The Cotuit Kettleers won’t be defending their Cape League championship this year.
With a 4-2 loss to Brewster yesterday and Falmouth’s 6-1 win over Hyannis, Cotuit was officially eliminated from playoff contention. Falmouth secured the fourth and final playoff spot from the West.
The Kettleers came into the night one point back of Falmouth with two games to play. Last night’s results have them three points back with one to play.
Falmouth had lost five in a row, but after an off day on Monday, the Commodores came back strong, beating first-place Hyannis — their future playoff opponent — 6-1 in the first game of a doubleheader. The second game was postponed due to rain, but it was mission accomplished for Falmouth.
The first game was tied at 1-1 going into the fifth, when the Commodores broke out for five runs. Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s), Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State), Barrett Barnes (Texas Tech) and Jared King (Kansas State) each knocked in runs.
On the mound for Falmouth, Nathan Thornhill (Texas) struck out five and allowed just run in six innings. Deandre Smelter (Georgia Tech) pitched a scoreless seventh.
As for Cotuit, a win didn’t seem to be in the cards. Brewster finished with 10 hits, led by two each from J.J. Altobelli (Oregon), Taylor Ard (Washington State) and Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook). Cotuit loaded the bases for Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) in the eighth, but Brewster reliever J.T. Chargois (Rice) got Roache to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice. Then with Cotuit hoping to get a rally going in the ninth, the game was called due to lightning.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Game: Seven games on the schedule for the final day of the regular season. Orleans and Chatham will play a split doubleheader, with a 2 p.m. game in Chatham and a 7 p.m. tilt in Orleans. The Firebirds will be trying to clinch the East’s top seed.
Player: Orleans’ Reed Gragnani (Virginia) has had a big hand in the team’s late-season surge. He’s hitting .314 overall and has 11 hits in his last six games.