The first day of playoff baseball on Cape Cod since 2019 looked a lot like the last one.
The still-reigning champion Cotuit Kettleers stormed to a 15-6 victory over top-seeded Bourne and a 1-0 lead in the West Division finals.
It’s no surprise the Kettleers played well, given how well they’ve been playing lately. The draft hit the Kettleers hard and they hit a slump soon after, losing seven of 10 games in mid-July. They broke out with a 13-2 win over Bourne on July 27, the beginning of a surge to the finish line in which they won six of their final seven games. Their bats were especially hot, with the team rising to the top of the league’s leaderboard in batting average and runs scored.
On the flip side, Friday’s result was a surprise because of how good Bourne has been all summer. While it’s true the Braves have lost some stars and cooled off since their historic start, I wouldn’t count them out. And Cotuit’s one loss in the stretch run? A 13-1 defeat to the Braves.
But for one night at least, it was all Cotuit. The Kettleers offense was at it again, smackign 18 hits and building a 7-0 lead in the first three innings. After Bourne worked back to 7-3, the Kettleers made sure there wouldn’t be more of that Bravo magic with five runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Every player in the starting lineup – and two subs – had at least one hit.
Nathan Martorella (California) went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBI. Scorching hot leadoff hitter Jace Grady (Dallas Baptist) went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI – his sixth consecutive multi-hit game. Matthew Suggs (UNC Wilmington) also homered in a 2-for-3 night.
Cotuit’s now-fearsome 3-4-5 hitters – Ryan Ritter (Kentucky), Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) and Noah Bridges (UNC Wilmington) – all had two hits.
The pitching was good, too, though it didn’t need to be. Quinn Matthews – a late emerging ace for the Kettleers – struck out nine and allowed one earned run in five strong innings. Harrison Cohen (George Washington) pitched the final four innings, allowing two earned and striking out five.
Bourne got three hits from Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech) and two RBI from Max Anderson (Nebraska).
Game two is set for Saturday at 4 p.m., at Lowell Park.
Brewster 2, Harwich 0
Harwich hadn’t lost a game that ace Trey Dombroski (Monmouth) started this summer. Dombroski was good again, but Brewster changed that trend with strong pitching of its own and just enough offense in a 2-0 win. Brain Fitzpatrick (Rutgers) struck out eight and scattered six hits across 4.1 shutout innings. Michael Prosecky (Louisville), who’s been really valuable in a relief role – went 3.2 scoreless frames with four strikeouts, including two in the eighth when Harwich had runners on second and third. Dale Stanavich (Rutgers) pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Harwich threatened several times but left 11 runners on base. Dombroski had a shutout into the fourth, when Brewster got a double from Chris Lanzilli (Wake Forest) and an RBI single by Chad Castillo (California Baptist). Castillo delivered again in the sixth with an RBI single to score Zach Neto (Campbell), who had doubled. Brewster leads the series 1-0 as it shifts to Whitehouse Field Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
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