Video recap by Jon Perez
By Jon Mettus
Syracuse University
July 3, 2016
COTUIT — When Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) hit his no-doubt solo home run that disappeared high in the right field trees, his teammates didn’t even celebrate.
Jordan Pearce (Arizona) and Cal Stevenson (Arizona) walked out of the dugout with their hands turned up at their sides. They hadn’t seen what happened.
Clay Fisher cleared the bases in his first at bat. Photo by Joe Cavanaugh
The problem was, they were toying with Clay Fisher (UCSB), who had just cleared the bases with a grand slam to the opposite side of the field in his first game with Cotuit. The Kettleers in the dugout ignored him for a few moments, before finally forming a jumping mob while Jenista sent the first pitch he saw out of the park.
“They gave me the silent treatment,” Fisher said. “I guess my first day here. Something to do so it was fun.”
One day removed from head coach Mike Roberts’ declaration that Cotuit cannot rely on the long ball, the Kettleers (5-15) hit two sets of back-to-back home runs and exploded for nine runs in a 9-4 drubbing of the Falmouth Commodores (10-10) at Lowell Park on Sunday. Cory Voss (Arizona), A.J. Balta (Oregon), Fisher and Jenista all went yard in the game. Three of the Commodores’ runs came in the top of the ninth inning.
Cotuit now has eight home runs in its last four games. The Kettleers hit just three in the 16 games prior.
The Kettleers have won three out of their last four games.
“I was just really happy the wind was blowing out today,” Roberts said, “so that helped us quite a bit. … Some days you get the ball in the air and they got the ball in the air today and it happened to go. It was enjoyable to watch.”
Voss was the first to clear the fence in the bottom of the third inning when he took a pitch low and away to the opposite field. Roberts was giddy at third base, shaking his head toward the dugout and giggling as Voss ran by him.
Two pitches later, Balta did his best imitation of what he just saw. “Get out of here,” a lone fan cried, but the rest were silent as a ball that at first looked like it would be a fly out kept carrying until it disappeared from sight.
By the time Fisher reached the plate for his turn to light up the scoreboard, Falmouth had subbed out starting pitcher Thomas Ponticelli (San Francisco) for John Sparks (Austin Peay State). Sparks, though, walked Pearce and Voss to start the fourth and was pulled in favor of Brett Gilchrist (Dallas Baptist).
Baptist’s 2-0 pitch hung over the plate and Fisher — who didn’t make the roster for USA Baseball a few days ago — lifted it to left-center field.
“A couple of those ball were hit pretty good,” Roberts said.
In just two innings — the fourth and the fifth — the damage was done. Nine runs crossed the plate — the most in game for the Kettleers all season. Seven runs came from the long ball and two scored off an Alonzo Jones Jr. (Vanderbilt) single up the middle.
The last time Cotuit hit four home runs in a game at home was seven years ago. But never did a Kettleers team — which was worst in the league in wins and run differential coming into the game — need an outing like this as bad as this team did.
“I really think we are getting a lot better,” Roberts said. “Now it’s, how are we going to play the next 30 days. That’s really important. We’ve got to play better than anybody else in the league.
“I don’t want to move to tomorrow yet. I want them to enjoy it.”