5 Kettleers Selected as West Division All-Stars
By: Shane Petagna (The University of Tampa)
When the West Division meets the East at Whitehouse Field in Harwich on Saturday, there will be plenty of representation from the Cotuit Kettleers in the All-Star Game.
Five Ketts are on the West Division roster, three of whom are starters. Left-handed pitcher Cam Hill (Georgia Tech), first baseman Cole Mathis (College of Charleston), and centerfielder Carter Mathison (Indiana) will find themselves on the lineup card. Right-handed pitcher Jake Gigliotti (Northeastern) and catcher Caleb Lomavita (Cal) round out the selections, with the Golden Bears backstop earning his second career All-Star appearance.
“It was expected for myself,” said Lomavita. “I already set my expectations pretty high for myself and this is just icing on the cake from just being invited back to the Cape.”
Hill will be the starting pitcher for the West Division, a well-deserving honor. The 6-foot-6 southpaw is far and away the best pitcher in the CCBL this season with a minuscule 0.37 ERA. Hill leads the league with 34 strikeouts too as he’s completely dominated opposing batters all season long.
“It means to me that the voters think I'm one of the best of the best,” Hill said. “And it's an honor to be able to be held to that standard and then I’ll have to go out and prove them right.”
Mathis was another no-brainer, as the two-way player has provided consistent pop with his bat at the top of the Cotuit order. His six long balls on the season lead the team and are second in the league behind East Division starter Hunter Hines (Mississippi St.). Mathis’ game doesn’t solely rely on power, as he’s slashing .323/.403/.662 for a 1.065 OPS.
Mathison will man center field as his success in Cape Cod continues. After a somewhat slow start, the Hoosier heated up with a nine-game hit streak from June 25 to July 7 and now sits at a .358 batting average and .521 on-base percentage.
Gigliotti is a veteran pitcher entering his redshirt senior season at Northeastern. In his second summer on the Cape, the Auburn, Mass. native has taken big strides as a key member of the Kettleers rotation. In all four of his starts, Gigliotti allowed one run or fewer and turned in scoreless outings in two of them. The Husky currently sits at a 3.20 ERA on the season.
Last but not least, Lomavita has been even better the second time around in another summer in Cotuit. The Cal product is slashing .312/.361/.481, putting his .842 OPS 67 points higher than his mark from the end of 2022.
“It just comes from taking each day, making sure that you're better than the person you were yesterday, mentally and physically,” Lomavita said about his development. “So taking it day by day really helped me improve.”
For fans that want to watch the cream of the crop in the CCBL all in one place, tickets can be purchased on capecodbaseballstore.org for $10 with children under 12 getting in free. Gates open at 1:30 pm. and the game start is scheduled for 6 p.m.
