The standings at the top in the Western Division tightened up Wednesday with the Cotuit Kettleers closing to within a game and a half of the first-place Hyannis Mets with a 4-0 victory over Harwich.

Leading 1-0 from the first, Cotuit put it away with three runs on four hits in the eighth. Seth Blair (Arizona State) pitched a complete game one-hitter, striking out 10 Mariners. Blair did not allow a walk, with the lone Harwich hit coming in the second inning.

The Kettleers exploded for 10 hits against Harwich pitching with Jeff Kobernus (UC Berkeley) finishing the night 3-for-4 with a run scored.

With the win Blair improved to 2-1 on the season with a 2.28 ERA over 27.2 innings pitched.

Nick Hernandez (Tennessee) got knocked around Tuesday night in a 7-1 loss to Yarmouth-Dennis. Hernandez went seven innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits. Cotuit got its only run in the third when, with bases loaded, Matthew Holliman (Dyersburg State Community College) hit a sacrifice fly into centerfield that scored Robert Stock (USC) from third base.

The Kettleers managed just five hits against Red Sox pitching with shortstop Michael Gilmartin (Wofford) going 2-for-3.

Hyannis pitching posted a combined 10 strikeouts against Cotuit Sunday in a 6-1 victory for the Mets. Alex Sogard (NC State) got the start for the Kettleers, lasting three innings and allowing four runs on five hits. Mario Hollands (Santa Barbara) threw three scoreless frames allowing just two hits until turning it over to Brandon Cumpton (Georgia Tech) in the seventh. Sogard was tagged with the loss.

Trailing 4-0, it wasn’t until the eighth inning that the Kettleers got on the scoreboard. Kobernus led off the inning with a double down the right field line. Kevin Patterson (Auburn) then singled up the middle, scoring Kobernus, who finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate. Joey Lewis (Georgia) and Jason Kipnus (Arizona State) each had two hits.

A Brett Jackson (UC Berkeley) home run to right centerfield in the gathering darkness of the bottom of the ninth Saturday gave the Kettleers a 4-4 tie with the visiting Orleans Cardinals.

Leading 3-2 entering the top of the ninth, Cotuit gave up two runs to Orleans to fall behind until Jackson’s one-out blast.
Cotuit was first to score, posting two runs in the second on a two-run home run by Jeff Schaus (Clemson) that cleared the right field fence, also scoring Evan Crawford (Indiana) who had reached on a single. The Cardinals answered with a run in the top of the third, but Cotuit went up 3-1 in the bottom of the frame when Holliman scored on a balk.