By Will Kraus, Bates College
Photos by Josh Muir, Endicott College
July 30, 2019
What Happened
The Falmouth Commodores defeated the Kettleers 6-4 at Lowell Park on Tuesday night in an abbreviated six and a half innings due to darkness.
Mervis’ Impact
Matt Mervis’ (Duke) bat has really been hot at the plate as of late, and it showed against the
Mervis bats earlier this year at Lowell Park
Commodores.
Mervis mashed a low laser toward right-center that carried, and carried, and carried out of Lowell Park in the bottom of the first inning to put Cotuit up 2-0 early.
The homer left Mervis’ bat at 102 miles per hour and landed 372 feet from the home plate in the right field woods.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the two-run shot was who Mervis was facing. Falmouth’s starter, Franco Aleman (Florida International), came into the game with an outstanding 0.32 ERA in five starts. Aleman had allowed just one run all season but after Mervis’ at-bat that number was tripled.
Mervis is 8-18 (.444) in his last four games with 5 RBI. He went 2-4 in this one and struck out the side in his one inning pitched in the top of the seventh before the game was called.
Anu Goes Deep
Anu rounds the bases after his first homer of the season at Hyannis
The switch-hitting Oraj Anu (Kentucky) yanked one out of the park to right field in the third. The solo home run came off of Aleman as well, traveling 373 feet with an exit velocity of 97 mph.
It was Anu’s sixth homer of the season, putting him just one dinger behind the team’s home run leader, Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State).
In the last ten days Anu is 11-29 (.379), raising his overall batting average from just .194 to .248 down the stretch.
Where the Team Stands and the Road Ahead
It’s looking progressively likely that Cotuit will not host its first round match-up in the playoffs against Wareham.
To catch the Gatemen and earn the second spot in the West Division the Kettleers have to sweep this very tough Falmouth team in a double-header tomorrow and have Wareham lose their final two games.
Beating the Commodores two games in a row is no easy task as Falmouth owns the best record in the Cape League at 26-13-2.
Nevertheless, Cotuit (19-19-4) will travel to Arnie Allen Diamond in Falmouth tomorrow for a double-header that’s first pitch is set for 3 PM.