The Cotuit Kettleers stayed hot last night with a 2-1 victory over Wareham.
And their hot streak is really taking them places.
The win was Cotuit’s sixth in a row and, coupled with a Falmouth loss, it moved them into first place in the West. Cotuit is now 14-10. Exactly one week ago, they were 9-10. The streak had just begun. In the last week, Cotuit has put it all together, pitching and hitting — especially hitting — better than it has all season.
Last night marked the fewest runs Cotuit had scored in the streak and the closest game in the streak, but the Kettleers still found a way.
A run in the second and another in the fourth turned out to be enough as three Cotuit pitchers combined to limit Wareham to a run on eight hits. Ace Kevin Ziomek (Vanderbilt) scattered seven hits and allowed one run while striking out five in 5.2 innings. Brandon Bixler (Florida Gulf Coast) went 1.2 scoreless innings before giving way to Ryan Connolly (Coastal Carolina), who slammed the door early. Connolly, who now leads the league in appearances with 12, came on with two men on in the seventh, got out of the jam and then cruised. He pitched the final 2.2 innings without allowing a hit. He struck out two.
Patrick Biondi (Michigan), the league’s leading hitter, went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the offense. He raised his average to .414. Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt) had the other RBI while Mike Ford (Princeton) added two hits.
Wareham’s lone run came on a home run by Daniel Palka (Georgia Tech), his seventh. The Gatemen, who were neck-and-neck with Cotuit in the early part of the season, have headed in the opposite direction, losing five in a row.
Anything you can do . . .
. . . Well not quite better, but pretty close.
After Sean Manaea dominated for Harwich on Thursday, Jeff Hoffman (East Carolina) followed suit last night. The rising sophomore struck out nine and allowed just two hits in seven innings as Hyannis rolled over Brewster 11-0.
Hoffman had solid numbers at ECU this spring. He’s been good on the Cape too but Hyannis had lost each of his first three starts, largely through no fault of his own.
This time Hoffman left no doubt. He walked four but gave up just two singles, both to Ryon Healy (Oregon). He kept everyone else’s bat silent.
And like Manaea the night before, he had plenty of help. Hyannis broke out for double-digit hits again, pounding 16 on their way to the 11-run outburst. Blake Austin (Auburn) hit a home run and drove in four, while Brandon Trinkwon (Cal) went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Trinkwon has had three multi-hit games in a row and is now batting .346.
Dominic Jose (Stanford) and Taylor Zeutenhorst (Iowa) also had three hits while Brett Michael Doran (Stanford) had two RBI.
With the two straight wins — and two straight losses for Bourne — Hyannis is now back in front of the Braves in fourth place by a game.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Cotuit will try to keep its streak going when it visits Brewster at 5 p.m. Kyle Finnegan (Texas State), who had been listed as the probable for last night but didn’t pitch, is the probable starter again. Sam Moll (Memphis), who has struck out 25 in 19.1 innings and went six scoreless in his last start, gets the ball for the Whitecaps.
Unfortunately, I was at the 11-0 game in Hyannis last night, so I really don’t have too much to add. But I will say that Blake Austin’s home run was a big one. With the score tied 0-0 in I believe the third, Hyannis got men on first & third to begin the inning. It looked like they were going to take the lead for sure, but the next batter struck out and the guy after him hit a sharp line drive that was caught by the SS. Now there are two outs and it looks for all the world like Brewster is going to get out of it – and that’s when Austin hit his dinger to put the Hawks up 3-0. Now, I’m very skeptical about the role “momentum” plays in sports, especially in baseball, but that seemed to be a moment that deflated the Whitecaps, who would go on to make 5 errors, and put a charge into Hyannis.