By Jessica Isner, Staff Writer
July 8, 2007
LOWELL PARK, COTUIT, MA — For once, the bats couldn’t do anything to help the Kettleers, and as a result, they dropped their second straight game, 3-2, to Chatham.
Cotuit’s starting pitcher again had a very short outing. Ryan Strauss lasted just four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts and walks. His opposition came into the game with a 2-1 record and a 5.89 ERA, but before his last outing he had been relatively untouchable. He seemed to have found his good stuff for today’s matchup against Cotuit, as he went seven-plus innings and surrendered only two runs on four hits and had six K’s. He did not allow a hit after the first inning.
Reliever Brian Wilson of Loyola Marymount pitched five shutout innings to keep Cotuit in the game, but the Kettleers just couldn’t close the deal.
“We’ve been coming back in games a lot recently, and the most I can do is put up zeroes to keep us in it and hope [the offense] comes through,” Wilson said after the game. “It just didn’t happen today.”
This time around, it was the A’s who got themselves into trouble in the first frame. After Strauss worked around a one-out single to get through the first inning, birthday boy Josh Harrison got off on the right foot when he shot a hard liner into left field, then stole two consecutive bases to put himself at third with nobody out. Ryne White then grounded to first and somehow beat the first baseman to the bag. Delmonico made Milone pay for it when he lined a two-RBI double into left, with White speeding in from first. Designated Hitter Caleb Joseph then bunted on to make it first and third with nobody out yet again. However, with Reese Havens at bat, Joseph was picked off of first for the first out of the inning. After that, Milone got his act together and struck out Havens then got a groundout to end the inning.
However, Strauss couldn’t sit on the 2-0 advantage for long, as he was victimized by his two walks to lead off the inning when Sean O’Brien lined a single into left to put Chatham on the board. Kevin McElroy then reached on an error by catcher Robert Stock to load the bases with nobody out. Drew Crisp tied the game on a sac fly to deep center, then Addison Johnson grounded into a fielder’s choice and Scott Lyons struck out to end the threat, but not before the damage was done.
Strauss had a 1-2-3 third and then promptly got the first two outs of the fourth before surrendering the lead. McAvoy lined right over the glove of Havens, then Crisp sent a blooper into short center before Johnson lined a double down the right field line to bring home the go-ahead run.
Wilson was out on the mound for the fifth. He walked three, but he didn’t surrender a hit until his fourth inning of relief, a single to right. After issuing a leadoff walk to Kyle Seager, he got a flyout, a strikeout, and a little help from Stock as he caught Seager trying to steal second to end the inning.
The only time Wilson ran into trouble was in the top of the ninth frame, when he allowed a couple of two-out singles to put men on first and third, but he got Zach Putnam to flyout to get out of the inning.
After Milone led off the eighth inning by hitting Aaron Baker, he was finally lifted for Rob Wooten. Caleb Joseph managed a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth against him, and then Havens walked before Jonathan Pigott hit a ball deep to right, which allowed Joseph to move over a base. With men on first and third and two outs, Stock walked to load the bases, and then Ryan Lollis popped out to end the rally.