Bourne, MA- The Cotuit Kettleers’ season came to an end just one game short of the Championship as they fell to the Bourne Braves by a score of 5-1 on Sunday night. The Kettleers were first on the board but couldn’t recover from a five-run Bourne frame. Cotuit finished the season with a 19-19-1 record.
Moments that mattered:
Free passes doom Kettleers in Bourne’s five-run third
The Kettleers started the scoring in the third inning. Carter Trice (Old Dominion) scored Matt Donlan (UConn) on a double down the left field line. It was the first of two doubles off Trice’s bat. Brendan O’Donnell (UConn) got the starting nod and worked two scoreless innings before being replaced by Michael Ciminiello (Seton Hall). Ciminiello’s first eight pitches went for balls to put two Braves on base. Ciminiello bounced back with a strikeout for the first out, but was replaced by Max Gieg (Boston College) after falling behind 2-0 to Dalton Rushing.
Rushing greeted Gieg with a single through the right-side of the infield, which tied the game at one. A wild pitch gave Bourne their first lead. Hunter Jump singled into left to extend the lead to three. After a strikeout, the Braves plated a pair of two-out runs with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch and an infield single. Cotuit handed out five free passes in the inning. Four of the five runners that scored reached base on a free pass.
Fruit comes up with crucial outs
Gieg settled in over the fourth and fifth innings to calm the Bourne bats. The right-hander worked back-to-back 1-2-3 innings before being replaced by Zach Fruit (Eastern Michigan) in the sixth inning. The first batter he faced reach base on an error, which put a man on second with no outs. The runner moved up to third on a wild pitch. Fruit buckled down to strand the runner there. The Eastern Michigan product induced two straight pop-ups, before striking out Max Anderson for the final out of the inning. In the seventh, he worked around a one-out walk for a scoreless frame.
Jachec keeps Kettleers guessing for seven innings of one-run ball
Matt Jachec got the starting nod for Bourne after holding Cotuit to one run over six innings in the last regular season matchup between the two. Jachec topped his previous outing, this time holding Cotuit to one run over seven innings. Trice produced three hits, while the rest of the lineup combined for one hit off the right-handed pitcher. After Cotuit plated a run in the third, Jachec held the Kettleers to just two hits over the next four innings. He walked just one batter and struck out nine.
“I think Jachec changes speed and keeps the ball down really well. I thought our guys competed extremely well. He just did a really good job and had an outstanding game and I congratulate him,” said Roberts.
Notables:
Trice: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI
O’Donnell: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K, 0 R
Fruit: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 0 R