RIGHT FIELD FOG

On June 19, Cotuit beat Brewster 10-9. Amazingly, that was the only time all summer that the Kettleers reached double digits in runs.

The second time sure was worth the wait.

Playing in a decisive game three on Monday at Y-D, the Kettleers blasted the Red Sox 18-4 to win the series and grab themselves a spot in the Cape League championship. They’ll visit the Braves tonight at 7 p.m. for game one of the all-West finals.

The fact that the Kettleers are there isn’t an enormous shock. Y-D was the league’s best team in the regular season, but they weren’t so dominant that an upset seemed out of the question.

Monday’s result — that is a shock. The league high in runs this season was 15. From a historical perspective, before Monday, the largest margin of victory in a Cape League playoff game this decade was 12. Orleans beat Bourne 13-1 in the 2005 championship. The highest run total was 15 in 2000, when Brewster beat Chatham 15-4 in the semis.

That Cotuit set new high-water marks against this Y-D team is crazy. The Red Sox never allowed double-digit runs in the regular season. Their high was eight. And though they weren’t quite as overpowering as their teams from a few years back, they were very, very good.

But on Monday, they had a very bad day, and Cotuit had a very good one. The Red Sox made five errors, walked nine batters and allowed 14 hits. The Kettleers marched to a 3-0 lead in the first and before long, had a serious cushion. They sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth and scored six runs for a 9-1 lead. Eight batted in the fifth as the Kettleers made it a 14-1 lead.

The individual numbers are gaudy. Cotuit’s middle of the order — Kevin Patterson, Cody Stanley, Cameron Rupp and Kevin Keyes — combined to go 9-for-19 with 12 runs scored and 10 RBI. Rupp and Keyes both hit home runs, as did Tony Plagman. Amazingly, Cotuit scored its 18 runs while also leaving 11 men on base.

While Cotuit’s pitching didn’t need to be great yesterday, it was certainly good. After starter Jeff Walters went 2.1 innings, Craig Fritsch, who pitched for Y-D last year, went 5.1 innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run.

And so Cotuit moves on to the first all-West final since the inception of the East-West format. A day ago, I would have given the edge to the Braves. They’re rested and riding high.

Now I’m not so sure. This Cotuit team is a skeleton crew, but by all accounts, they’ve come together in that special way that only a difficult baseball postseason can create. If they can score 18 runs against the best team in the league — even if it was just an aberration — then anything’s possible.

The Bourne Braves had four hits on Saturday in their playoff opener and trailed for eight innings.

On Sunday, they didn’t trail at all. And they had a lot more than four hits.

Behind a 10-hit attack, the Braves grabbed a spot in the Cape League championship with a sweep-clinching 8-0 victory in Orleans yesterday afternoon. The Braves broke through early and piled on late, as three players delivered multi-hit games — Stefen Romero (Oregon State), Kyle Roller (East Carolina) and Ben Klafczynski (Kent State). Roller hit a home run and drove in three while Pierre LePage (Connecticut) hit his first home run of the summer and scored three runs.

The offense backed a dominant performance by Seth Maness (East Carolina). Coming off a near-perfect game and then a bad start, Maness was a lot closer to the former yesterday. He allowed just two hits and didn’t walk anybody in six shutout innings. He struck out five.

The Braves’ bullpen, which has been dominant at times this season, polished off Maness’ gem with three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, two from Justin Poovey (Florida) and one from Kevin Munson (James Madison).

Orleans had beaten the Braves four times during the regular season and hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any of those games. But the Braves came through when it counted. Roller went 4-for-7 in the series to lead the Braves.

Bourne, with Alex Wimmers still waiting in the wings, will have a day off before the championship series begins. Like Harwich last year — who swept Orleans in the semis — the Braves will await the winner of a rubber game involving Cotuit.

The Kettleers, who made it to the championship last year after winning game three on the heels of a game-two loss, will have to do the same thing this year. Y-D, which lost two games in a row just twice after the first week of the season, certainly wasn’t going to let it happen here. The Red Sox went to Lowell Park yesterday and beat Cotuit 10-5.

If pitching was the story in game one of the series, game two was all about offense, and the Red Sox had a lot of it. After falling behind 1-0, they scored a run in the third and dented the scoreboard at least once in each of the next four innings. They finished with 11 hits and helped the cause by drawing seven walks.

Blake Kelso (Houston), who went 3-for-3 on Saturday, went 3-for-5 yesterday with two runs scored and two RBI. Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) also had three hits and two RBI, while Caleb Ramsey (Houston) had one hit and drove in two.

Austin Ross (LSU) turned in a solid start for the Red Sox, allowing four hits in six innings.

Game Today
Cotuit at Y-D, 3 p.m.

It’ll be Jeff Walters (Georgia) for Cotuit against Y-D’s Greg Peavey (Oregon State). Walters has started just one game for the Kettleers and it came last week against Y-D. He went three innings, allowing two runs on two hits. That game was kind of a staff day for Cotuit, and they may do the same kind of thing today.

For Y-D, Peavey finished the regular season with a 2.75 ERA. In his last start, he allowed one run in 5.1 innings and struck out seven.

The first day of second-round playoff action was dominated by pitching.

At least for 16 innings.

The other two were reserved for offense. Very dramatic — and series-changing — offense.

Cotuit scored three in the ninth to break a scoreless tie and grab a 1-0 lead in its series with Y-D. Bourne’s finish was even more wild, as the Braves scored three in the ninth to erase a 2-0 deficit and win 3-2 over Orleans.

Just like that, with three in the ninth, it’s two in the books.

The Cotuit vs. Y-D game offered the best on-paper playoff pitching match-up we’ve seen in a while. Last year’s successful playoff runs weren’t built on power pitching. I’d go back to 2007, with a match-up like Aaron Crow vs. D.J. Mitchell, to make a comparison with yesterday’s starters, Chris Sale and Chad Bell. Sale was honored as the league’s top pitcher before the game. Bell had a no hitter to his name, the league’s first since 2007.

I wish I had been able to get to this game, because Bell and Sale certainly didn’t disappoint. Bell went eight shutout innings, scattered six hits and struck out five. His defense turned five double-plays, helping those hits stay scattered. Sale was perhaps better, striking out 10 and walking only one in his eight innings.

But Sale came out for the ninth, and that’s when Cotuit finally got to him. Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) led off with a single, Chris Bisson (Kentucky) bunted and reached on an error and Zach Cone (Georgia) delivered a clutch hit to drive in Noel. Another error and a sac fly from Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) plated two insurance runs.

Y-D still had a shot, but on a day when Y-D closer Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) received the league’s reliever of the year award, the likely runner-up for that honor, Cotuit’s Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), slammed the door. Tillman hasn’t allowed a run all year and he worked a perfect ninth to preserve the victory.

Over in Bourne, the pitching was just as strong, particularly from Orleans starter Jorge Reyes (Oregon State). A 17th-round pick this year, Reyes has had an up-and-down career in Corvallis, but early on, he was as clutch a pitcher as any in the country when he led the Beavers to a College World Series title. He’s been very good for the Firebirds this summer, and when it was time for another big game yesterday, he delivered. Reyes took a shutout into the ninth.

But like Sale, Reyes ran into a lineup that wasn’t done swinging. Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) hit a one-out single and Pierre LePage (Connecticut) walked. Things still weren’t that promising, but the hit and walk did chase Reyes and the league MVP was coming up. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) greeted reliever Brett Weibley (Kent State) with an RBI single to left. LePage took third on the hit and Roller moved to second on the throw. LePage then scored on a wild pitch and Roller took third, representing the winning run. After Orleans intentionally walked Rob Segedin (Tulane), they pitched to Stefen Romero (Oregon State). Once an MVP candidate like his teammate Roller, Romero dropped off sharply in the second half of the season. For Bourne to have success in these playoffs, they were going to need Romero to get going.

He delivered this time. Romero hit a fly ball to right and it was deep enough to let Roller tag up and score the winning run.

The victory was Bourne’s first playoff win since 2005, when they made it to the finals before losing to Orleans. It was also Bourne’s first victory over Orleans this year. The Braves were 0-4 against the Firebirds in the regular season.

Games Today
Y-D at Cotuit, 3 p.m.

The probables: Austin Ross for Y-D against Seth Blair for Cotuit. Both pitchers have been good this summer. Ross has a 1.93 ERA; Blair is at 2.75 but has two complete games to his credit. Blair is in his second summer on the Cape. He pitched in the playoffs for Cotuit last year and gave up 10 runs on 13 hits in a championship-series loss to Harwich. You think he remembers that? I bet he does.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Cotuit can scratch and claw its way through this series. Early departures have left the Kettleers with nine position players, and three of them are catchers. One of the three, Cody Stanley, played center field yesterday.

Bourne at Orleans, 4 p.m.

Orleans is going with Jimmy Reyes, who has a 3.40 ERA but good strikeout numbers. The Braves have actually faced him twice this season, with Reyes picking up wins both times. The first line: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 7 K. The second: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K. One piece of good news for the Firebirds: Bourne’s Kyle Roller was hitless against Reyes in those games.

Bourne did not list a probable starter, but I’m thinking either Alex Wimmers or Seth Maness. In his last three starts, Wimmers has allowed one run over 14 innings and has struck out 26. Maness struggled in his last start, but the start before, he narrowly missed a perfect game.

Enjoy the action today.

More than any other sport, baseball is a game of the given day. In the Bigs this year, the Nationals have the league’s worst record. The Dodgers have the best. But if the Nationals beat the Dodgers one day, no one will be surprised. Anything can happen on one day. That’s why they play 162 games. That’s why a playoff series goes five games or seven games. When you’re deciding a champion, you can’t go one-and-done.

The Cape League is doing it, though, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. The next round and the championship will still have a best-of-three format, but today, it’s win or you’re gone.

I’m still not completely sure how I feel about the new system. It seems slightly unfair, but at least this year, it worked out reasonably well. There wasn’t a huge gap. I think Cotuit and Wareham both deserve to be in. To a slightly lesser extent, Chatham could make a case, too. The Anglers were only two points off Wareham’s pace.

And now they’ll get their shot. Today is their given day, and regardless of what we think about it, it’s going to be really exciting.

I guess it’s just a like a game three, without the first two.

I’d love to break it down more — that was the plan — but my internet connection is freaking out. So I will leave you with some predictions.

Wareham beats Cotuit behind a strong start from Cole Green.

Orleans takes care of business against Chatham, getting some big hits from its big guns.

The last night of the regular season went the same way every other night did when Wareham and Bourne got together.

Earlier in the day, Cotuit tied its season finale 1-1 with Brewster. That put the Kettleers ahead of Wareham by two points for second place in the West. If Wareham could beat Bourne, the Gatemen would tie the Kettleers, would win the tiebreaker and would host a first-round game with Cotuit.

But the Gatemen were playing Bourne, and that hasn’t been a good thing for them this season. In five prior meetings between the teams this season, Bourne came out victorious. Every time.

Last night, Wareham led 5-2 going into the eighth. A home game on Friday looked like a strong possibility.

Then things returned to form. Bourne scored three in the eighth and two in the ninth to win 7-5. Stefen Romero (Oregon State), who got off to such a strong start before hitting a serious slump, drove in five of the runs last night, a good sign for a Bourne team that’s been getting a lot of them lately. The Braves will enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.

As for Wareham, the loss of a potential home game isn’t a huge deal, but it could certainly have an impact. The Gatemen went 12-8-2 at home this season. On the road, they were 7-11-4, and only one of those wins — a July 24 victory at Orleans — came against a playoff team. At Cotuit’s Lowell Park, where they’ll play Friday, Wareham went 0-1-2.

More on the playoffs over the next two days.

Elsewhere

Falmouth’s Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) did not hit .400. He took an 0-for-4 last night, which will put his season-ending average at .377. But as Cunningham said in the Cape Cod Times, “It’s not the numbers that you’re putting up – it’s the way you’re approaching the game, playing the game.” He was a roaring success on both counts.

Hyannis came away with a 4-3 victory over Falmouth. Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina), who struggled mightily early in the season, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, raising his final average to .275. Kevin Brandt (East Carolina) and Jimmy Messer (North Carolina) turned in solid pitching performances for the Mets.

Orleans and Chatham are going to be sick of each other pretty soon. Orleans beat Chatham 3-2 for the second straight night, and the teams will play again on Friday in the playoffs. Hampton Tignor (Florida) and Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) drove in runs last night to lead the Firebirds to the win.

Brewster and Cotuit played to a 1-1 tie. While the Kettleers used six pitchers in preparation for the playoffs, the Whitecaps turned in some solid farewell performances. Matt Lujan (San Francisco) allowed just an unearned run in seven innings and Stayton Thomas (Texas) worked three shutout innings. Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia), who hit a slump midway through his time on the Cape, finished strong last night, going 4-for-5. His final numbers are really good: .323, 5 HR, 18 RBI.

Y-D added to its league-best win total with an 8-6 victory over Harwich. The Red Sox finish with one fewer victory than their 2006 team, which won the title. Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) hit two home runs and drove in three runs and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) knocked in two for Y-D. One thing that could be of concern: ace reliever Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) came on in a non-save situation and gave up three earned runs. He had given up one earned run all season before last night. For Harwich, Leon Landry (LSU) went 3-for-4.

No games tonight. Playoffs start Friday.

A day after all the playoff berths were secured, we’re a little closer to knowing what spot everyone’s getting.

Bourne’s magic number for clinching the top seed in the West was one. The Cotuit loss would have been enough, but the Braves took care of their own business, too. They beat Hyannis 7-4.

Not too long ago, Bourne was floundering but the Braves have now won four in a row, and they couldn’t have picked a better time to get hot. Rob Segedin (Tulane) had two hits and two RBI last night and Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) hit a homer as the Braves held off the Mets. Alex Wimmers (Ohio State), presumably prepping for the playoffs, went just three innings. The bullpen had some trouble early but Scott Oberg (UConn), a recent addition who was making his third appearance, tossed 2.2 strong innings. Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) then worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

The way it looks to me, the only things still up for grabs now are the second seed in the West and the fifth overall seed. Cotuit sits one point ahead of Wareham in the West. With a win tonight, Cotuit will get to host its first-round game. With a Cotuit loss and a Wareham win, Wareham will host in the first round.

As for that fifth overall seed, the Chatham people seem to think the Anglers are No. 6 regardless, but I don’t think so. If they beat Orleans tonight and Wareham loses, both Chatham and Wareham will have 44 points. The Anglers hold a 3-1 edge in the season series so they would win the tiebreaker and would be the fifth seed. That would set them up with No. 4 Cotuit. Wareham would then play No. 3 Orleans.

I think that sums it up. Today is officially the last day of the regular season, since Thursday’s make-up between Hyannis and Falmouth was canceled, likely because there are no playoff implications.

Elsewhere

It’s that time of year again, when awards get handed out, but you miss them if you blink. To my knowledge, last night marked the first presentation as Falmouth’s Todd Cunningham was given the batting title and the top pro prospect award. Cunningham went 0-for-3 in Falmouth’s 5-4 win over Wareham, which dropped his average to .388. With one game left, Cunningham would have to go 4-for-4, 4-for-5 or something along those lines to get back to .400. A couple of hits, though, and he’ll finish with the highest batting average the league has seen this decade.

Orleans beat Chatham 5-1, and with another win tonight over the Anglers, the Firebirds would set up a first-round playoff match-up with Chatham. Kevin Muno (San Diego) hit a grand slam last night as Orleans scored all its runs in the seventh inning.

Y-D got four RBI from Steve Chatwood (San Diego) and beat Cotuit 9-8. The Red Sox now have three more wins than anyone else in the league. They’ll finish up tonight at Harwich.

In a game that lost its playoff implications the night before, Brewster beat Harwich 7-2. Steven Maxwell (TCU) picked up the win with seven strong innings. John Barr (Virginia) had two hits and two RBI for the Whitecaps.

What to Watch For Tonight

Wareham hosts Bourne at 7 p.m. Cotuit hosts Brewster at 4:30. Chatham hosts Orleans at 7. The outcome of those three games will determine the final standings.

If you did any playoff math yesterday, you could have figured out some interesting scenarios.

It only took one night for all of them to fly out the window.

Chatham beat Harwich 5-4 and Bourne swept a doubleheader from Brewster 8-1 and 4-2 to bring the playoff picture into focus. Chatham, with 42 points, and Bourne, with 48, have clinched spots. Harwich and Brewster, the only teams that were in position to qualify, have 37 and 36 points with just two games left. They’re out.

I think most of us would agree that this was the most likely result. Harwich and Brewster were there, but with a lot of work to do.

Still, it wasn’t hard to picture an upset story, especially for Harwich. The Mariners beat Chatham on Sunday, a win that brought them within three points of the Anglers. On Monday, the teams got together on the same Whitehouse Field diamond, where a Harwich win would have left the teams one point apart. With two games left for each, it would have been a very interesting finish.

Chatham didn’t let it happen. Jake Thompson (San Diego), who has struggled this summer, delivered exactly the kind of start the Anglers needed. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five. It wasn’t easy from there as the Chatham bullpen allowed two runs to make it a 5-4 game, but Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) came on in the eighth and recorded a five-out save while allowing just one hit. He struck out Harwich slugger Conner Powers (Mississippi State) to end the game.

The Anglers offense was led by Matt Duffy (Vermont), who had a home run, and Dean Green (Oklahoma State), who drove in two.

Over in Bourne, the Braves were on much more solid footing than the Anglers to start the night — they would have had to lose out and Brewster would have had to win out for the Whitecaps to take that spot. But a doubleheader sweep by Brewster certainly would have made the Braves sweat.

Instead, they made themselves comfortable. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and six RBI to power the Braves’ 11-hit attack in game one. Robert Morey (Virginia) allowed one run in five innings for the win, and Justin Poovey pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Ben Klafczynski (Kent State), who had four hits on the night, capped things off with two hits and two RBI in the second game. Michael Dimock (Wake Forest), who had made eight appearances but no starts, got the start this time and struck out eight in five strong innings. Trevor Knight (James Madison) got the save.

So now all that’s left is figuring out the seedings, and that’ll be no small task.

But who knows? Maybe that’ll happen quickly, too.

Elsewhere

The playoff race wasn’t the only one that hit a finish line last night in Bourne. If there was any doubt left that Kyle Roller should win the MVP award, it has to be fading away. Roller finished the crucial doubleheader 4-for-7 with a home run and six RBI. The home run is his tenth, good for the league lead. His 32 RBI are also tops. His .345 average is second. In any other year — when someone else isn’t flirting with .400 — Roller is on Triple Crown pace. As it is, he has still had one of the most productive seasons this league has seen in a while. Assuming he gets the nod, Roller will be not only a deserving MVP, but he’ll go down as one of the more impressive MVPs.

While a lot of shuffling could still happen in the seeding department, one spot was secured last night. With its 3-0 victory over Falmouth, Y-D clinched the top seed in the East and the all-important first-game bye that comes with it. Y-D used four pitchers last night, with Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) getting the start and going three innings. Drew Hayes (Vanderbilt) went four and Chase Dempsay (Houston) went one. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) worked a scoreless ninth for his league-best 12th save. The Red Sox now have 53.

On the .400 watch, Falmouth’s Todd Cunningham went 1-for-2 last night against Y-D, raising his average a point to .396. Falmouth still has three games left. The Cape Cod Times noted yesterday that if Cunningham hits .400, he would be the first since 1990, when Mark Smith of USC batted .408.

Orleans guaranteed itself a second-place finish in the East with a 6-5 extra-innings win over Hyannis. Without that win, Chatham, which plays Orleans in the last two games of the season, could have overtaken the Firebirds with two victories. Now, Orleans is assured of hosting that do-or-die first game. The victory last night came after Orleans fell behind 5-1. Thanks to solid relief work from Matt Hiserman (San Francisco), who kept Hyannis at bay, the stage was set and the Firebird offense scored one in the fourth and three in the eighth to tie the game. Danny Muno (Fresno State) knocked in the winning run in the 11th on a fielder’s choice.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne sends Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) to the hill at Hyannis with a chance to clinch first place in the West. Cotuit could still catch up if the Braves lose their last two.

A few days ago, it looked like Brewster and Falmouth stood the best chance of chasing down Chatham for the sixth and final playoff spot. Now, both those teams are getting backed against the wall, with a playoff spot looking further and further away.

But Chatham isn’t home free yet.

Harwich has won three and tied one in its last five games, but the big one came last night. In a head-to-head battle, Harwich beat Chatham 1-0. A win by the Anglers there would have given them a seven-point cushion. Harwich, with three games left, wouldn’t have been able to catch them. Brewster actually would have been in a better spot.

As it stands now, though, Harwich is right there and with another Harwich-Chatham game scheduled for tonight, the Mariners have a shot to get closer.

Last night, the Mariners won on the strength of their first shutout since July 3, which also came against Chatham. This time, it was Aaron Meade (Missouri State) delivering the gem with five strikeouts and four hits allowed in 7.2 innings. Meade, with his 1.91 ERA, has been Harwich’s best starter this summer, and he certainly delivered when it counted. Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) relieved Meade and worked 1.1 scoreless innings.

The win is all the more impressive because it matched an ace against an ace, with Chatham’s Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State) — the reigning league pitcher of the week — striking out seven in 7.1 innings of work. But Harwich touched him up for a single run in the seventh. Conner Powers (Mississippi State) singled, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a base hit by Stuart Tapley (Florida State). Joe Loftus (Vanderbilt) then delivered a single to plate Powers for the only offense Harwich needed.

Just like that, the Mariners are alive and well.

And making things very interesting.

Elsewhere

I still wouldn’t count Brewster out. The Whitecaps are four points back of Chatham, but yesterday’s 15-5 loss to Y-D certainly doesn’t help the cause. Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) hit two home runs and had six RBI for the Red Sox, who picked up their league-best 25th win of the season. The Red Sox are one victory or one Orleans loss away from clinching the regular-season East title.

Cotuit, Bourne and Wareham all won last night, keeping their nip-and-tuck West race exactly where it was. Cotuit came away with a 7-4 victory over Orleans. Zach Cone (Georgia) had three RBI, Cameron Rupp (Texas) hit a homer and drove in two and Kevin Patterson (Auburn) went 3-for-3 to lead the Kettleers. Patterson is six for his last eight. On the mound, Ben Rowen (Virginia Tech) picked up the win in relief and Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) worked one scoreless inning.

Bourne edged Hyannis 7-6 thanks in large part to a five-run sixth inning. Rob Segedin (Tulane), Stefen Romero (Oregon State) and recent addition B.J. LaRosa (Bucknell) all drove in two runs for the Braves. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) hit his league-best ninth home run. The Braves have one more win but are one point back of Cotuit for first place. The Braves have four games left, while Cotuit and Wareham both have three.

Wareham remained tied with Bourne thanks to a 6-5 victory over Falmouth. The Gatemen trailed late but scored two in the seventh on a double by Rob Kral (College of Charleston), a late addition who’s playing in just his third game. Alex Dickerson also drove in two for the Gatemen, who got an outstanding relief performance by Matt Barnes (Indiana). Barnes struck out eight and allowed one run on one hit in four innings. Barnes was credited with the win and Dean Kiekhefer (Louisville) got the save. For Falmouth, Todd Cunningham went 2-for-5 and is hitting .395.

What to Watch For Tonight

Chatham at Harwich, 7 p.m. Jake Thompson (San Diego), who has struggled this summer, goes for the Anglers against John Gast (Florida State). Gast has a 4.15 ERA.

In a league where parity continues to reign, it becomes difficult to get an accurate picture of what a given team can do.

The Cotuit Kettleers make it more difficult than most.

Maybe we should have known right away. The Kettleers started their season with a loss, a win and a tie in their first three games. Since then, they’ve had stretches where they’ve been anything but streaky — in one 13-game string, they went 6-6-1. At other times, they’ve been as streaky as could be — they lost six in a row at one point before winning six out of seven.

And now, in the same week where they lost a 13-1 game, they’ve won their other four, including two straight against their chief rivals in the West race. With last night’s 6-2 win over Bourne, the Kettleers moved into first place with 43 points, one point ahead of Bourne and Wareham.

The win over Bourne came on the heels of Friday’s 8-2 win over Wareham, and it followed a similar script. After Seth Blair’s seven-inning complete game, Justin Grimm (Georgia) tossed a gem Saturday against the Braves. He allowed just one earned run in 7.1 innings and picked up the win.

If any one player exemplifies Cotuit’s season, it’s Grimm. At times, he’s been lights out; other times, he has struggled mightily. Last night was one of the good ones. Grimm scattered six hits, struck out 10 and didn’t walk anybody.

To stick with the exemplifying, Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), who relieved Grimm last night, perhaps represents all the good Cotuit is capable of. He struck out all five batters he faced in his 1.2 perfect innings. Tillman still hasn’t allowed a run this year.

Grimm and Tillman were backed by a 14-hit attack. It only produced six runs, but that was enough. Cotuit did all its damage against Seth Maness (East Carolina), who narrowly missed a perfect game his last time out. He struck out nine on this night, but amazingly, also allowed 12 hits. Zach Cone (Georgia) and Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) each drove in two, while Kevin Patterson (Auburn) and Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) had three hits apiece. Noel stole two bases.

All in all, an impressive night for the Kettleers. In the end, it may just be another blip — you never know with this team and Cotuit has played two more games than Bourne — but it could also be a sign of something big. Whatever words you use to describe Cotuit, one of them should probably be “dangerous.”

Elsewhere

Chatham may have given away much of its cushion with that losing streak, but when it counts, they’ve been able to keep Brewster at arm’s length. The Anglers beat the Whitecaps 3-0 last night, their second win over Brewster in four days. This one gives them a four-point cushion over the Whitecaps. Coming into the game, I would have given the edge to Brewster, who had Kyle Blair (San Diego) on the mound. Blair minimized the damage that seven walks could have caused, but Chatham scored three runs on a triple by Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) that apparently got lost in the lights. An ensuing error allowed Merrifield to score, and that one play stood as the difference. Patrick Johnson (North Carolina) tossed a gem for the Anglers, striking out seven and allowing three hits in six shutout innings. Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) allowed just one hit in two innings and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) worked around some trouble for a scoreless ninth and his ninth save.

Wareham finally had some doubleheader trouble. The Gatemen had been undefeated in doubleheader games but last night, they tied Orleans 2-2 in game one and lost the second game 6-5. In game one, neither team scored after the second inning, with Cole Green (Texas) and Matt Packer (Virginia) each turning in strong starts. In the second game, Orleans scored two in the top of the seventh to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Jeremy Gould (Duke) knocked in both runs with a double, and Brett Weibley (Kent State) kept the Gatemen off the board in the bottom of the seventh. With the win and tie, and Y-D’s loss, Orleans moved to within three games of the Red Sox for first place in the East.

That Y-D loss came at the hands of Hyannis, who broke out of a two-run hole on the strength of a Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) grand slam in the seventh inning. Cuneo’s blast was his fifth of the year, and he again has grabbed the league lead in RBI. His home run made a winner out of Tyler Wilson (Virginia), who allowed four runs in eight innings. Chris Haney (Dallas Baptist) got the save.

Harwich beat Falmouth 4-2 in game one of a doubleheader and the teams finished the second game in a 2-2 tie. Matthew Price (Virginia Tech) picked up the win and Les Williams (Northeastern) got the save with two strong innings of relief. Levi Michael (North Carolina), Stuart Tapley (Florida State) and Anthony Sosnoskie (Virginia Tech) knocked in one run each. In game two, Harwich got a run in its last at-bat to tie the game. An RBI single by Jeff Vigurs (Bryant) brought home the tying run and sent the game to extras. Rob Gariano (Fairfield) pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Harwich to keep the score where it was. The victory and the tie give Harwich one more point that Falmouth as both teams try to stay alive in the playoff race. For Falmouth, Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 1-for-7 in the two games, dropping his average to .394.

What to Watch For Tonight

Cotuit will try for three in a row with a home game against Orleans. Chad Bell (Walters State) is scheduled to start for the Kettleers against Jimmy Reyes (Elon), who has been one of Orlean’s most consistent starters.

Brewster and Falmouth, the two teams with the best shot at chasing down a playoff spot that they aren’t currently in line for, didn’t get any closer to that spot last night.

But they didn’t get farther away, either.

With Chatham winning, the Anglers held on to a two-point lead over Brewster and a five-point lead over Falmouth for what’s shaping up to be the final playoff spot. Cotuit has moved into a second-place Wareham in the West, and with 41 points, both these teams have a bit of a cushion over Chatham and its chase pack. Harwich, at 32 points, isn’t out of the mix, yet either, but the Mariners lost a heartbreaker to Orleans last night. As for Brewster and Falmouth, they didn’t get closer, but they did what they needed to do to stay on pace.

They also did it in impressive fashion. Both wins came against first-place teams.

Four pitchers combined for a shutout as Brewster beat Y-D 1-0. Caleb Cotham (Vanderbilt) started and allowed four hits in four innings. Stayton Thomas (Texas) went two, Kendal Volz (Baylor) went one, and Tyler Thornburg (Charleston Southern) went two for the save. Brewster made a winner out of Thomas with a single run in the sixth inning. Jarrett Parker (Virginia) singled and came all the way around to score on a single and an error in center field.

In Falmouth, the Commodores blew past Bourne 9-2 in a game that was called in the seventh due to rain. Taylor Wall (Rice) struck out five in five shutout innings and picked up the win. Falmouth touched up Bourne star Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) for six runs in 4.2 innings. Hunter Morris (Auburn) and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) both hit home runs. Morris’ blast was a grand slam that powered a five-run fifth inning. Cunningham went 2-for-4 and, remarkably, raised his average again, up to .407.

Elsewhere

Cotuit rode a seven-inning complete game by Seth Blair (Arizona State) and hit four home runs to notch a crucial 8-2 victory over Wareham. The win move the Kettleers and Gatemen into a second-place tie in the West. Zach Cone (Georgia), Kevin Keyes (Texas), Cameron Rupp (Texas) and Kevin Patterson (Auburn) accounted for the home runs. They backed a strong effort by Blair, who allowed one earned run on four hits in seven innings.

Chatham stayed one step ahead of Brewster with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Hyannis. Chatham trailed 7-4 going into the eighth before scoring two that inning and two more in the ninth to grab the lead. Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings for the win and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) nailed down the save. Tyler Rahmatulla (UCLA) and Joey Terdoslavich (Long Beach State) each drove in two runs to pace the Anglers.

Orleans scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to erase a deficit and beat Harwich 3-2. Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount), who drove in the tying run on Wednesday, came up in the ninth with two in scoring position and two outs. He hit a single to left field that brought both runners home and gave Orleans the victory. Matt Hiserman (San Francisco) got the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.

What to Watch For Tonight

Brewster and Falmouth both have an important day ahead of them. The Whitecaps will visit Chatham at 7 p.m. with a chance to move back into a tie with the Anglers. They’ll have the right guy on the mound, as ace Kyle Blair (San Diego) is set to go against Chatham’s Patrick Johnson (North Carolina). Falmouth won’t have as direct a chance to make up ground, but the Commodores will play a doubleheader in Harwich. Nick Tepesch (Missouri) and Kyle Winkler (TCU) are scheduled to go for Falmouth.