story by Steve McCarthy
June 30, 2010

WAREHAM – The Cotuit Kettleers rallied for three runs in the ninth inning Wednesday to break a 5-5 tie with the Wareham Gatemen and earn just their second road win in the first month of the Cape Cod Baseball League season 8-5.

C.J. Cron (Utah) sailed the game-winning RBI double out to the center field fence and Kyle McMillen (1-1, Kent St.) cruised through his third shutout inning of relief to finish the win.

“We’ve lost a lot of close ones, that’s for sure,” Cron said. “To be able to win a tie game in the ninth on the road is huge for us and hopefully we can build off it.”

With the victory, Cotuit (5-10-1) opened up a three point gap ahead of the last place Gatemen (4-11-0) in the Western Division standings. Wareham is enduring a four-game losing streak. The teams will meet again on Friday at Cotuit’s Lowell Park.

“Right now, we’ll take any win we have,” Cron said. “We’re not playing great baseball right now, so we’ll definitely take the win and look forward to Friday to capitalize on it.”

The tie had held since the sixth inning, when Wareham completed a comeback after going down 5-2 early. The Kettleers used a four-run third inning to go ahead and tacked on one more in the fifth after surrendering two runs in the opening frame.

Leadoff hitter Cron sparked Cotuit’s 13-hit attack, going 3-for-5 with two doubles,a run scored, and an RBI, while Levi Hyams (Georgia), Jordan Leyland (UC-Irvine) and Brooks Pinckard (Baylor) had two hits apiece.

Alex Dickerson (Indiana) went 3-for-3 for Wareham with a pair of doubles. George Springer’s (UConn) only hit of the game was an RBI triple to plate the game’s first run. Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana) and Derek Dennis (Michigan) had to hits each.

Both starting pitchers had exited the game by the seventh inning. McMillen allowed one hit over three and two-thirds and struck out three. Wareham left the bases loaded in the sixth inning against McMillen and in the fifth against David Colvin (Pomona-Pitzer). Colvin worked the final two outs of the fifth inning in relief of Cotuit starter Matt Andriese (UC-Riverside).

“You’ve got to be able to score runs late and you’ve got to be able to shut them out late, and that’s what we did tonight,” Pinckard said.

Devin Burke (0-2, Duke) was Wareham’s second of four pitchers on the evening, but was responsible for Cotuit’s final three runs and took the loss. He followed Josh Urban’s (Texas) six inning start for two and one-third. Burke struck out three of the first four batters he faced, but exited in the ninth inning after giving up the game-winning hit and left baserunners on first and second.

Left-handed specialist Jake Davies (Georgia Tech) allowed an RBI double to the only batter he faced in the ninth and Keith Bilodeau (Maine) got the final two outs on a pair of strikeouts. Bilodeau inherited runners on first and second and allowed Pinckard’s RBI single.

The Gatemen tagged Andriese for three hits in the first inning and Springer’s triple and Dickerson’s first double made him pay. Andriese was able to settle in for the next three innings while receiving support from the Kettleers’ offense.

Wareham committed two fielding blunders in the third inning and Cotuit pushed four runs across on swings by Pinckard and Leyland. Cotuit’s fifth run crossed in the fifth inning when Leyland’s bunt down the first base line resulted in a throw into right field by Wareham catcher Chris Walker (Fordham) and allowed Paul Hoilman (East Tennessee St.) to score from second.

Dickerson doubled home a run in the fifth inning and Walker singled him in. The Gatemen tied the game in the following inning on an RBI double by Max Muncy (Baylor).

Andriese allowed four earned runs on eight hits and struck out two in the no-decision. Four of the five runs Cotuit scored off Urban were earned, on nine hits. Cotuit out-hit Wareham 13-11.

The Kettleers have an off day Thursday.