by Evan Barber (Living the Dream Blog)
Interview by Andrew Brooks: Alex Keudell
July 24, 2011
CHATHAM – It was a night on the mound to remember for Kettleers pitcher Alex Keudell (Oregon).
Keudell came on in relief for the Kettleers and shut down the bats of the Chatham Anglers. Keudell came on in the 4th with one out, finished the 4th and pitched through the 8th. In his 4 ⅔ innings pitched Keudell didn’t allow a run and gave up just two hits and struck out seven, success that Coach Mike Roberts attributes to an adjustment Keudell made with the coaching staff.
“Well Alex has pitched the last two times out of the stretch only, and I think he has really found a nitch and that is middle relief. It seems to be more suited for his mentality,” said Roberts.
Coming out of the stretch was something that Keudell presented to the coaches. Roberts said that he and his coaching staff agreed with Keudell’s desire for a change because of his talents as a middle reliever.
Keudell combined with Keenan Kish (Florida) and Michael Clevinger (Seminole State) to shut out the Anglers. Kish started the game and went 3 ⅓ innings and gave up just three hits.
“I also want to compliment Keenen Kish on his start because he’s been working on lots of things in the bullpen that two weeks ago weren’t very good and tonight were much better,” said Roberts.
Clevinger came in to close the door in the 9th and looked good getting the Anglers to go down in order. Clevinger ended the game by striking out Alex Calbick (Maine).
Angler’s starter Chris Munnelly (North Carolina) pitched very well. Munnelly went six full and gave up three earned on just two hits. Munnelly struck out four on the night.
The Kettleers struck first in the 5th on a Micah Johnson (Indiana) sacrifice fly to center. The inning began with back-to-back walks drawn by Mike Yastrzemski (Vanderbilt) and Torsten Boss (Michigan State). Stefan Sabol (Oregon) dropped down a sacrifice bunt that tiptoed down the third base line to move the runners over. With one out Johnson stepped to the plate and launched one to deep center to score Yastrzemski from third.
One inning later the Kettleers struck again. Deven Marrero (Arizona State) took a pitch for the team off the hand. Marrero reached second on a wild pitch during Victor Roache’s (Georgia Southern) at bat. With two outs and Marrero still on third Alex Yarbrough (Mississippi) broke the game open with one swing of the bat. Yarbrough liked the first pitch he saw and sent it opposite field to right and it soared over the fence.
“He’s attacking the high fast ball and the ball is carrying a bit. I mean the first three doubles he hit for us came within one foot of going over the fence,” said Roberts of Yarbrough’s late season success.
The Kettleers scored three more runs in the 8th to make the final score 6-0. With the win the Kettleers had a chance to gain on the Falmouth Commodores. The Commodores however came out on top of their game in Bourne 6-3. With seven games left the Kettleers trail the Commodores by five points.
The Kettleers take on the Mariners of Harwich tonight. The Mariners come in at 19-17-1, just one point behind the Eastern division leaders Brewster. The Kettleers record stands at 13-21-3. It’s a 5:00 start at Lowell Park.