Produced by Cierra Jordan
Matt McHugh
Northwestern University
July 4, 2017
The Cotuit Kettleers (11-9) rode yet another strong pitching performance to their third straight victory, topping the visiting Falmouth Commodores (11-9) 5-3.
Right-hander Seth Shuman made his third start of the summer, and it was easily his best, going five innings while allowing just one unearned run and striking out four. Shuman’s start marks the fourth straight start of at least five innings for the Cotuit starting staff, the first time that has happened all season.
Starting pitcher Seth Shuman (Georgia Southern) went five innings and allowed just one unearned run.
“I think he changed speeds really well against a Falmouth club that’s a big strong group of guys,” coach Mike Roberts said. “You have to change speeds. They have a very good team. I thought he did a good job pitching both sides of the plate and changing speeds.”
Shuman agreed, saying, “I was kind of mixing things up on the mound a lot. I worked a lot with the scouting report, and I had all three pitches working tonight, on both the inside and outside parts of the plate.”
The Kettleers struggled in their last appearance against the Commodores, losing 6-3 on June 30. Third baseman Alec Bohm (Wichita State) hit two home runs in that game, but was limited to just a pair of singles on Tuesday.
“We kind of worked away a lot, then the second time through the order we started coming inside,” Shuman said. “We also mixed in a lot of off-speed stuff to keep him off balance, so he wouldn’t go yard again.”
On the offensive side, the Kettleers picked up a sacrifice fly from Luke Alexander (Mississippi State) in the fourth inning to get on the scoreboard, and they added two more runs in the sixth on an odd play – the Commodores threw a wild pitch with runners on the corners, allowing Miles Lewis (Michigan) to score easily from third, but an errant throw from catcher Josh Breaux (Mclennan CC) allowed Chandler Avant (Alabama) to score all the way from first.
“You never know what might happen,” Roberts said. “This game will surprise you every pitch. That was kind of a surprise, but it did get us going.”
The Kettleers went with Austin Kitchen (Coastal Carolina) and Clark Cota (UNC-Wilmington) to finish off the game. Kitchen went three innings and allowed just one run to earn his first win of the season.
Overall, the Kettleers are now in a three-way tie with Falmotuth and Bourne for the West division lead.
“I won’t feel good till we get till the end of the season,” Roberts said. “We’ll be back at work working on the details. Falmouth is a very good club, and tomorrow is going to be a different ballgame.”
The Kettleers and Commodores will square off again tomorrow, as they head to Falmouth to finish off the home-and-home series. First pitch is at 6 p.m.