Story By John S. Condakes
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008
BREWSTER — With just four games remaining in the regular season and the Western Division crown and playoff spots hotly contested, the Cotuit Kettleers fell to the host Brewster Whitecaps last night at Stony Brook Field, 12-4.
The Kettleers host first place Falmouth tonight at Lowell Park at 5:00 p.m. in what could arguably be deemed the most important game of the season.
Sparked by a 10-run third inning off of UC Santa Clara starter Nate Garcia, Cotuit fell 12-4 in a game shortened by rain and called due to “darkness.”
The teams exchanged 1-2-3 innings in the first and second until Jeff Schaus got the Kettleers on the scoreboard with a solo home run over the left field fence. The blast was Schaus’s second of the season and put Cotuit up 1-0 but it would be their only lead of the game as Nate Garcia unraveled for ten runs on ten hits in the bottom of the inning. The Whitecaps capped off the inning with a three run bomb over the right field fence by catcher Yasmani Grandal of Miami for a 10-1 lead.
The Kettleers chipped back with one run in the top of the fourth on an RBI groundout by left fielder Jason Kipnis of Arizona State to make the score 10-2. Second baseman Dallas Poulk of NC Stateled off the fifth with a double and first baseman Joey Lewis of Georgia drove him in with an RBI single to make it 10-3. Both Poulk and Lewis were called upon to replace every day players in Matt Holliman (Cumberland), who is done for the rest of the regular season with a pulled hamstring and Kevin Patterson (Auburn) who is suffering from a virus and should return soon. Shortstop Michael Gilmartin drove a pitch to deep left field to score Lewis for Cotuit’s fourth run but 10-4 would be as close as they could come for the rest of the game.
Alex Sogard of NC State relieved Garcia in the bottom of the fifth with runners on first and second with two outs. After having not pitched in a week and half, he worked out of the jam without allowing a run to score. “I was a little rusty out there,” said Sogard. “My stuff was working good, I just left a few balls over the plate.” The score remained the same until the game was halted by rain prior to the top of the sixth.
Sogard gave up runs in the sixth and seventh to make the score 12-4 and prior to the start of the seventh inning the game was called. Center fielder Brett Jackson of Cal Berkeley laid out to rob Brewster right fielder James Meador (San Diego) of a hit and received boisterous cheers from what fans were left of the original small crowd for what would turn out to be the final out of the game. The umpires explained that they were unable to see the ball even though the sun had started to peek through the clouds.