By Matt Schneidman
June 27, 2014

Video Recap by Axel Boada HERE

Vince Fiori retired 11 of 13. Photo by Joe Cavanaugh

HYANNIS — In Cotuit’s last two losses, 10 different pitchers combined to allow 22 runs.

After Hyannis loaded the bases against Vince Fiori (South Carolina) with one out in the bottom of the first, it looked as if that trend may continue.

But Fiori escaped unscathed, rebounding for five strong innings of one-run ball, and Trey Wingenter (Auburn) and Jeff Kinley (Michigan State) combined to allow one hit over the last four. Cotuit (7-8) rode those three stellar pitching performances to a much-needed 6-2 win over the Harbor Hawks (9-6) at McKeon Park on Friday night.

“We set it up for hopefully Fiori to go five, Trey and then either Kinley or (Adam) Whitt,” head coach Mike Roberts said. “Tonight was the first night of trying to get into (a rotation).

“I’m really excited about where we’re headed.”

After Fiori loaded the bases with one out in the first, he promptly struck out Ben Deluzio (Florida State) and got Daniel Kihle (Wichita State) to ground out.

Those two outs enabled the Kettleers to prevent themselves from facing another early deficit and allowed Fiori to settle in for the remainder of his outing.

“It definitely helped,” Fiori said of escaping the jam. “I was able to get out of it without allowing any runs. First inning, so it kind of set the tone.”

Fiori retired 11 of the next 13 Hyannis hitters, giving up only one run on a Donnie Dewees (North Florida) RBI infield single in the third. The visitors scored three runs for Fiori, which was plenty for him to work with.

He eventually gave way to Wingenter who, after having a rocky start to the season, has now only allowed one run and one hit in his last three appearances.

The 6-foot, 7-inch right-hander threw 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, only walking one. Not even a flying broken bat in the seventh that was headed right for the mound could phase him, as one pitch in particular was Wingenter’s go-to in a dominant performance on Friday.

“I felt good about especially my changeup,” Wingenter said. “Something I’ve been working on a lot and that’s been what’s really kept a lot of hitters off balance. It just helps everything out if you have your changeup on point.”

Cotuit stretched its lead to 6-1 in the eighth after Logan Taylor (Texas A&M) blasted a solo home run to right, Brendan Hendriks (San Francisco) laced a RBI single to right and Jake Fincher (North Carolina State) successfully laid down a suicide squeeze.

And even though Wingenter was cruising, Roberts stuck to his plan and brought on Kinley with one out in the eighth.

After surrendering a RBI triple that narrowed the lead to four, he settled in and swiftly retired the next four batters to end the game.

For Cotuit, it was a much-need bounceback win after being on the wrong end of two-straight blowouts.

For its head coach, there was a glimpse of things starting to click.

“The guys are beginning to buy in on two or three things that we’re working on every day,” Roberts said. “I was thrilled with some things that went on.”

UP NEXT: Cotuit will play Harwich on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Lowell Park and Hyannis will host Bourne on Saturday at 6 p.m. at McKeon Park.