By Megan Kerr, Asst. Web Editor
July 22, 2005

BREWSTER, MA — Neither starting pitcher was willing to give up much of anything as each allowed only one earned run in the game, but Cotuit was able to pull out the two to one victory in the tenth inning against Brewster in what was their second extra-innings game in a row. Michael Hollander (LSU, 1 RBI) had the hit of the game as his sacrifice fly allowed Devin Thomas (Brown, 1 for 4 batting) to score to give the Kettleers a lead, which they protected in the bottom of the tenth to pick up the victory. Both starting pitchers were amazing, as neither allowed the opposing attack to get any momentum, which created a hotly contested game and a dramatic win for Cotuit.

Clay Dirks (LSU, 6 Ks, 2 BBs) pitched extremely well for the Kettleers, throwing ninety pitches while allowing only one earned run over seven innings, but he was the first to blink as he allowed Brewster to tack on a run in the sixth inning. Matt Oxendine (North Florida, 1 for 5 batting) led off the inning with a single, and then moved to third on the following hit. Ryne Malone (Florida State, 1 RBI) then hit his eleventh RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to score Oxendine and put the Whitecaps up.

With the way that Will Savage (Oklahoma, 4 Ks, 1 BB) was pitching for the Whitecaps, as he had allowed only one hit leading up to the ninth inning, it seemed unlikely that the Kettleers were going to pull off a comeback. Savage though, gave up two hits at the top of the ninth inning, forcing his coach to take him out and replace him with Jonathan Hovis (North Carolina, 1 K, 0 BB), who lost his third game of the season. Sean Gaston (Notre Dame, 1 for 1 batting) pinch hit to lead off the inning and got the attack going with a single, and then Hollander, who pinch ran for Gaston, quickly moved to second off of the single by Shane Jordan (Stetson, 1 for 3 batting). Brad Boyer (Arizona) then failed in his sacrifice bunt attempt as the Whitecaps were able to get Hollander out at third and it appeared that the comeback would be stopped, but Emeel Salem (Alabama, 1 for 4 batting) quickly put those fears to rest with a single. Todd Davison (Delaware, 1 for 4 batting, 1 RBI) then laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Jordan, picking up his fifteenth RBI of the season and tying the game.

After the Whitecaps failed to score to in the bottom of the ninth, the Kettleers used their momentum and went right on the attack in the tenth. Devin Thomas put immediate pressure on Brewster with a single, and then moved over to second as the throw from the second baseman went out of play. Jason Donald (Arizona, 1 for 4 batting) then laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Thomas to third, setting up the stage for Hollander. Hollander hit the ball fairly deep into center field, scoring Thomas, which placed a lot of pressure on the Whitecaps as they now had to score to stay in the game.

This wasn’t going to happen though, as Chris Toneguzzi (Purdue) had an easy tenth inning, picking up his second win of the season and bringing the Kettleers two games above five hundred. Chatam awaits Cotuit tomorrow, and hopefully they will only need nine innings to put the A’s away.