Overshadowed by the whole 22-run thing, Cotuit’s pitching was terrific as it stayed alive, then clinched its first-round series against Wareham.
And it was even better in game one of the West finals.
Trey Holland (Sewanee) and Bo Hofstra (Purdue) combined on a shutout as Cotuit beat top-seeded Falmouth 5-0 on Monday night for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
The Kettleers ranked seventh in the league in team ERA in the regular season, but have now allowed a total of three runs over their last three postseason games.
Holland is a rare Cape Leaguer from the Division III ranks and possibly the first player from Sewanee. He made three appearances in the regular season, sandwiching a five shutout inning performance with two shorter, three-runs-allowed stints. The Ketttleers were glad the alternating continued on Monday.
Holland struck out five, walked two and gave up just four hits, all of which were singles. Hofstra followed him to the mound and was lights out, just three days after giving up the tying run to Wareham in the seventh inning of a loss in the playoff opener. This time, Hofstra surrendered two hits and struck out two in three scoreless frames.
Falmouth hadn’t been shut-out since July 14, the day before its 11-game win streak began.
The Cotuit offense took care of business with three runs in the second and single runs in the third and sixth innings. Adam Oviedo (Oral Roberts) drove in two runs, while Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State) and Parker Chavers (Coastal Carolina) knocked in one each.
Harwich 5, Y-D 1
Entering its first-round series, Harwich had two wins over Chatham fresh on its mind. Not so for the East finals matchup with Y-D. Harwich had lost its most recent game with the Red Sox 13-7. But the beat went on for the Mariners, who remained unbeaten in the playoffs with a game-one win. Y-D scored a run in the first inning but wouldn’t score again despite racking up 11 hits. Harwich meanwhile took advantage of five Y-D errors, with four of its five runs going as unearned. After Jared Wetherbee (Elon) allowed one run in two innings for Harwich, Carson Seymour (Kansas State) and Will Heflin (Tennessee) pitched shutout ball the rest of the way. Seymour stranded at least two runners on base in each of his four innings. Heflin allowed two hits in three innings. Y-D starter John Beller (USC) was great, striking out eight in six innings and taking a shutout into the fifth. But two errors in the fifth, plus a sacrifice fly by Hal Hughes (LSU) allowed Harwich to take the lead. Patrick Winkel (UConn) added a home run in the seventh.
What to Watch
Cotuit and Harwich will both be at home with a chance to advance.