By Zach Kaplan
Penn State University
July 5, 2018
COTUIT– It’s no secret what every player’s goal is from a baseball standpoint when they arrive on Cape Cod.
Beau knows…that he is heading to the MLB. Brundage (Portland) officially signed with the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
Namely, to learn from coaches who have been in the game for decades, and to boost their draft profiles and appeal to MLB clubs. For Beau Brundage (Portland), his dream has now been realized as he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday.
“Coach Roberts did a great job working with me, helping to polish everything you do in the game,” said Brundage after the game. “It was the right fit, and they finally were able to come to terms and it was the right way to go.”
Brundage was drafted in the 33rd round by the Rays of the MLB Draft back on June 6. He hit .378 with 24 RBIs this season as a junior at Portland. As of now, he is unsure which team he’ll be assigned to, but he expects to report down early next week. Coach Roberts was happy for Brundage after the game.
“I’m happy for Beau, I think that’s what every player here wants to do. We congratulate Beau and wish him the best of luck with the Rays.”
He hopes to be one of many Kettleers who have found success at the MLB level.
Toglia breaks out of slump with multi-HR game
It was a welcome sight to see Michael Toglia (UCLA) back to his hard-hitting ways. The second-year Kettleer launched both his first and second home runs of the 2018 season on Thursday. The rising junior has been waiting to break out this summer, and he hoped it was a sign of things to come after the game.
Michael Toglia’s (UCLA) bat came alive for two home runs yesterday in a 17-7 loss to Falmouth at Lowell Park.
“All I can say is its a relief. I’ve been putting in extra work and was just waiting for it to pay off,” said Toglia. “It’s a step in the right direction, and hopefully we can get the bats going as a team.”
Toglia bumped his average up .38 points yesterday, and drove in three of the seven runs Cotuit scored on the day. His statistics are a far cry from the numbers he put up at UCLA, where he hit .336 this past season, with 11 home runs and 58 RBI’s.
Coach Roberts is hopeful that Toglia can continue to work towards his numbers from last season.
“He had a marvelous second half for us last season, and the talent is there,” said Roberts. “Today’s the first day we’ve really seen that talent come out.”
Last summer, he hit .240 for the Kettleers with six home runs and 25 RBI’s in 35 games, which are numbers he hopes to continue to work towards as the season continues.
Falmouth hanging a big crooked number
The 17 runs brought home by the Commodores on Thursday is the most Cotuit has allowed since Coach Roberts arrived with the Kettleers. It is also the largest margin of defeat for the team since an 11-0 loss to Wareham on June 30 of last season.
While Cotuit’s bats awoke to score seven runs, they’ll need improved defense and pitching if they want to compete in a stacked West Division this year. The Kettleers will be back at it on Friday as they host the Bourne Braves. First pitch at Lowell Park is set for 5:00 p.m.