By Jessica Isner, Staff Writer
June 29 , 2007
LOWELL PARK, COTUIT, MA — After a feel-good win against Harwich on Thursday night that displayed great starting pitching by Cotuit, the Kettleers couldn’t keep the streak going and fell, 6-2, to defending champion Yarmouth-Dennis at home on Friday night.
Michigan’s Chris Fetter started the day for the Kettleers. He came into the outing having pitched in two games and allowed four runs over 4.1 innings, and though he struggled at the onset, he calmed down to pitch a decent six innings. He let up five runs on six hits with a strikeout. His counterpart, Matt Wickswat of Santa Clara, was very good over six innings. Against him, Cotuit scattered just three hits, two of which came from Tony Delmonico, and got two runs on a homer by Mike Bianucci. That would be the only offense Cotuit would get.
After easily getting the first two outs of the inning, Fetter spotted the Red Sox two runs on a couple of doubles. He began by allowing a single to to Nick Romero, which bit him when Gordon Beckham knocked an RBI double into left field. Beckham then reached third on an error by the third baseman before Fetter allowed another RBI double to the next batter on a ball that was inches away from being a home run. Sean Ochinko drew a walk and would come around to score, allowing with Jason Castro, on another double by Mike Tamsin. By the end of the inning, Fetter allowed four runs on four hits, all with two outs.
“I’ve done a poor job getting [the starting pitchers] comfortable with my philosophy,” said head coach Mike Roberts after the game. “But starting with Wednesday, we have a set rotation, so we should be seeing better results.”
Mike Bianucci came back to pick up his pitcher in the bottom of the inning when he hit a two-out bomb that brought home Delmonico, who had singled on.
The offensive support appeared to work, as Fetter found his form in the top of the second and retired the side on five pitches, then breezed through the third in the same fashion.
The struggles returned for Fetter in the top of the fourth, when leadoff man Ochinko shot a double to center and was driven in when Colin Cowgill avenged for his strikeout in the first with an RBI single. After he hit Johnny Ayers on the ankle and walked Buster Posey, he got a pop-up from Romero to escape from the jam. He got himself back together, though, for the fifth frame, working around an error by Delmonico to get out of the inning safely. Then, in the sixth, he retired the bottom of Y-D’s order on just four pitches.
The Red Sox picked up another run in the top of the eighth, when Ochinko hit a ball to the gap in left that scored Jason Castro.
“I’m really pleased with the team’s effort,” Roberts added. “We’re a lot more cohesive, and we’re improving in every area. It’s extremely important to see us getting better, because that provides us with hope.”