By: Nick Solari, Writing Intern, Quinnipiac University
August 8, 2013

Cotuit 5, Falmouth 2.

It’s about how you Finish:

• The team who scored first ended up losing all three of the games in the first round series.
• The Commodores got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when designated hitter Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State) blasted a two-out two-run homerun to deep left. The Kettleers came back, however, and will move on to the Western Division finals beginning tomorrow night.
• Cotuit will take on Bourne, and game one will be played at Lowell Park on Friday.

He’s Back:

• Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco) was back in the Kettleers lineup tonight for Game 3. Zimmer was in right field, and batted second in Mike Roberts’ order.
• He went 1-for-4 with a run scored in the game.
• Zimmer was sidelined for the first two games of the series after shaking up his knee in a collision with shortstop Drew Jackson (Stanford) during the last game of the regular season at Lowell Park.

Defense:

• Hunter Cole made the first defensive gem of the day in the bottom of the second inning. Commodores first baseman Kevin Cron (TCU) lined a ball into the gap in left-center field to lead off the inning, but Cole ranged back and to his right, leaping to make the catch in front of the warning track.
• After the Kettleers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning, starting pitcher Christian Cecilio (San Francisco) gave up two straight base hits to begin the bottom of the inning. After striking out Dylan Davis, Cecilio got Kevin Cron to ground the ball sharply to the right of Logan Ratledge at second base. Ratledge ranged up the middle and got the ball, then made a nice flip on the move to shortstop Drew Jackson (Stanford) at short to start the 4-6-3 double play, keeping the game at 3-2 Kettleers. 

Injury Report:

• Catcher Nolan Clark (Concordia) grounded a ball to third base in his first at-bat, but came up limping short of the bag on his way to first base in the top of the third inning.
• Garrett Stubbs (USC) entered the game in the bottom half of the inning, replacing Clark behind the plate for the duration of the game.
• Clark is listed as day-to-day.

Pitching Excels in the Middle Innings:

• Falmouth starter Craig Schlitter (Bryant) and reliever Brent Strong (Bradley) retired nine straight Kettleers batters from the fourth to the sixth inning.
• On the other side, Cecilio retired eighth straight Falmouth hitters before walking the leadoff man in the seventh and being pulled from the game.

Small Ball:

• The Kettleers laid down three bunt singles, and two sacrifice bunts on the night.

Newcomers Prove Key in Round One:

• Three Kettleers who weren’t even on the roster three weeks ago made a large impact on the series against Falmouth. Austin Byler (Nevada), Wesley Cox (Texas San Antonio), and Garrett Stubbs (USC) all left their mark, and ultimately helped Cotuit move on to the Western Division finals.
• Byler was 5-for-9 in the series, going 3-for-5 with a home run in the Game 2 comeback.
• Cox pitched 4.0 scoreless innings in the three games combined. The 6’4” righty got the win in game two, coming in and throwing a scoreless tenth inning. In game three Cox came in for Cecilio and threw the final three innings, working through the heart of the powerful Falmouth order and preserving the lead.
• Stubbs was 3-for-5 in the series with two RBI’s. The catcher had the game-winning walk off hit in the tenth inning on Wednesday, the first walk-off for the Kettleers all season long.