Mike Ford, RHP from Princeton (photo by Mike Buccino)
By Courtney Swift
Kettleers Lead Writer
June 16, 2012
WAREHAM – Cotuit lost their first game of the season 5-1 against the Bourne Braves Saturday. Costly errors led to multiple unearned runs.
Mike Ford (Princeton) got the start for the Kettleers giving up two runs (one earned) in two and a third innings. Ford also walked two and struck out three in his outing. Cotuit was down 2-0 when he left the game. Jeff Thompson (Louisville) picked up the win for Bourne throwing five shut out innings only allowing two hits and striking out two.
Several other Kettleers made their pitching debuts when Ford’s night was over. Brandon Bixler (Florida Gulf Coast) came in for Ford throwing one inning and allowing one unearned run. Jordan Ramsey (UNC Wilmington), Tim Mayza (Millersville Univ. of PA), John-Allen Shepard (Tusculum College), and John Healy (St. Anslem) also saw some time on the mound. Kettleers pitching combined for eight strikeouts on the night.
Despite the effort by relief pitchers, Cotuit committed five errors on the night, and just two of Bourne’s five runs were earned. “The key to this league is pitching and defense and tonight we were not very good in the pitching and defense department overall, and obviously it showed up on the scoreboard,” said Roberts.
In the later innings, Roberts made changes in the field moving players out of their normal positions. “Tonight when we got down I decided, okay lets take a look at some people in some other areas,” Roberts said. “We have not done it in the infield, so we needed to take a look. If you run into injuries you’ve gotta have some versatility, so that was one of the things we were trying to look at.”
One player in a different position was Derek Smith (Univ. Pitt Bradford). He didn’t mind switching roles however, starting at catcher and later moving to third base. “I play wherever the team needs me,” he said. “I’m a utility guy, I can play anywhere. It’s a tough transition from catcher to third because you know there’s a lot of things.”
The Kettleers made some noise in the top of the ninth after Justin Glass (Univ. Cincinnati) and Smith both walked with no outs in the ninth. Adam Nelubowich then grounded out into a double play advancing Glass to third. Tim Kiene (Maryland) would drive in the Kettleers lone run on a 1-1 count with a triple to right.
“You need to have games like this every now and then, to bring you down to earth lets you know what you need to work on,” Smith said. “We’re gonna do what we’ve been doing the first couple of games, we’ll come back tomorrow and hopefully get a win.”
Cotuit is back at Lowell Park tomorrow night against the 2-1 Wareham Gatemen at 5 p.m. Jordan Smith (Western Carolina) is scheduled take the mound for the Kettleers.