by Andrew Brooks (Living the Dream Blog)
Interviews by Andrew Brooks : Victor Roache, Coach Farris, Coach Roberts
July 13, 2011
COTUIT – Baseball is best when it’s in the bottom of the ninth, runners on, and the game on the line. The crowd is on their feet, the players are locked in, and the emotions of everyone involved hang in the balance with every pitch thrown.
Well, Cotuit orchestrated a slight remix of that scene on Wednesday afternoon when an ordinary fifth inning morphed into bottom of the ninth dramatics due to a swift moving thunderstorm.Cotuit had a four run final frame that ended with the skies opening up. With runners on the corners, two outs, and four runs already scored in the inning, Krey Brasten (Texas A&M) worked a full count in the pouring rain only to ground out to third and end the quasi game giving the Wareham Gatemen a 6-5 victory over Cotuit.The attempted comeback was sparked by a Max Muncy (Baylor) error at first base that gave Cotuit’s Logan Vick (Baylor) life at first base. Wareham starter Bobby Brosnahan (Michigan) then gave up a quintessential blooper to Stefan Sabol (Oregon) putting runners on first and second nobody out. After a Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) strike out, Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss) flared a hit past the shortstop Mott Hyde (Georgia Tech) for what was the first of four consecutive singles by the Kettleers.Wareham subbed Daniel Feehan (Uconn) into the game to try and salvage the inning. With the bases loaded, Cotuit’s dream scenario started to fall into place. Current Cape League RBI and batting average leader Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) came to the plate with the bases juiced. He delivered with his 23rd and 24th RBI’s of the year cutting the deficit to three. Deven Marrero (Arizona State) proceeded to pick a great time to have his first hit of the year, singling in-between first and second scoring Yarbrough. Jordan Leyland (UC Irvine) kept the singles party going by chopping one directly up the middle of the infield scoring Roache and bringing the Kettleers within one run of the Gatemen.Just as things were looking bright for Cotuit, a dark ominous cloud began to hover over Lowell Park, and the drops began to violently splash everywhere.Michael Yastrzemski (Vanderbilt) proceeded to strike out, bringing Bratsen to the plate with two outs. The opportunity was not seized.“You’re always pleased when you come back,” mused manager Mike Roberts. “But somehow you’ve got to get over that hump, and up to this point we haven’t been able to find that way.”Wareham did most of their damage in the top half of the fifth inning with two outs. With no one on and two Gatemen retired, Mott Hyde turned an RJ Fondon (FIU) fastball into a double. CT Bradford (Mississippi State) then poked one into shallow right center giving Brasten the opportunity to throw Hyde out at home. Unfortunately, the throw sailed over the plate, and Hyde was home safely making the score 3-1.Wareham’s John Andreoli (Uconn) and Max Muncy had two more hits and RBI’s off of Fondon before he was pulled for Keenan Kish (Florida). Johnny Field (Arizona) put one past the diving Logan Vick at third to score Rob Refsndyer (Arizona) who was intentionally walked for the fourth Wareham run of the inning.
“A typical Wareham Cotuit game,” exclaimed Wareham manager Cooper Farris. “They did that to us last time we were here. Coming back to beat us like that. I was just glad we got out of that inning.”
Victor Roache has confidence that despite two consectutive atypical losses, the team will continue to play good baseball.
“We can’t let this loss or the loss from the other night get us down. We’re still playing good baseball. We’re still pitching well, hitting the ball, and playing good defense. So we just have to forget about this one and get ready for Hyannis tomorrow night.”
Pending the field conditions at Hyannis, Cotuit (10-15-2) will travel to McKeon Park to play the Harbor Hawks tomorrow night at 7 o’clock.