By Matt Feldman

June 6, 2015

The bats are showing early

The Kettleers put together over twenty hits in twelve innings of baseball Sunday, carrying Cotuit to two victories over the Lexington Blue Sox. This barrage of hits included three home runs, one each from Dayton Dugas (Wichita State), Albee Weiss (Cal-State Northridge) and Aaron Maher (Eastern Tennessee State). Granted, the Blue Sox pitchers, representatives from the Intercity Baseball League, were not at the same caliber the Kettleers will be seeing from Cape League pitchers this season. Regardless, this sudden influx of hitting is a good sign going into the season, and the Cotuit offense will surely look to build on it.

Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) was caught off base twice in Cotuit’s doubleheader Sunday. Photo by Brigitte Rec.

Baserunning was an issue

Though the Cotuit bats were hot Sunday, the team struggled throughout the game with baserunning. In twelve innings, the Kettleers made four baserunning errors, two of which were on behalf of Greyson Jenista (Wichita State). One of Jenista’s mistakes happened on a hard hit grounder to shortstop. Instead of staying at third, Jenista ran home and was caught easily on a throw from shortstop to home. Whether it was a lack of communication between the base coaches and baserunners, or early season jitters on behalf of players, the Kettleers squandered away multiple opportunities Sunday on the base paths.

Shaw is an early threat on base

Josh Shaw (St. Johns) was dangerous on base Sunday, with three stolen bases in the first game of the doubleheader. After a double to centerfield in the first inning, Shaw stole third base, then scored on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the third, Shaw legged out an infield single for his second hit of the game. He then stole second base, and after drawing a pickoff attempt from the Blue Sox pitcher, scampered to third for two quick stolen bases. Shaw is the early team leader in stolen bases (3), and his quick legs look to have him sitting near the top of the Kettleers batting order come Friday’s Cape League opener at Harwich.