75 Years of Cotuit Kettleers Memories
by Roy Reiss
2022 will be a very special year for the Cotuit Kettleers as we celebrate the 75th year of baseball on Cape Cod. Many people have contributed over the past 75 years-players, donors, house parents, coaches, volunteers and of course the many fans who have flocked to Lowell Park to watch and cheer for the Kettleers. This is the first in a series as we recall the many memories people have of the Cotuit Kettleers!
As the Rogers family looks forward to another Cotuit Kettleers Summer, it’s fun to look back and reflect on the relationships we have formed with our former “Summer Sons”. As a host Mom, Stacee Rogers, these young men enter our home and quickly become part of our family.
My family consists of my husband Chris Rogers (Former Cotuit Kettleers Alumni 2000) and 3 children, Reaghan (15) and twin brothers Brady and Beckett (13). We all are so excited to meet our new player(s) and help create a fun filled summer they will never forget. These baseball players also create long lasting memories and friendships for our family that we truly enjoy and look forward to each summer.
Stacee, Reaghan, Cory, Sarah, Chris, Beckett, Brady
We have hosted for 3 summers and have had 11 players come to our home. Each of our Summer Sons has been incredible role models for our own children, hardworking and dedicated to their sport, and take every opportunity to enjoy their summer experience. We have truly enjoyed this experience and look forward to Summer 2022 and many more to come.
Our first summer, 2018, we housed Beau Brundage, Cory Wood, and Trey Jacobs. That summer was filled with exciting memories. We celebrated homeruns with favorite deserts, shed tears of excitement when saying goodbye as Beau Brundage signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and quickly left the next morning at 6:00am to head to Florida, and in 2021 had the honor to attend Cory Wood’s wedding.
The second summer, 2019, continue to hold the bar high with Beck Way and Bo Hofstra. That summer we cheered
Reaghan, Brady, Bo Hofstra, Beck Way, Beckett
on pitchers and celebrated every strike out! Not to forget the Championship Team! Wow, what a final win that was! We spent a lot of time with both player’s families who came to visit from out of town and to see a few Cotuit games. Our host family connection goes beyond just our baseball players as we also had the opportunity to build “Summer Sister” relationships too. Beck Way’s little sister, Dara, and his “Summer Sister” Reaghan, became great friends and even share a passion for Gymnastics. In 2020, we again met up with the Way Family at a gymnastics competition in New York City.
After a long COVID 2020 year, we were back at it for the Summer of 2021.
Last summer we had the opportunity to host 6 players throughout the summer and our “Summer Son” relationship doubled in count! We housed Zachary Neto, Jake Plasticak, Aaron Roberts, Shaddon Peavyhouse, Quinn Mathews, and Joey Mancini. As crazy as it was with a lot of players (not all at once), we were thankful for all the relationships we created with our players and their families. We had the excitement to see each of these
Quinn, Shaddon, Chris, Reaghan, Brady, Stacee, Beckett, Zachary