By Will Kraus, Bates College
video recap by Jacob Cohen, Boston University
photos by Josh Muir, Endicott College
June 12, 2019
HYANNIS MA – Cotuit beat Hyannis handily on Wednesday, June 12th, winning by a final score of 11-0.
The Kettleers entered the fourth inning with a one run lead. Oraj Anu (Kentucky University) dug into the left side of the box with one out and a 2-2 count. Hyannis’s large, 6-8 right-handed starter, Ben Abram (Oklahoma University) went into his windup and fired a heater toward the plate. Oraj Anu sent Abram’s heater 430 feet over the right field fence at McKeon Park, putting Cotuit up 2-0. The Kettleers never looked back en route to an 11-0 domination of the Harbor Hawks.
Oraj Anu tips his cap after his 430 foot home run.
“It’s early in the year, there’s lots of moving parts for every club. So I’m thankful that we can play well early, play maturely early, so I’m very happy.” Coach Roberts noted after the game as his club improves to 2-1 on the season.
Cotuit pitching shined throughout the night as starting pitcher Sean Sullivan (California Berkeley), Joey Walsh (Boston College), Bo Hofstra (Purdue University), and Richard Brereton (Emory University) combined for nine innings of scoreless baseball. The Kettleers’ pitchers posted an impressive twelve strikeouts allowing just one walk.
Starter Sean Sullivan throws home.
The Kettleers bats burst out as well, totaling thirteen hits that led to the eleven runs that crossed the plate.
However, after the first few innings the game looked like it would be a tight pitcher’s duel as the score was 0-0 after two.
In fact, the teams combined for just one hit, a single, by Cotuit’s Allbry Major (Xavier University) through two innings.
It wasn’t until the top of the third that Cotuit scored their first run when Casey Schmitt (San Diego State University) scored Cameron Hill (Kentucky University) from third on a sac fly to right field, fist pumping as he made his way to the Cotuit dugout.
The Kettleers broke out for four runs in the fourth inning, starting with Oraj Anu’s home run to put Cotuit up 2-0.
Left handed Mason Dodd (Belmont Abbey College) showed off his power, extending Cotuit’s lead to 4-0 with an opposite field home run to left following a double down the right field line by Allbry Major.
Mason Dodd celebrates after his home run with teammate Grant Holman (California Berkeley).
Hill scored from third base later in the inning, scoring Cotuit’s fifth run of the game and his second during Casey Schmitt’s third at bat. Hill took advantage of Hyannis’s failed attempt to keep Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State University) from stealing second.
The long gap between the bottom of the third and the bottom of the fourth didn’t phase Cotuit starter Sean Sullivan. Sullivan continued to cruise by Hyannis hitters with his fourth consecutive one-two-three inning. Sullivan looked stellar in his 4+ innings of work allowing just one hit while striking out six Harbor Hawks, retiring five of the six on his fastball.
Cotuit extended their lead in the top of the fifth with three more runs to provide themselves with an eight run cushion.
Allbry Major bumped Cotuit’s lead to seven with his third hit of the night, allowing Camryn Williams (Texas University Austin) to score from third and Oraj Anu to score from second.
Allbry Major doubles to put Kettleers ahead 7-0.
It was undoubtedly a special moment for Cody Pasic (Maine University Orono) when he got his first at bat for the Kettleers. Pasic, who grew up in Cotuit, recorded an RBI single in his first ever at bat for his hometown team, smashing a ball through the gap between third and second to put Cotuit up 8-0, scoring Major from third.
Cody Pasic stands at first following his first CCBL hit.
Joey Walsh would come in to pitch for the Kettleers in the bottom half of the inning, tossing two scoreless frames and earning the win for Cotuit.
Bo Hofstra kept Hyannis off the board as well with two solid innings in the seventh and eighth innings, retiring six of the seven batters he faced, striking out three.
Bo Hofstra fires to home.
The Kettleers increased their lead to double digits in the eighth when Anu sent a flare into right that brought home Hill and Gonzales.
Pasic made his night even more memorable in the ninth, batting in Dodd from second for Cotuit’s eleventh run of the game with a single on a liner over the outstretched glove of Hyannis’s shortstop Jackson Olson (Hartford University). Pasic finished 2-3 with two runs batted in in his first ever Cape League game.
Kettleers’ reliever Richard Brereton shut the door in the ninth, getting Olson to groundout to the shortstop Camryn Williams, striking out Ian Fair (Northeastern University) looking on a nice curveball, and finally getting Hunter Goodman (Memphis University) to groundout to the third baseman Casey Schmitt who threw over to first baseman Mason Dodd to seal Cotuit’s 11-0 trouncing of the Harbor Hawks.
Cotuit succeeded in all phases of the game in their bounce-back win against Hyannis, showing both resilience and talent early in the season.
The Kettleers (2-1) will play the Brewster Whitecaps (0-2) in Brewster at Stony Brook Field on Friday, June 14th. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 PM.