Stock Home Run Caps Off Huge Fifth Inning Rally
By Jessica Isner, Staff Writer
June 17 , 2007
LOWELL PARK, COTUIT, MA – The 2007 Kettleers continued to show their resilience with another come-from-behind victory, this time a 9-8 home win over Hyannis on Sunday night. The contest was long and ridden with errors on both ends, but Cotuit proved more headstrong and came through with big bats when they needed them.
“It was really a 1-0 game,” said head coach Mike Roberts. “We always talk about playing 1-0 games, and it ended up being 9-8.”
Southern California’s Robert Stock hit a three-run homer in a huge Cotuit fifth inning, his first of the summer.
Shippenburg’s Matt Wright, a self-proclaimed citizen of “Amish country,” started for the Kettleers and had a relatively short lived outing. Over four innings, he allowed two runs, three hits, four walks, and fanned five. His counterpart, Jason Franzblau of Winthrop, had a great game going through four innings but imploded in the fifth, departing after allowing nine hits and seven runs.
In the first inning, Wright walked Hyannis leadoff man Dave Macias, but he put his level-headedness on display when he came back to strike out the next batter, assisted a pickoff of Macias as he tried to steal second, and induced James Darnell into a groundout to end the frame.
Wright saw his pitch count rise a bit in the top of the second, when he worked around a single up the middle by Dan Brewer and a walk to Kiko Vasquez to strike out three.
Ryne White of Purdue managed Cotuit’s first hit of the game, a one out infield single in the bottom of the third. He reached third on an error by Hyannis shortstop Ryan Jackson, but was stranded after Correy Figueroa grounded out and designated hitter Aaron Baker flied out.
The fourth inning brought trouble for Wright and the Kettleers, beginning with the leadoff man, who hit a triple to the wall in right center. He scored on a passed ball by catcher Robert Stock. Wright then walked Brewer, allowed a single to Shea Robin, and he was then able to retire the side, but not before the Mets’ second run scored.
In the bottom of the frame, Cotuit got something going when shortstop Tony Delmonico hit a leadoff single. After Josh Rook flied out to center, Mike Bianucci was hit by a pitch and Ryan Lollis hit an RBI double to bring the Kettleers within a run. Stock grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Pitcher Trey Barhman replaced Wright for the top of the fifth, but the hot-hitting Mets continued right where they left off. Macias reached base for the third time in the game, this time with a single. Barham got a quick out, then walked James Darnell before allowing a single to Petersen, his second hit of the game. Purdue’s Josh Lindblum relieved Barham but allowed an RBI single to Brewer, and both baserunners took another base on a throwing error.. Lindblum got Robin to ground out, escaping further damage.
The Kettleers responded in the bottom of the fifth, sending 13 men to the plate and exploding for eight runs. After Ryne White, Correy Figueroa, and Josh Harrison all singled on base, Baker hit a bloop single to left field, and Delmonico singled for his second hit of the game to bring home the tying run. Jason Rook hit a single to left to put Cotuit up, 4-3, before Mike Bianucci gave the Kettleers a two-run cushion with a fielder’s choice and chased starter Franzblau from the game. Ricardo Pecina took the mound, but couldn’t stop the bleeding he allowed an infield single to Lollis before Stock launched his first Cape League home run into right field to bring home three more runs.
“That home run was the biggest swing of the game,” Roberts said.
“It felt good,” said Stock, the youngest player on the Cape at 17 years old. “My first at-bat was a solid at bat, so on my second one, everything just came to fruition.”
With a 9-3 cushion, White and Figueroa notched their second hits of the inning before Harrison and Baker ended the inning with a groundout and a flyout.
The Mets came back with some magic of their own in the top of the next inning. Lindblom began by walking Vasquez, then allowed a single down the first baseline and a two-RBI double to Phil Bell to make it 9-5. Linblom got a groundout and a strikeout before issuing a wild pitch, which scored another run, and then walking Patrick Long. He was lifted for Oklahoma’s Garrett Richards, who got Darnell to pop out for the third out.
Hyannis manufactured another run in the top of the eight, and another in the top of the ninth. In the eighth, Richards struck out leadoff man Bell, but he reached first base on a passed ball. He moved over to second when Macias grounded out, then stole third and scored when Long grounded out to first. Then, in the ninth, Petersen led off with a double to center field- his third hit of the game- then stole third. After Brewer struck out, Robin brought him home with a sacrifice fly, which brought the Mets within a run. Vasquez kept things alive with a single, but Jackson struck out, sealing the win for Cotuit.
“Garrett Richards really did what we needed,” Roberts said. “I think the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings are key, and he kept us from using another pitcher and really did a good job.”
Cotuit improved to 2-1 on the young season and is in second place in the Western Division behind 3-0 Bourne.