By Sam Blum
June 21, 2014

YARMOUTH – Richard Carthon (Tulane) sunk his head as he walked slowly back to the dugout. His teammates gathered their gloves and hats and took the field as he Carthon put his helmet back.

He had just struck out to end the sixth inning, leaving two runners on in a three-run game.

Despite finishing with 11 hits, the Kettleers continued their-season long struggle with converting with runners in scoring position, losing 9-1 to Yarmouth-Dennis at Red Wilson Field.

In addition to having runners on in nearly every inning that they didn’t score in, the pitching, defense and base running also struggled in Cotuit’s fourth-straight loss.

The Kettleers got runners at first and second in the first two innings. They were never more than a single away from pulling ahead.

On the mound, Jackson McClelland (Pepperdine) had retired the first six Red Sox that he faced. Y-D had been hitting just .212 as a team on the season, and the Kettleers had done everything but score.

In the third inning, the Kettleers left another on base. But in the bottom of the inning, the floodgates opened.

Vincent Jackson launched a two-run home run over the right field wall. The next batter, Andrew Stevenson wasted no time extending the lead, hitting a ball over to a nearly identical spot.

The Kettleers had numerous opportunities to get back in the game.

In the top of the seventh inning Jameson Fisher walked, then Austin Byler (Nevada) singled int the gap to give Cotuit a prime scoring chance. Y-D sent pitcher Doug Wiley to the showers, and momentum had swung back to the Kettleers.

But two groundouts and a strikeout later, and the score was only 4-1. It was the first run in 18 innings for Cotuit.

Three wild pitches led to three runs in the eighth inning for the Red Sox, and a once-respectable game turned into a blowout.

It’s been an issue all season for Cotuit. Half of its losses have seen the Kettleers leave the game’s tying run in the ninth inning in scoring position.

After the game, manager Mike Roberts declined comment along with his team. He gathered the players along the right field line and spoke to them for upwards of 10 minutes.

All season, he’s spoken about polish and execution. On Saturday, his team left much to be desired.