It wasn’t all too surprising when Y-D and Orleans spent a day tied with Harwich for the Cape League’s best record. Those teams have been hot on the Mariners’ heels all summer. You could have seen that tie coming.
This one? Not quite.
Cotuit is comfortably in first place in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Western Division, but in adding to their lead last night with a 16-3 victory over Wareham, the Kettleers matched East leader Harwich for the league’s best record at 21-12.
It’s been quite a run. All season, the West has been a step behind the East, and for a long time, Cotuit was right in the middle of that. The Kettleers fell to 8-10 when they were crushed by Hyannis the day after the Fourth of July.
Since then, they’ve gone 13-2.
The run started with a seven-game winning streak. After two losses in a row, the Kettleers have now won six straight. With the rest of the West still treading water, the surge has put the Kettleers at the top of the division. They lead it by six games, and their record looks more impressive now that it matches Harwich.
Cotuit got the win last night with its highest run total of the season. Though they only had 11 hits, the Kettleers took advantage of eight walks and four Gatemen errors. Daniel Aldrich (College of Charleston) hit two home runs and drove in four, and Aramis Garcia (Florida International) also homered. Jacob Valdez (San Jose State) added two hits and three RBI while Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt) had a triple and three RBI.
On the mound, Adam McCreery (Arizona State) went four scoreless innings before the bullpen continued its steady work. Ryan Connolly (Coastal Carolina) — who has not started a game — picked up his sixth win of the year, going 2.2 innings and allowing one run. Cameron Griffin (Stetson), Joe Broussard (LSU) and Tim Mayza (Millersville) finished off the victory.
Wareham dropped to 15-18 with the loss. On the bright side for the Gatemen, Tyler Horan (Virginia Tech) hit his 10th home run of the year to tie Harwich’s Phillip Ervin for the league lead.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Harwich visits Y-D, who’s two games back of the Mariners for first place. The game is at 5 p.m. A.J. Reed (Kentucky), who’s had some quality starts goes for the Mariners against Ben Lively (Central Florida), who struck out seven in five scoreless innings his last time out.
Also check back later for a little all-star game preview.