Cotuit, MA- On a picture perfect Cape Cod afternoon, Barnstable’s two CCBL teams battled for the Patriot cup in front of a packed crowd at Lowell Park. At the end of the day, it was Cotuit who came out with the 2-1 win. The Kettleers used opportunistic base-running and incredibly strong pitching to outlast a Hyannis team that put up 15 runs in the matchup on Monday.
“It’s a friendly rivalry, but we still like to win it” said Kettleers General Manager Bruce Murphy with the Patriot Cup in his hand. With today’s win, the cup will remain in Cotuit for the fifth straight season, and for the 12th time total in the series.
Moments that mattered:
Cotuit snatches lead in the bottom of the first
After giving up a run in the top of the game’s first frame, the Kettleers immediately responded by scoring two of their own to take a 2-1 lead. With two outs and Carter Trice (Old Dominion) on third, last night’s player of the game Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) stayed hot and drove in Trice on a single to center. Brown would do the rest himself – stealing second, and advancing to third and eventually scoring on a series of wild pitches. Brown has been active on the base-paths all year, and his aggressiveness paid off for Cotuit in the first, allowing them to take the lead.
Gieg’s strong outing
Max Gieg (Boston College) tossed three innings for Cotuit on Wednesday. The BC Eagle entered the game in the third and was incredibly effective, scattering three hits and walking just one. Gieg’s strikeout numbers were not there, but he induced a lot of weak contact and commanded the zone well to manage the middle innings for the Kettleers. Gieg has been impressive out of the pen all year for Cotuit, allowing just three earned runs in 14.1 innings of work.
Maitland and Jacobsen close the door
Logan Maitland (UMass-Dartmouth) and Will Jacobsen (Harvard) combined to throw the final three innings of the game for Cotuit. The two relievers were able to preserve a one-run lead, and work through some high-pressure situations to seal the deal for the Kettleers. “Hyannis has hit the ball really well lately, so I am extremely pleased with our pitching today” said Coach Roberts. In total, the Kettleers bullpen threw 8.1 innings and allowed zero runs.
Notables:
Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina): 1-4, RBI
Max Gieg (Boston College): 3.0 IP, 1K, 0 ER
Logan Maitland (UMass-Dartmouth): 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 K
Will Jacobsen (Harvard): 1.2 IP, 1K, save
Up next:
The Kettleers are off tomorrow, but return to Lowell Park on Friday to take on the Wareham Gatemen at 4:30 PM. The two teams last played on Sunday in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie. Both squads are chasing Falmouth for the West division’s second playoff spot as we enter the last week of the season. Quinn Matthews (Stanford) will get the start for the Kettleers on Friday. The lefty from Stanford will look to give the Kettleers some length as the bullpen will be recovering from today’s game.