Story by Steve McCarthy
July 5, 2009
COTUIT- The Falmouth Commodores used all of their resources Sunday to jump out to a big lead, and held on for a 14-9 win against the Cotuit Kettleers at Lowell Park in Cotuit.
All nine Falmouth batters crossed the plate at least once, and starting pitcher Nick Tepesch (Missouri) allowed three earned runs through six innings of work despite some long waits in the dugout between innings.
Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville St.) led the offensive charge for the Commodores, going 2-for-5 with four runs scored. Brian Fletcher (Auburn) and Josh Adams (Florida) both went 3-for-5 and each scored a run.
The hit of the night for Falmouth though was a home run in the third inning by Hunter Morris (Auburn) off of Cotuit starting pitcher Justin Grimm (Georgia). The left handed batter sent the solo shot over the top of the first row of trees behind the right-center field fence.
“That ball went a long way,” Cunningham said with a laugh.
The Commodores pushed across four runs in the third and fifth innings and three in the seventh to stake a 14-5 lead through eight innings.
“We’ve been struggling,” Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy said. “We’ve hit some balls hard at times at people, but tonight I thought we had some quality at bats and did some good things. We executed a hit and run, and put the ball in play with two strikes, and obviously Hunter Morris’ ball put a charge I think into everybody. Hitting can be a little bit contagious and I think that got us going.”
Cotuit had a four run rally of their own in the ninth inning when the first four batters scored with help from a throwing error and a lapse in control from Falmouth reliever Cecil Tanner (Georgia). Tanner was then able to record three quick outs to end the game. He was responsible for all five Cotuit runs scored during his two innings of relief. Evan Danielli (Notre Dame) pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Tepesch (1-2) earned his second win of the season, striking out eight Cotuit batters and surrendering eight hits. He also walked one batter. The first of four Cotuit runs scored during Tepesch’s outing was unearned due to the first of Falmouth’s two errors.
“I thought (Tepesch) did a great job getting us back in the dugout within reason each time.” Trundy said. “He maintained some damage control, and didn’t let a big inning happen after we had scored.”
Grimm (0-2) was the losing pitcher, lasting just three and one third innings. He was responsible for six runs of seven that crossed before he exited. He struck out three and walked two.
Cotuit committed four errors to account for two unearned runs early in the game. Relief pitcher Ricky Bowen (Mississippi St.) fared no better than Grimm, as the rest of Falmouth’s scoring occurred during his three and two-thirds of an inning debut appearance. Six of the runs were earned, on four hits. He struck out three and walked six.
“That’s what it’s about is capitalizing on the other team’s errors, and when you do that, then you give yourselves a chance to win,” Cunningham said.
Ben Rowen (Virginia Tech) and Matt Grace (UCLA) each retired the three batters they faced in order to keep the deficit from further increasing.
Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) returned from a wrist injury for Cotuit and hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning. Brian Guinn (Cal-Berkeley) legged out a pinch-hit RBI triple in the eighth.
The Kettleers matched Falmouth’s 14 hits, as Cory Vaughn (San Diego St.), Zach Cone (Georgia), Zack Cox (Arkansas), and Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech) all had multi-hit nights. Cox went 3-for-5 with a double and two singles.
The Kettleers will travel to Brewster Monday for the first time this summer. The game against the Whitecaps is scheduled for 5 p.m.