Cotuit’s Bats Continue to Roll in 9-3 Home Victory Over Hyannis Mets
By Megan Kerr
June 17, 2006
COTUIT, MA — Cotuit again put their bats to good use as they defeated the Hyannis Mets nine to three, but this time they were forced to come from behind as the Mets struck first against starting pitcher Christian Staehely (Princeton, 2 BB, 3 Ks, 7 H). Staehely picked up his first victory by pitching six strong innings for the Kettleers, but his first two innings were a little shaky. Hyannis got on the board right away in the first inning off of Matt Mangini’s (NC State, 2 for 4, 1 RBI) single and then added to their lead in the second inning off of a double by Brian Juhl (Stanford, 1 for 4, 1 RBI). Cotuit bats then went to work and provided Staehely with all the runs that he would need by the fourth inning.
The game was tied in the third inning when the Kettleers were finally able to figure out the pitching of Alex Hale (Richmond, 1 K, 1 H). Jeff Rea (Mississippi St, 3 for 3, 1 RBI) led off the inning with a walk and then moved to third off of an error by the Mets shortstop Ryan Flarherty (Vanderbilt, 0 for 3), which also allowed Tony Thomas (Florida State, 0 for 4) to reach base. Rea then scored off of a sacrifice fly by Kyle Russell (Texas, 0 for 3, 1 RBI), and then, another error on the part of the Mets defense on what should have been the third out of the inning, instead allowed Thomas to score the tying run. With the game tied in the fourth inning, the Mets inserted Josh Collmenter (Central Michigan, 4 BB, 0 K) into the pitchers spot hoping he would be able to quell the Kettleers bats, but he picked up his first loss of the season as he was unable to hold off the Cotuit attack. Cotuit picked up two more runs in the fourth inning and never relinquished the lead.
Staehely created problems for himself in the sixth inning as he allowed three straight singles to start the inning off and to load the bases. He was able to limit the damage though as he only allowed one of the men to score, which occurred off of the fourth straight single that he gave up in the inning to Sean O’Brien (Virginia Tech, 2 for 4, 1 RBI). Stehely stiffened after the run scored as he got the next batter to fly out to shallow left and then forced Milan Dinga (Army, 1 for 3) to ground out to a double play to end the inning. The Mets never threatened the Kettleers again as in the bottom of the sixth Cotuit was able to score three more runs to put the game out of reach for good.
Jay Brown (Young Harris, 1 BB, 2 Ks) pitched three strong innings for the Kettleers, not allowing Hyannis to score a single more run and finishing off Cotuit’s second straight victory. Cotuit now looks to continue their good start to the season as they play their first road game tomorrow night against Falmouth.