The Cotuit Kettleers are the only team in Cape Cod Baseball League’s Western Division with a winning record. On the flip side, the Eastern Division has four teams at .500 or above.
But the last two days, Cotuit has done a pretty good job carrying the torch for the West.
The Kettleers beat East leader Harwich 6-1 on Sunday and dispatched second-place Y-D with an 8-4 victory last night. Cotuit has won four in a row and is now 19-12, just one game off Harwich’s league-leading pace.
While the Kettleers have been hot before — they vaulted into first place with a seven-game winning streak not too long ago — they haven’t had any more impressive wins than these two.
And last night, the Kettleers did it despite a rough start. Brandon Bixler (Florida Gulf Coast) walked six in two-plus innings. Though he got out with only two runs coming in, he was pulled after walking the leadoff man in the third.
Against Y-D’s offense, you don’t want to be going to your bullpen in the third inning, but the Kettleers made it work. Cameron Griffin (Stetson) gave up two runs in 1.1 innings before Ryan Connolly (Coastal Carolina) slammed the door. After pitching an inning the night before, Connolly came on in the fourth, got out of a first-and-third jam and ended up going the last 4.2 innings without allowing a run. He gave up just one hit and struck out five.
The offense delivered as well. Tim Kiene (Maryland), Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt), and Cael Brockmeyer (Cal State Bakersfield) all homered, with Kemp going 3-for-4 and driving in three. Patrick Biondi (Michigan) went 2-for-3 to raise his league-leading batting average to .414, while Daniel Aldrich (College of Charleston) and Adam Nelubowich (Washington State) also had two hits.
On the other side, Justin Shafer (Florida) had two hits and two RBI for Y-D.
For the game, Kettleer pitchers limited the Red Sox to four hits, their lowest total since another loss to Cotuit on July 10. The Kettleers are now 3-0 against the Red Sox.
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What to Watch
Yesterday’s games were all make-ups. We’re back to a full slate of action today. Cotuit will try to stay hot as it hosts Brewster, but it’ll be a tough task with Whitecaps ace Tom Windle (Minnesota) on the mound. The Kettleers will counter with Jordan Smith (Western Carolina), who has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen.