2 July 2008


Patterson has stirred Kettleers to best of the West

By George Kostinas

REGIONAL —

Kevin Patterson stood in the batter’s box waiting for the next pitch, shifting his weight slightly back and forth, his bat moving in a small circular motion.

Then the bat flashed, in a broad, yet quick, stroke.
Crack!

The ball took off on a straight line, going, going ...


Kevin Patterson's (Auburn) swing has the Kettleer in the top 10 in Cape League batting, and he’s second in the league in RBIs to his Tiger and Cotuit teammate Mike Bianucci.

The outfielders barely moved as the ball ripped through the air over the fence in right-centerfield for a three-run homer in the top of the first inning.

That was Friday night as Cotuit went on to a 9-2 win over the Falmouth Commodores.

And that’s the way it’s been so far this season for the Cotuit Kettleers as they jumped out to a league best start before dropping three straight games.

The Kettleers are the best hitting team in the league with a .291 average and they have been scoring runs — a lot of runs.

They scored 10 or more runs in four of their games and eight or better seven times and are averaging almost 7 runs per game.

“Well, you see things like that in June, but not in July and August. We don’t put much credence in that. The proof is in the longevity. We’ll see what happens as the season progresses,” said manager Mike Roberts.

Leading the offense is Patterson, a big first baseman from Auburn.

He is sixth in the league in batting with a .383 average and second in the league with 15 RBI, one behind teammate Mike Bianucci.

“He’s just a big strong young man. He has a nice swing from the left side of the plate. He actually did not have a good spring [at Auburn] statistically, but he’s made some adjustments since he’s been here. He’s been real open to making those adjustments,” says Roberts.

Roberts has worked with Patterson and has made the same kind of adjustments he made with Reese Havens (LSU) last year.

Havens, who played shortstop for Cotuit last year, had a slow start at the plate, barely batting .200, but ended the season batting well over .300.

“He [Patterson] has a long way to go to be consistent, but he has really improved since he arrived,” says Roberts.

Bianucci (Auburn) has been monstrous at the plate this season.

Two years ago he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and last year played for the Kettleers until he was injured midway through the season.
Bianucci credits Roberts with his success this season.

“He teaches. I’ve gotten better since I’ve been here,” he says.

Bianucci is batting a respectable .270, but he has the power numbers, leading the league in home runs with four, RBI with 16, runs scored with 15 and in slugging percentage with an amazing .676 mark.

Jason Kipnes (Arizona State) has also gone on a recent tear improving his batting average by 90 points in two games going from .285 to .375, good enough for eighth in the league.

Robbie Shields from Florida Southern is also among the team’s top hitters batting .349 with two homers, 11 RBI and 26 total bases (one more than Bianucci) for a slugging percentage of .605.

The Kettleers pitching, led by Nick Hernandez (Tennessee) who is already 3-0 with a 0.98 earned run average, has also been strong.

Nate Garcia (Santa Clara) has had two very effective outings, Danny Meszaros (College of Charlotte) has done well as a starter and in relief and Sam Brown (North Carolina State) has been a solid closer.

“I’m real pleased with our pitching staff. Everybody is talking about all the runs we’ve scored, but the pitching has kept us in games and given us a chance to win,” says Roberts.