By Matt Schneidman
June 15, 2014
Video Highlights of Games 1 and 2 by Axel Boada HERE
CHATHAM – On Saturday, Brendan Hendriks (San Francisco) said that sometimes all it takes is a little luck to win.
In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against Chatham, that certainly stood true, as Cotuit (2-2) was the benefactor of several Angler (1-3) mishaps, winning 4-1 in seven innings at Veterans Field for its second-consecutive victory after starting the season 0-2.
For a Kettleers’ defense that had amassed six errors over the first three games, it kept a zero in the error column in the first game on Sunday, as Cotuit’s stingy defense allowed it to close out yet another close game.
After Chatham starter Tanner Scott (Howard) breezed through the first two innings, keeping the Kettleers hitless while striking out five, the Anglers’ defense faltered in the third.
Caleb Whalen (Portland) led off the inning with a routine grounder to short, but shortstop Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State) bobbled the ball. Whalen then stole two bases and scored on a Casey Schroeder (Polk State JC) single to center.
Two batters later, a Moore wild pitch allowed Schroeder to score to extend the Cotuit lead to 2-0, and already both Kettleer runs were unearned.
And while Chatham piled up three errors over the first three innings, Cotuit starter Garrett Hayward (Duke) allowed seven Anglers to reach base over 2 1/3, yet kept Chatham off the board as the Cotuit defense held strong for the first time this season.
In the bottom of the fourth, Mason Klotz (Southeastern Louisiana) walked the first two batters, but a seamless 4-6-3 double play took runners off first and second.
Then, Ty Moore (UCLA) blasted a Klotz pitch to deep right field.
As the infielder Whalen was exiting the field after Saturday’s game, head coach Mike Roberts stopped him and asked him one question: “Have you ever played outfield?”
Whalen responded, “Yeah coach, I played my whole sophomore year,” and Roberts told him he’d be there on Sunday.
So as Moore’s drive looked as it could exit the park, Whalen tracked back in right with his glove over his head. As he neared the warning track, he stopped, ran forward and made a two-handed basket catch on a wind-restricted ball that would’ve been an extra-base hit.
The two teams traded runs in the fifth and with Cotuit holding a two-run lead in the sixth, Arendas – who has had several fielding mishaps – recorded two key putouts.
The visitors tacked on one more in the seventh to bring the lead to 4-1, which is how the game would end.
Mike Roberts is hardly ever impressed, but rather “encouraged.”
And even though his defense didn’t make any eye-popping plays, it was sufficient enough to earn the win, especially as the hosts’ defense slipped up in the first game on Sunday.