Mets go extra innings to relclaim Patriot Cup
Season-long struggle with Kettleers a real competition

 August 7, 2007


 

  
By Edward F. Maroney
emaroney@barnstablepatriot.com

Two coaches. Two players. One grand slam.

The Cotuit Kettleers were leading the Hyannis Mets 3 to 1 Sunday afternoon at Lowell Park, but the visitors from downtown had loaded the bases.

Cotuit coach Mike Roberts took a trip out to the mound to talk with Chris Fetter, who’d pitched four innings before getting into this jam. Hyannis coach Greg King took the opportunity to talk to his batter, third baseman James Darnell.

The result: a towering drive over the left-field fence and a 5 to 3 lead for Hyannis.

Cotuit wasn’t done in this final game of the Barnstable Patriot Cup competition. In the sixth, right fielder Tony Delmonico greeted Mets reliever James Jolicoeur’s first pitch with a deep shot to centerfield for an out, but designated hitter Brian Wilson turned his first pitch into a home run over the right field fence.

The Kettleers put on a heads-up clinic in the seventh that started inauspiciously when Jolicoeur quick-pitched bystanding Reese Havens. The shortstop hung tough until he drew a walk, then advanced on a perfect dragger bunt laid down by third baseman Josh Harrison. Left fielder Ryne White hit a chopper to right to get Havens over to third, and catcher Caleb Joseph brought him home with a bunt that left new reliever Stephen Penney, a righty, no choice but to throw to first.

That forced a 10th inning whose completion at the unlighted field was threatened by the gathering gloom.

The Mets’ designated hitter, Kiko Vasquez, provided the kind of gloom the host Kettleers didn’t want when he led off the 10th with a homer. That made it 6 to 5, and Cotuit was handcuffed by relief pitcher Garrettt Sherrill in the bottom of the inning.

This is the first time since the inaugural competition in 2004 that the Patriot Cup will be in the hands of the Mets. At Lowell Park Sunday, one Hyannis fan was heard to say at game’s end, “I’m not leaving till we get that cup.”

Today at 4 p.m. at McKeon Field in Hyannis, the Patriot Cup will be presented to the Mets, who won the series with their cross-town rivals 3-1-2. The team’s game against Wareham begins at 4:30 p.m.

Hyannis remains in contention for a playoff spot, with a do-or-die game against the Commodores in Falmouth Wednesday at 7 p.m. if the team wins tonight. The first playoff game would be at Bourne Friday at 3 p.m.

Cotuit plays its last game of the season at home tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. against the Y-D Red Sox. This is also your last chance to experience the ineffable glory of the best hotdog-toasted bun combo in the Cape Cod Baseball League.


Edward F. Maroney is Associate Editor of The Barnstable Patriot.
 


 


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