By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com

How does the youngest player on a Cape Cod Baseball League team prove his worth and make his mark? If that player is Robert Stock of the Cotuit Kettleers, he clocks a three-run homer in the fifth inning of a dramatic home game against the Hyannis Mets that sparks a 9 to 8 win for his team Friday.

It happened during Game One of the two teams’ battle for the Patriot Cup, the annual award presented by The Barnstable Patriot to the team boasting the most wins in games between them. It was also just the third game of the season for both teams. 

The game remained scoreless through three innings, with pitchers Jason Franzblau of Hyannis and Matt Wright duking it out. 

The Mets made it on the board first thanks to a super triple from Shane Peterson, who then scored on a passed ball. Hyannis made it 2-0 when a single from Shea Robin brought in Dan Brewer.

The Kettleers bats started waking up during the bottom half of the inning when Tony Delmonico hit a nice line drive down the center for a single. Delmonico was brought in for Cotuit’s first run on another line drive from teammate Ryan Lollis. 

For Cotuit, though, it was all about the fifth inning when their bats caught fire. Kicking things off were Ryne White, Cory Figueroa and Josh Harrison with base-hit singles. 

Aaron Baker brought the score to 3-2 when his long fly to left was dropped, with Delmonico bringing in the tying run with a single of his own.

Cotuit snagged a one-run lead on another single from Jason Rook, followed by a fielder’s choice from Mike Bianucci that brought in one more.

Although Hyannis swapped pitchers, replacing Franzblau with Ricardo Pecina, the Kettleers remained hot with Lollis’ single that was immediately followed by Stock’s tremendous homer that brought the score to 9-3 in the Kettleers’ favor.

“It felt good to get a solid piece of the ball,” said Stock. 

Cotuit’s eight-run inning seemed to take the wind from the sails of the Hyannis Mets. Although they staged a valiant rally late in the game, narrowing Cotuit’s lead to just one run, closer Garrett Richards struck out Kiko Vazquez to clinch the win for Cotuit.

The defending champion Kettleers take a one-game lead in the race for the Patriot Cup and stand at 2-2 overall in the still-young CCBL season.