Logan Maitland, RHP from UMass-Dartmouth, appeared on the mound for the Kettleers in their outing to the Vineyard. (Photo by Alysa Rubin)
Clara Richards | Washington University in St. Louis
In their second scrimmage of the season, the Kettleers netted a second victory in another commanding offensive performance. They got on the board early, bringing home four runs in the first inning, and they never relented the lead. The team played eight innings and took a final 16-2 victory before heading back across the Nantucket Sound to prepare for their first Cape Cod League matchup of the summer this weekend.
In the very first at-bat of the game, Victor Scott (West Virginia University) stepped up to the plate and swung to the trees, hitting a triple. An error at third base allowed Scott to sprint back home, and he scored a run as the first at-bat of the ballgame. The momentum continued for the Ketts in the first. An unsettled Sharks pitcher, who walked three runners, plus aggressive base stealing early on in the inning laid the groundwork as Cam Collier (Chipola College) stepped up to bat. He hit a deep ball that sailed over the fence into the lavender outfield of the Shark Tank, bringing in two additional runners for a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
Similar to their previous matchup against the Lexington Blue Sox, the opposition immediately retaliated. LHP Isaiah Coupet (Ohio State) relinquished 3 total hits during his outing, and a blast through centerfield that dropped right in front of the fence brought the Sharks around to home plate in the second inning, narrowing the deficit to three runs.
Yet also mirroring the team’s last matchup, once the bats started to crack for the Kettleers, they didn’t stop. The Ketts went through their entire lineup during the second inning as well, and after a single and a double, a juiced ball sent to right field landed outside the fence for a home run from Graham Pauley (Duke). Pauley’s hit added three runs to bring the score up to 7-2; he also had two singles during the course of the day, serving as the Designated Hitter.
The Kettleers never once relinquished their lead. Although the bats cooled off a bit mid-game, with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, a powerful seventh inning left no doubt of the top-to-bottom threat of Cotuit’s batting order. After two walks and a base hit, the Kettleers facilitated seven more runs in the inning after the Sharks’ pitcher worked himself into a jam, walking two. A timely double from Kade Kern (Ohio State) brought in two runs, and a sacrifice fly allowed more runs to score. The Kettleers closed out the seventh with a fourteen run lead, 16-2, securing the scrimmage win in double digits fashion again.
Head Coach Mike Roberts employed a similar strategy with pitching this game, where he saw seven different players take the mound in a bullpen day outing. Over the past two days, the Kettleers have seen a lot of pitchers come out of the bullpen; Roberts has rotated through the pitching staff, letting them throw three or four outs before calling in the next arm. After getting small previews of the team’s prospective arms, the coaches will be making decisions about starters for opening day. The past two days have shown how many options they have to choose from.
The Kettleers showed their basestealing potential, maximizing all on-base opportunities that they had. (Photo by Alysa Rubin)
Reporter’s Notebook: Takeaways from the game
- The Kettleers have been taking their base-stealing education from head coach Roberts seriously. They stole four bases successfully in the first inning alone, and runners who successfully stole second also stole third base three times. The past two outings have pushed the new players to be more aggressive with their baserunning. It proved too much for the Sharks to control in the early innings, but other Cape league teams have faced Roberts’ style of coaching before and know what to expect, so it will likely be a different
- Joe Williams (Pomona Pitzer) threw the seventh inning, and he pitched with an interesting submarine sidearm that proved to be elusive for the Sharks batters. The bullpen has seen a lot of pitchers over the past two days, but Williams’ pitching stood out for his unique pitching dynamics as well as its effectiveness. After settling in, Williams was untouchable.
- Each new team has a period of adjustment, and this group of summer ball players are no different, with different athletes and different personalities coming together to form a new group. But the trip — which involved cars, buses, ferries, and a side-of-the-road Spaghetti impromptu picnic when the bus broke down on the return trip — was a chance for the team to settle in together. The scrimmage win against a top NECBL team solidified the team’s confidence going into the weekend’s opener. At the same time, the trip to the Vineyard had the added benefit of letting the players get to know each other a little better after meeting each other for the first time just days ago.