RBI-single in the seventh inning for Cotuit’s ninth run.
A.J. Achter (Michigan St.) tossed four innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. He replaced starter Josh Spence (Arizona St.) after three innings. Achter worked out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the sixth inning.
“Up until tonight, we have really struggled getting out of bases loaded situations,” Roberts said. “Tonight when we did, it did help us, but this is one of the first times this year that we’ve come out of bases loaded situations unscathed.”
Michael Frongello (Davidson) and Kyle McMillen (Kent St.) each worked an inning out of Cotuit’s bullpen. McMillen surrendered Y-D’s second run in the ninth inning.
“It was a big confidence boost for (our bullpen),” McMann said. “We’ve got great arms on our staff, and it went well for them tonight.”
The Red Sox left 14 baserunners stranded, despite compiling 10 hits. Cotuit left just five runners aboard and pounded out 11 hits.
“We just stayed within our approach, and stayed at the middle of the field, and let our hands work for us,” McCann said.
Both defenses played error-free to keep the scoring to a minimum early on.
Y-D starting pitcher Dustin Emmons (UC-Riverside) allowed Cotuit’s first two runs through four-plus innings. Losing pitcher Matt Iannazzo (0-1, Pittsburgh) was touched for four runs in the sixth inning and Ali Simpson finished the game.
Yastrzemski and Brooks Pinckard (Baylor) paced Cotuit with two hits apiece. Cron, Hoilman, Leyland, and Hainsfurther each drove in two runs.
Tyler Hanover (LSU) had three doubles for Y-D. Jordon Ribera (Fresno St.) went 2-for-5 and was the only other Red Sox player with multiple hits.
Cotuit will travel to Harwich on Sunday for a doubleheader, with games starting at 4 and 7 p.m.