By Megan Kerr, Asst. Web Editor
July 20, 2005

FALMOUTH, MA — The Kettleers couldn’t keep their two-game winning streak rolling last night, as the last-place Falmouth Commodores turned on the jets to capture a 9-1 victory.

In an odd twist, the loss left Cotuit tied for second place in the Western Division, however, as the Wareham Gatemen also fell, losing to Harwich by one run. Cotuit and Wareham are now tied with 31 points apiece in the standings and the Hyannis Mets, believe it or not, are close behind with 29 points.

After again taking an early lead, it appeared that Cotuit was going to win a rain-shortened game, but as the rain let up in the fifth inning, the Commodores attack grew heated, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Commodores continued to pour it on, and Cotuit was unable to recover from the four runs that Falmouth scored in the fifth inning.

The only bright spot for the Kettleers is that it appears that no one is able to stop Bryan Harris (Cal State Fullerton, 1-3 batting, RBI) as he added another RBI to his already impressive total. In the first inning, with Brad Boyer (Arizona, 1-3) on base with a single, Harris singled to bring in his twenty-second RBI of the season. Cotuit was unable to keep up their good start though as Dallas Buck (Oregon State, 3 Ks, 0 BBs) pitched extremely well in his five innings to pick up his second win of the season.

With the rain falling fairly hard and with the Kettleers in a lead, Cotuit wanted to get through the fifth inning as quick as possible so that the game could be official if it was forced to be called. Jeff Manship (Notre Dame, 4 Ks, 3 BB) was unable to contain the attack though as the Commodores batted around in the fifth. Manship allowed a leadoff double to Brian Bocock (Stetson, 2-4), who then stole third and scored on a wild pitch to tie up the game. Chad Huffman (Texas Christian, 3 for 4 batting, 2 RBI) then singled to drive in the go-ahead run, and Mark Hamilton (Tulane, 1-4, 3 RBI) concluded the scoring with a single to drive in the fourth run of the inning.

The rest of the damage was done in the sixth inning against reliever Tim Ladd (Georgia Tech, 1 K, 3 BBs) as he threw forty-four pitches, allowing five more runs to score. Cotuit was unable to rally at any point against Falmouth, and will now have a day off to rest before facing Wareham away on Thursday.