Tied for second in the West with the Bourne Braves with a record of 3-3-1, the Cotuit Kettleers and Coach Mike Roberts have made it clear that they plan to run this summer and not stop until the final out in August.

The Kettleers opened the season with a 1-1 tie with the Bourne Braves, then fell in a slugfest to the Brewster Whitecaps 11-8. Cotuit knocked out seven hits, but had its starting pitcher knocked out in the second inning as the Whitecaps went on a nine-run scoring spree.

The Kettleers got into the win column on Saturday against Falmouth with an 8-2 win in a game that saw a combined 15 stolen bases with Cotuit swiping 10 bags.

Roberts has the Kettleers running and has already racked up a total of 26 stolen bases in seven games. While they may not have another 10 stolen bases in a single game, Cotuit is averaging 3.7 steals per game and is on track to swipe 162 bags this summer. The record for steals by Cotuit is 104 in a season, set in 1995. The current stolen base record, according to former league historian Bruce Hack, is 134 set in 1988 by Wareham and matched in 2000 by Coach Roberts when he led the Gateman that season.

Jeff Manship (Notre Dame) got the start for the Kettleers and held the Commodores to one run on four hits over his 4.2 innings of work. Josh Johnson (Mississippi State) pitched 3.1 innings in relief picking up the win.

Todd Davidson (Delaware) and Roberto Lopez (USC) each finished the day 2-for-4. Davidson added three RBIs.

Emeel Salem’s (Alabama) five stolen bases fell one short of the league record for steals in a single game. The individual game record, according to Hack is six by Roy Marsh of Wareham in a game against Yarmouth-Dennis on August 1, 1992, in which Marsh was 6-for-6 in steals. The team game record is 13 by Wareham at Bourne in 2000.

Sunday, the Kettleers sent six different pitchers to the mound in an attempt to hold off Hyannis; however, the Mets prevailed with a 4-2 win. Casey Hudspeth (South Florida) took the loss for the Kettleers. Shane Jordan (Stetson) finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Orleans got to Cotuit pitching early Monday, scoring once in the first and second innings and twice in the third. Trailing by four, the Kettleers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the third, and Tim Ladd (Georgia Tech) took over on the mound holding the Cardinals through the middle innings to no runs on one hit.

In the final two frames, the Cotuit gloves let them down as two errors in each of the final two innings led to four more Orleans runs. Daniel Moskos (Clemson) was on the bump for the final frames taking the loss while only allowing a single earned run.

Tuesday, the Kettleers won their game on the bases, dropping Harwich 2-1. Clay Dirks (LSU) continued to be impressive going six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run. Chris Toneguzzi (Perdue) picked up the save, striking out two in an inning of relief. Dirks (1-0) has struck out 10 while walking just two and allowed six hits and one unearned run in 11 innings of work this season. After two quality starts, his ERA remains 0.00.

Cotuit got on the scoreboard quickly Tuesday, and they did it in typical Roberts style. Shane Jordan (Stetson) reached on a walk, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, reached third on a fielders’ choice and scored on a wild pitch. Davidson went from second to third on the wild pitch and scored on a single into right field by Lopez.

Wednesday afternoon, the Kettleers blanked Brewster 5-0. Charles Blackmon (Young Harris) got the start and went five innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven. Ladd came on in relief, pitching four innings allowing three hits and striking out two.

Shortstop Mike Hollander (LSU) went 2-for-4 at the plate, scored a run and picked up two RBIs. Hollander also stole three bases. Lino Mariot (Bloomfield) finished the afternoon a perfect 2-for-2, catcher Sean Gaston (Notre Dame) was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Davidson drove in two runs with all the Cotuit scoring coming in the sixth inning off losing Whitecap pitcher Will Savage (Okalahoma).

Roberts has the 2005 Kettleers following in the footsteps of last year’s team. They are living by the base hit and steal, making their living on the base paths. Cotuit leads the league in stolen bases through Wednesday with a total of 26 in the season’s first seven games. They head for Wareham tonight to face the Western Division leading Gateman (4-2-1) in a 7 PM start.