By Matt Feldman
Syracuse University
Cal Becker got the start for Cotuit last night, and was tagged with the loss. Photo by Briggite Rec.
June 14, 2016
Pitching needs to improve for Cotuit
Cotuit has been outscored 26-4 in its first three games of the season. Less the six errors committed by the Kettleers Friday night at Harwich, these past three games have been thrown away by poor pitching. David Gerber struggled in both appearances Sunday and Monday, posting an ERA of 24.00 in two innings of pitching Monday against Bourne. Gerber surrendered five runs, four earned, on five hits.
“The cream always rises to the top,” Roberts said, in reference to the skill levels of players showing.
He went on to say that the Kettleer pitchers need to start missing bats with pitches, and the only way they can do that is to change speeds. According to Roberts, Cal Becker (Sonoma State), who got the start for Cotuit Monday, has been working on his changeup in the bullpen, but hardly used it at all Monday. Roberts said that until Becker and the other pitchers start mixing up speeds, opposing teams are going to hit balls all night.
The bats might be starting to coming around
After starting the season with five hits in two games, the Kettleers strung together nine hits in Monday night’s loss. Ryan Hagan and Greyson Jenista went 2-for-3 and 2-for-4 respectively, with Jenista posting a deep triple to right-center field in the top of the seventh.
“We hit balls hard,” Jenista said. He added that the Kettleers now need to hit balls hard at the right time in order to score runs.
It seemed Monday night that while Cotuit was able to put nine hits on the board, they were either too spread out, or not timely in order to score runs. In one instance, Cotuit was able to put runners on first and third with one out, but a base running error from Josh Shaw (St. Johns) left the Kettleers with a missed opportunity.
A key for the Kettleers moving forward is the combination of strong hitting, mixed with timely hits, in order to puts runs on the board.
Ryan Hagan is a viable option in the middle infield
After two games that saw Cotuit’s infield struggle with errors, Sunday night’s addition of Ryan Hagan (Mercer) added some stability to the Kettleer infield. Hagan made multiple clean plays on ground balls, also turning Cotuit’s first 6-4-3 double play of the season.
Hagan played second base at Mercer this past season, but said he is “comfortable anywhere” he is needed for the Kettleers.
Roberts agreed and said that even though Hagan is used to playing second, he talked to his head coach at Mercer who said that the middle infielder is more than capable at other positions. Hagan might be the stability that Cotuit needs in the middle infield until Jake Fisher (UC Santa Barbara) and Alonzo Jones (Vanderbilt) make is up to the Cape.