Cotuit Pitching Can’t Solve Wareham Lineup Puzzle

By Megan Kerr, Asst. Web Editor
June 24, 2005

COTUIT, MA – A combination of outstanding pitching and great hitting by the Wareham Gatemen ended the Kettleers’ two-game winning streak tonight, as the Gatemen ended up on top, 6-1.

John Lalor (Mississippi State, 6 Ks, 1 BB), whose record now stands at 2-0, pitched 8 2/3 strong innings for the Gateman, making it hard for the Kettleers to get in the game as he kept the Cotuit hitters off-balance. Unfortunately, the Cotuit pitchers couldn’t contain the Gateman attack as they had done the to the offense of the previous two teams.

Jeff Manship (Notre Dame, 5 Ks, 3 ER) picked up his first loss of the season in his five-inning effort because of the constant pressure that the Gatemen offense put on him. Though the Gatemen offense was hot from the very beginning of the game, Manship only allowed two runs to score through the first five innings. This kept Cotuit in the game and they were able to finally put some pressure on Lalor in the bottom of the fourth inning. Three straight singles brought Michael Hollander (LSU, 1 for 4 batting) up to the plate with bases loaded and one out.  Lalor then hurt himself as he hit Hollander and walked in the Kettleers first run of the game. By striking out the next two batters, Lalor was able to contain the damage, but now the Gatemen only lead by one run, giving the Kettleers hope.

This hope was squashed in the sixth inning when Daniel Moskos (Clemson, 3 ER) relieved Manship after he had allowed a lead-off double to Jordan Dodson (Rice, 1 for 5 hitting). The Gatemen then proceeded to score four runs off of six hits in the inning, raising the score to six to one. With the strong pitching of Lalor, the fans were hard-pressed to believe that the Kettleers were going to be able to make up this deficit. Entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the score was still the same and Cotuit had one last shot to pull of a come from behind victory.

After two quick outs it appeared that Lalor was going to breeze through the inning, but Sean Gaston (Notre Dame, 2 for 4 batting) singled to begin the rally.  Hollander followed this with another single, which brought Bryan Harris (LSU, 1 for 2 batting, 2 RBI) up to the plate.  Harris doubled in two runs, which forced the Gatemen to take Lalor out and replace him with Billy Sittig (Stonehill), who picked up his first save of the season. J.P Padron tried to keep the rally going, and though he singled, the inning was over when Harris was thrown out at the plate by the left fielder. By winning this game, the Gatemen increased their lead in the division standings over Cotuit and Cotuit dropped back under five hundred. Hopefully the hitting will improve against Bourne tomorrow, giving the Kettleers the chance to get back to .500 in the standings.