By Will Kraus, Bates College
Photos by Josh Muir, Endicott College
Video by Jacob Cohen, Boston University
July 29, 2019
WAREHAM, MA – Cotuit’s destiny for the second seed in the West Division seemed to drown in the stone dust of Spillane Field on Monday night as the Kettleers fell 7-2 to the Wareham Gatemen.
Sullivan on the mound at Wareham
The game started off on the right foot for Cotuit as Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State) doubled down the right field line for a stand-up double off of Wareham starter Levi Prater (Oklahoma).
A throwing error by the Gatemen’s shortstop Benjamin Sems (Kansas) on a ground ball by Joey Loperfido (Duke) sailed over first baseman Jacob Teter’s (Florida Southern College) allowing Gonzales to sprint home from second for a 1-0 Kettleers lead.
Cotuit would add to their lead in the third on a Gonzales triple that was smashed into the right
Gonzales stands at third after his triple
field corner, scoring Parker Chavers (Coastal Carolina) all the way from first.
With a 2-0 advantage it looked like it might be the Kettleers night given the way starter Sean Sullivan (California Berkeley) has been slinging the ball.
Sullivan was limited in order to save his arm for the playoffs later this week, but the Golden Bear was stellar through three innings, keeping a dangerous Wareham lineup scoreless while surrendering just one hit. During his outing Sullivan didn’t allow any Gatemen in scoring position.
Sullivan figures to be a major key for this Cotuit club come playoff time as he hasn’t allowed a run in his last sixteen innings pitched, posting a fabulous 1.96 ERA in eight starts this season.
Jones makes his Cotuit debut at Wareham
Nick Jones (Georgia Southern) relieved Sullivan to start the bottom of the fourth and initially looked strong in his Kettleers debut. In his first inning of work Jones struck out three of the four batters he faced.
But in the bottom of the fifth the game began to unravel for Cotuit.
A pair of walks and a triple to left-center by Pete Derkay (Tennessee) to kick the inning off knotted the game at 2.
Three consecutive walks would bring Derkay home and put Wareham up 3-2. Two wild pitches by Jones cost Cotuit two more runs and the Kettleers found themselves trailing 5-2 with no outs and runners on the corners.
Matt Moore (Purdue) came in from the bullpen to try to limit the damage. A sac fly to Mason McWhorter (Georgia Southern) plated Teter from third before Moore got out of the inning with any further damage.
Moore threw two innings without giving up any earned runs, bringing his ERA down to just
Moore earlier this season at Lowell Park
0.67 in nine relief appearances for Cotuit.
Despite Moore limiting Wareham’s bats the Kettleers simply couldn’t muster enough offense to get back into the game.
One of the sloppier plays of the season gave the Gatemen a 7-2 lead in the eighth when Wareham’s Matthew Rudick (San Diego State) stole second.
Catcher Cody Pasic (Maine) threw a ball into center field in an attempt to cut Rudick down. As the ball rolled toward Chavers in center it found its way through his legs, providing Rudick with the opportunity to score all the way from first.
Next Game
Cotuit (19-18-4) hosts the Falmouth Commodores (25-13-2) at Lowell Park on Tuesday. The Kettleers’ final regular season home game is scheduled to start at 5 PM.