Cotuit, MA – The Cotuit Kettleers lost a late inning heartbreaker on Saturday night, blowing a one run lead in the eighth and falling to the Brewster Whitecaps 5-3. Cotuit (7-8) did everything it needed to do to win the game in the first seven frames, but a three run homer off the bat of Jake Thompson in the eighth proved to be the downfall of the Kettleers. “Really good teams play well in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, and we did not do that tonight” said Coach Mike Roberts of the team’s late inning defeat. Coach Roberts says that “polish in every area of the game” is what the Kettleers will need in order to get over the hump of being a .500 team.
Moments that mattered:
Cotuit offense wakes up in the fourth
Going into the bottom half of the fourth, the Kettleers were trailing 1-0 and had just one hit. Needing a spark, Cotuit looked to Brooks Baldwin (UNC Wilmington) to get things started. Baldwin did just that, lacing a leadoff double to the left field fence. With Baldwin standing on second, Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runner to third with Andy Garriola (Old Dominion) coming up to the plate. Garriola has had his fair share of clutch hits already in this young season, and added to his total here, belting a two-run homer to give the Ketts the lead. Nathan Martorella (California) kept the rally going by working a walk, bringing up RJ Schreck (Duke). Schreck worked a full count before ripping a double of his own, scoring Martorella and extending the Kettleers lead to 3-1.
Meis goes five strong innings
Justin Meis (Eastern Michigan) turned in another solid start for the Kettleers, throwing five innings and only giving up one run. The Eastern Michigan product only surrendered three hits and struck out five Brewster hitters. Outside of giving up the solo home run in the top of the third, Meis was fantastic today. “Justin did an excellent job” said Coach Roberts. “he gave us a real chance to win.”
Jake Thompson’s big day lifts Brewster
Jake Thompson was a thorn in the side of the Kettleers today, going 2-4 with two home-runs and four RBI. The first homer came in the top of the third, and was the only hard hit ball off of Meis. The second was a three-run shot in the top of the eighth that ended up being the game winner. The Oklahoma State product drove in all but one of Brewster’s runs, and tallied two of their seven hits.
Notables:
Andy Garriola (Old Dominion): 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
RJ Schreck (Duke): 1-3, RBI
Justin Meis (Eastern Michigan): 5 IP, 3H, 1ER, 5K
Up next: The Kettleers will travel to Falmouth to take on the Commodores tomorrow at 6:00 PM. This will be the second matchup of the year between the western division rivals. The first game was a 4-3 Cotuit win on the fourth of July. The Kettleers are currently two points ahead of the Commodores in the western conference standings.