By Jon Mettus
July 15, 2015

BREWSTER — Cotuit head coach Mike Roberts is known for his use of small ball. During much of this season, the Kettleers have struggled to show power or get hits and runs. But on Wednesday in a loss to Brewster, Cotuit was able to effectively use bunts. It bunted for hits twice and moved runners into scoring position with bunts, though it only led to one run.

The Kettleers bunted for a hit twice and were able to sacrifice bunt to move runners into scoring position. Photo by Brigitte Rec.

In the third inning, Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) sent a bunt slowly down the third base line in the infield grass. The third baseman eventually got to it, but the throw wasn’t in time as Kendall hustled out the single.

To leadoff the fifth, Saige Jenco (Virginia Tech) bunted a ball toward third base that settled between the catcher, pitcher and third baseman. There wasn’t even a throw on the play as Jenco reached first. Brody Wise (Riverside City College) took two pitches before dropping down a bunt to move Jenco to second.

Jenco eventually made it to third, but was never able to score.

“We’re going to play more small ball, but the thing is even when you play small ball you have to ring a base hit behind it every once in a while,” head coach Mike Roberts said.

After Branden Berry (Cal State Northridge) drew a walk to start the seventh, Jenco was up again. He placed yet another bunt down the third base line that moved Berry to second. Weiss then grounded to the right side of the infield past a diving second baseman and into right field to plate Berry all the way from second for Cotuit’s only run.

“He springs speed and the versatility of swinging the bat as well as bunting,” Roberts said of Jenco.

KLEIN CONTINUES TO BATTLE THROUGH INJURY

Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) hit a line drive into right-center field. Jack Klein (Stanford) charged over and reached out for the ball, but fell to the ground as it rolled to the fence, putting runners on second and third. Klein was slow to get up.

Jack Klein hasn’t let a foot injury stop him from making plays in the outfield. Photo by Brigitte Rec.

The very next batter popped a ball high in the air toward the foul line in shallow right field. Klein slid to the ground as he made the catch, but was able to keep the runner from tagging from third.

Klein has been hindered with a foot injury recently, but he was still able to make plays in the field. He has struggled at the plate since the injury, but is working to get out of the slump.

“I’m sore,” Klein said, adding that he’s feeling about 75 percent. “… It’s a foot so you’re on it all day. It will swell up on you. So I’m trying to balance it out: play as much as I can, but not hurt is out there.”a

In the sixth, Klein covered plenty of ground on a fly ball toward the foul line. He caught it on the run, then took a long path through the bullpen to slow himself down.

Though he went 0-for-4, Klein did line one hard back up the middle that the pitcher caught.

“I don’t know if it’s because I can’t put weight on my foot or I’m jumping at the ball trying to do to much,” Klein said. “I’m going to get in there with Coach Roberts and work it out.”

“Jack was at the ballpark at 7:45 this morning,” Roberts added. “He’ll work his way out of it.”

PAEZ EXTENDS HITTING STREAK TO 12 GAMES

In the top of the fourth inning, Mike Paez (Coastal Carolina) hit a soft line drive into shallow left field. The shortstop raced back into the grass and dove after the ball, but couldn’t come up with it as Paez reached first with a single.

The Miami native only went 1-for-4 and has struggled to manufacture multi-hit games recently, but he also extended his hitting streak to 12 games. His last game without a hit was a June 29 win over Yarmouth-Dennis