By Jon Mettus
Syracuse University
Aug. 1, 2016
The Kettleers’ playoff hopes are on the line Monday when they travel to McKeon Park to take on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. Hyannis owns a two and a half game lead over Cotuit for the final playoff spot in the West with just three games left in the season.
A Hyannis win will knock Cotuit out of playoff contention. A Cotuit win will put the Kettleers one and a half games behind the Harbor Hawks with two to play. Hyannis would have to not win another game and Cotuit would have to win out for the Kettleers to make the playoffs. A tie on Monday also ends Cotuit’s playoff chances.
Number to Know – 5
Hyannis is currently stuck in a five game losing streak after facing Falmouth, Wareham, Cotuit, Orleans and Harwich over the last week. Each of their last three games have been decided by two or less runs.
The Harbor Hawks have scored no more than one run in any of their last four games..
At The Plate
Hyannis — The Harbor Hawks are hitting .249 as a team — third worst in the league — and is in the bottom half of the league in runs and runs batted in. Dylan Busby (Florida State) is the team’s best hitter, hitting .306 with 26 hits, four home runs and 12 RBI. Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion) follows closely behind at .296 and has 45 hits with four home runs and 20 RBI.
Cotuit — As a team, Cotuit is hitting .215 — just .001 away from the worst mark in the league — has scored the second-least amount of runs and is tied for the least amount of hits. The team’s bright spot has been Quinn Brodey (Stanford), who is hitting .328. Since July 6, he’s hitting .395 with 32 hits, three home runs, 12 RBI and 15 runs. Tim Susnara (Oregon) is second best on the team hitting .273 and with 12 RBI.
On The Mound
Hyannis — Justin Lewis (Kentucky) will get the nod for the Harbor Hawks. He’s a righty that’s thrown 22 1/3 innings so far this summer. He has a 4.43 earned run average in eight games (two starts). He’s struck out 28 batters, walked 10 and allowed 17 hits, but has not received a decision. His last appearance of six innings six days ago was his longest for Hyannis.
Cotuit — The Kettleers will be throwing Jason Bilous (Coastal Carolina). Bilous is also a righty and joined Cotuit late in the year. He’s thrown just 9 2/3 innings with a 7.44 ERA in three starts. His last start was his best. Bilous threw four innings, gave up just two hits and did not let in a run against Bourne. The one before that, though, he let in seven runs — six earned — against Falmouth, including five in the first two innings.
The Series
Cotuit holds a 3-2 series advantage over Hyannis for the year with the final game coming on Monday to decide who gets the Barnstable Patriot Cup.
Game 1 (June 19): Hyannis 5, Cotuit 4
It took Cotuit five pitchers to get through the game and Justin Hooper (UCLA) gave up three runs in his 2 1/3 innings start to get the loss. Hyannis jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the end of the fifth and Cotuit had to claw its way back to within a run.
Game 2 (June 24): Hyannis 2, Cotuit 1
Despite solid outings from starter Keith Rogalla (Creighton) and reliever Cal Becker (Sonoma State), the Kettleers still lost to Hyannis to extend its season-high losing streak to eight games. Rogalla gave up just one earned run in 5 1/3 innings and Becker finished off the game giving up none. Cotuit head coach Mike Roberts called it the best pitching performance of the season at the time, but three errors by the Kettleers helped the Harbor Hawks to victory.
Game 3 (July 6): Cotuit 5, Hyannis 1
Quinn Brodey (Stanford) was the sole force driving the engine that was Cotuit’s offense, as he knocked in all five of the Kettleers’ runs. He hit a two-run single in the fourth inning and then blasted a three-run, no-doubter in the sixth. Rio Gomez (Arizona) gave up one hit and one run in his start. Jared Padgett (Mississippi State) threw a no-hit, three-inning save.
Game 4 (July 10): Cotuit 2, Hyannis 1
Thanks to the efforts of Cal Stevenson (Arizona) and Brodey, Cotuit managed to eke by the Harbor Hawks. Stevenson drove in the game-winning run in top of the eighth inning and then threw out a runner trying to score in the bottom half of the eighth from his spot in center field. Brodey hit a leadoff homer in his first game as the No. 1 hitter.
Game 5 (July 29): Cotuit 3, Hyannis 1
Cotuit scored all three of its runs in the fifth inning to top the Harbor Hawks in a must-win game. A loss would have ended the Kettleers chances at a playoff spot. Colton Hock (Stanford) threw six innings in a shutout start. Roberts said he probably threw as well as anyone in the Cape all summer. Hyannis loaded the bases in the seventh, but Jacob Erickson (San Diego State) entered and got out of the jam.