By Ben Gainsboro, Stetson University
Photos by Josh Muir, Endicott College
Video by Josh Rothstein, Boston University
July 8th, 2019
WAREHAM, MA – The Kettleers (12-10-2) last visited Wareham (12-11-1) on June 30th, 2019. The game lasted just one hour and fifty-six minutes, with the Gatemen beating Cotuit by a score of 1-0. There were nine combined hits in that game.
Fast-forward eight days and you have a completely different story.
The Kettleers picked up their second straight victory, besting Wareham 11-5 in a three hour and fifteen-minute slugfest. The two teams combined for sixteen runs on twenty-six hits.
Getting the start for the Kettleers was Chris Farrell (William & Mary), his fourth start of the season. His opposing pitcher was William Fleming (Wake Forest).
Chris Farrell prepares to throw home in Monday’s win over Wareham
The game felt like a home one for the Kettleers as it got under way, with the stands sitting at about even in either Cotuit or Wareham maroon.
Like the Kettleers have done all season long, they struck first in the game, when Casey Schmitt (San Diego State) doubled home Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State) and Coltyn Kessler (Kentucky).
The next batter, Mason McWhorter (Georgia Southern), then brought Schmitt home on a double of his own, making the score 3-0 Cotuit after the first frame.
“It’s always a great feeling when you’re a big part of a win,” McWhorter said postgame. “But there are other guys that just [outplayed] me, Casey Schmitt, Parker (Chavers) had a big home run there, but yes, it was a really good team win tonight.”
The big first baseman had not played since July first, a week ago, vs. Hyannis. He had missed the last seven games due to a stomach illness, an illness which he described as “not being able to eat for five days.”
Seeing McWhorter back, healthy, and swinging the bat gives an already potent Cotuit offense a little more juice.
After a second inning sacrifice fly from Nick Gonzales scored Robbie Martin (Florida State), Cotuit was leading 4-0 until the fourth.
In the fourth, Matt Moore (Purdue) came in for Farrell, who finished the day with one earned run, a strikeout, three walks, and three hits.
Moore inherited a runner at first, a runner that was brought home when Toranosuke Otsuka smashed a triple to center, scoring Benjamin Sems (Kansas). With a runner on third and zero out, however, Moore was able to maneuver his way around both Braiden Ward (Washington) and Darren Baker (California), minimizing the damage to just one run.
“He kept his fingers behind the baseball tonight,” Coach Mike Roberts said postgame. “And when he keeps his fingers behind the baseball, he has pretty good stuff. Tonight, he stayed behind the baseball, and he was very effective.”
Moore kept his ERA practically sub-tropic at 0.89, striking out three Gatemen, allowing just two hits, and walking another two in three innings thrown. He was credited for the win, while the run scored did not go to his stat line since the runner on first was inherited from Farrell.
With Moore keeping the Wareham bats at bay, the rest of the runs scored for the Kettleers in the fifth and sixth were insurance.
This included a Casey Schmitt home run in the fifth, a three-hundred and fifty-eight-foot-long ball to left field. What made the moment even sweeter? His parents had flown in from California the night before to see their son play. Casey’s parents and he posed after the game for pictures under the lights of Spillane Field.
Casey Schmitt prepares for his at-bat against Wareham on Monday night
The aforementioned sixth inning also proved fruitful for the Kettleer bats, as they scored five more in the top half. Gonzales once again got the scoring going first in the inning, bouncing into a fielder’s choice to score Donta Williams (Arizona, pinch runner) from third.
Casey Schmitt then doubled again, bringing home Gonzales and Allbry Major (Xavier) for his fourth and fifth RBI of the game.
Following him was McWhorter, who launched his second double of the game, scoring Kessler and Schmitt. After the sixth, the score was 10-1 in favor of the Kettleers.
In the eighth, not to be outdone by his teammates, Parker Chavers (Coastal Carolina), launched his fourth home run of the season, keeping pace with Schmitt and Gonzales for the team lead in the home run category.
Parker Chavers launches one on Monday night in Cotuit’s 11-5 win over Wareham
Wareham would make a late run in the eighth and ninth, but Richard Brereton (Emory) was able to close the door and preserve the 11-5 Cotuit win.
In the last two games Cotuit has scored nineteen runs on twenty-five hits.
“These guys are very self-motivated, and working on it,” Coach Mike Roberts said about his scorching offense. “But again, when we wake up in the morning, it’s a “we” thing, okay. It’s not an “I” thing.
Coach would continue.
“So, we bounce back and we work at this together. I can’t do anything but congratulate them for their effort, for their work, and for their competitiveness in the ballgame(s).”
After the mini road-trip, Cotuit returns home with a two-game homestand starting Tuesday, July 9th. Cotuit faces off with Bourne (8-14) in that one at Lowell Park, with first pitch set for 5:00 P.M.