Late Game Heroics give Cotuit a 7-5 Victory over Brewster
By: James Middleton | West Chester University
Brewster, MA — After a Cape League off day, the Kettleers traveled to Brewster to take on the Whitecaps. After Cotuit took the lead in the fourth, Brewster would claw back into the game in the eighth by scoring one to tie the game at five. With runners on second and third, Kalae Harrison (NC State) came up to bat, and safety squeezed to bring home the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. A one, two, three bottom of the ninth sealed the deal as they got the win 7-5.
"Coach Roberts said if Carter gets it down and runners get to second and third, I'm going to safety squeeze first pitch. I was just trying to do my job, and it was cool to get a hit out of it, too," said Harrison on his game-winning bunt.
On the mound today for Cotuit was Janzen Keisel (Oklahoma State) making his second appearance with the Ketts. Keisel didn't have quite the start he wanted, but after limiting the damage in the first to just three, the right-hander was able to shut down the Whitecaps for the rest of his appearance.
After three quiet innings, the Kettleer bats woke up in the fourth. It all started when Tanner Thach (UNC-Wilmington) laced a ball to the right field wall, inches from going over, but stayed in the yard for a triple. Teo Banks (Tulane) came up next and got all of the ball, sending it to left field for a two-run home run.
"I think it was just that one barrel just kind of got it going for the team, and after that, we just responded," said Banks on his fourth-inning homer.
The rally didn't stop there as two singles by James McCoy (Kentucky) and Cole Mathis (Charleston) led to a Carter Mathison (Indiana) RBI single. With Mathis and Mathison on the bases, Kalae Harrison roped a ball to left to score the pair bringing the score to 5-3.
"I was just trying to compete in the box and put a good swing on anything that was coming at me. I had some good swings early in the count. It came to two strikes, and I was able to react to it and send it to the left side," said Harrison on his two-RBI single.
Bryce Jenkins (Tennessee) and Cam Schuelke (College of Central Florida) pieced together the middle innings allowing no runs through the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Jenkins pitched two innings striking out two and giving up no hits. Schuelke tossed an inning and two-thirds, punching out four and also giving up no hits.
After six shutout innings, the Brewster offense brought home one in the seventh after a walk and a base hit up the middle, cutting the Cotuit lead down to one. In the next inning, the Whitecaps brought home another to even up the tally at five.
In the ninth, McCoy got it started with a leadoff walk. Next up was Mathis, and he reached by hit-by-pitch. With runners on first and second, Mathison sacrificed them over to put runners in scoring position with one out. After Harrison brought home the first run with a bunt, Mathis came home on a wild pitch to bring the lead to two.
With the win, Cotuit moves to 11-5 on the season, still holding the top spot in the western division. Up next is the Battle of Barnstable, as the Ketts will travel to Hyannis for the second time this year. The last time the teams met, Cotuit held a 6-0 lead heading into the ninth, and Hyannis stormed back, scoring six in the ninth to then win in extras.