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Plate patience propels Chatham over Cotuit 4-2 for A’s 1st home win of season
CHATHAM, Mass. — For the first time in the lifetimes of nearly every player on the field Thursday, the Anglers faced a Mike Roberts-less Cotuit squad. The Kettleers’ manager of the last two decades was replaced by Loren Hibbs heading into the year. When Roberts’ reign ended, you could almost hear the sighs of relief from umpires and coaches across the Cape.
“Different,” Chatham first-year skipper Dennis Cook said — after a laugh and a long pause — about what it was like not seeing Roberts in Cotuit’s dugout. “But those guys in there are in good hands.”
Like him or not, Roberts gave Cotuit a certain luster. The Kettleers are the team most opponents love to hate, an attitude that came with facing a three-time CCBL champion manager. Cook isn’t interested in the past, though. His history with Roberts doesn’t cut deep. This game was all about the Anglers — specifically their quest to send the Veterans Field faithful home with a victory for the first time all summer.
Well, the A’s were in fact the talk of the town Thursday. They won in a way that would’ve made Roberts viciously punch the air.
After a go-ahead bases-loaded walk from catcher Daniel Jackson (Georgia), Chatham (2-2-1, East) beat Cotuit (1-4, West) 4-2 at Veterans Field. The story remained relatively the same: stellar pitching, underwhelming hitting. Luke Jackson (Texas A&M), Dane Burns (Mississippi State) and Mason Bixby (TCU) hushed the Kettleers’ bats to pedestrian totals. The Anglers finished with no extra-base hits and struck out seven times in another offensive disappointment.
But, timely at-bats in the eighth rendered the A’s previous struggles meaningless. Jackson said postgame that Cotuit righty reliever Tyler Albanese simply wasn’t executing his pitches, and the Anglers rapidly recognized it.
“Honestly, the guy on the mound for them wasn’t really controlling the strike zone very well. He was kind of spraying it a little bit,” Jackson, who went 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBI Thursday, said of Albanese. “It made it very easy for us to score.”
Albanese allowed two hits, issued two bases on balls and threw a wild pitch — on which Chatham shortstop Isaiah Lane (San Diego) crossed home to make it 4-2. In surrendering the go-ahead run, where Gavin Gallaher (North Carolina) scored on a bases-loaded walk, Jackson didn’t have to move a muscle against Albanese, watching four straight balls go by.
It wasn’t always that easy for Chatham. To open the ballgame, the curtains drew for the Cole Carlon show. The Arizona State southpaw K’d a pair of Anglers in a dominant first frame.
But even in a commanding frame, it still seemed inevitable someone would make Carlon pay. Though Carlon retired the Anglers’ side 1-2-3 to open the first, he fell behind the count in each at-bat. His high release point and herky-jerky windup caused him to miss fastballs way above the strike zone and scuff breaking balls in the dirt. Carlon’s stuff is nasty, so strikeouts are common. But with patience, he’s plenty hittable.
Jackson figured that out in the bottom of the second inning, lacing a two-strike slider up the middle for an RBI single. Carlon kept pumping Ks — he finished with five after two frames — but Jackson punishing Cotuit’s opener canceled out Luke Jackson’s first-inning blemish.
“Just going up there trying to be a dog, and just go and battle,” Jackson, whose 1.224 OPS leads the CCBL, said of his mentality at the plate. “Don’t think about missing the heaters, go up there and attack and see what happens.”
An offensive standstill ensued which, considering the Anglers’ first two low-scoring losses, wasn’t a good sign for Chatham. With the score tied 1-1 after a scoreless fifth frame by Burns, they received a pristine chance to capture a lead. Jackson singled and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) walked, bringing up Cole Johnson (Austin Peay) and the top of the order with no outs. Though Johnson and Ethan Mendoza (Texas) each flew out, Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer) walked to load the bases.
It was either now, or never.
The Anglers chose a third option: maybe later.
It couldn’t have been closer — Ace Reese (Mississippi State) tattooed a low fastball from Charlie Walker and right fielder Case Sanderson grabbed it at the wall — but close doesn’t cut it in baseball. Just ask Cook.
“We’re not taking advantage of being ahead in the count,” Cook said of the A’s hitting. “(There’s) too much soft contact when we’re ahead in the count, so we need to do a better job of that. And hitting with guys in scoring position — we’re not doing a good job at either.”
Anglers starter Luke Jackson tossed four innings of one-run ball in his Chatham debut. Photograph by Ella Tovey.
Chatham wilted in its best opportunity of the day. Though, Cook’s just thankful for his pitching staff. A’s righty starter Luke Jackson tossed four innings of one-hit ball, K’ing two Kettleers in the process as Cook praised his sinker execution. Afterward, Burns and Bixby combined to let in one run from the fifth through the eighth. It gave the Anglers time to conduct a trial and error of sorts — searching for the formula to gain an advantage over Cotuit.
“They’ve been attacking the zone, haven’t been walking guys, getting a lot of double-plays,” Jackson, the A’s catcher Thursday, said of Chatham’s pitchers. “It makes it easier on offense.”
At last, the Anglers complemented their pitching staff with offense in the seventh frame; Jackson drew a walk, and he subsequently advanced to third base after a wild pitch and a Freeman sacrifice groundout. After a Johnson walk, the Anglers had runners on the corners for their leadoff man, Mendoza. With a 5-3 groundout, the second baseman drove in Jackson — eliciting the Veterans Field faithful to exclaim the loudest cheer possible for an RBI grounder.
Bixby gave those cheers plenty of merit, escaping eighth unscathed as the game remained locked at 2-2. Then, the eighth-inning walk circus commenced, as Jackson’s free pass proved to be Chatham’s game-winning run. There was nothing sexy about it. It was just winning baseball.
Through five games, that might be the theme of this early-season Anglers’ squad. They might not be pouring runs on the scoreboard, but hitting comes with repetition in the CCBL. For now, Chatham has a litany of arms at its disposal to get the A’s where they need to be.
Because at the moment, the bats won’t get them there.
“I just think that some of these guys got to relax and have a plan, going up there with a good approach,” Cook said. “When we get that pitcher in an offensive count, we have to start doing damage.”
“Different,” Chatham first-year skipper Dennis Cook said — after a laugh and a long pause — about what it was like not seeing Roberts in Cotuit’s dugout. “But those guys in there are in good hands.”
Like him or not, Roberts gave Cotuit a certain luster. The Kettleers are the team most opponents love to hate, an attitude that came with facing a three-time CCBL champion manager. Cook isn’t interested in the past, though. His history with Roberts doesn’t cut deep. This game was all about the Anglers — specifically their quest to send the Veterans Field faithful home with a victory for the first time all summer.
Well, the A’s were in fact the talk of the town Thursday. They won in a way that would’ve made Roberts viciously punch the air.
After a go-ahead bases-loaded walk from catcher Daniel Jackson (Georgia), Chatham (2-2-1, East) beat Cotuit (1-4, West) 4-2 at Veterans Field. The story remained relatively the same: stellar pitching, underwhelming hitting. Luke Jackson (Texas A&M), Dane Burns (Mississippi State) and Mason Bixby (TCU) hushed the Kettleers’ bats to pedestrian totals. The Anglers finished with no extra-base hits and struck out seven times in another offensive disappointment.
But, timely at-bats in the eighth rendered the A’s previous struggles meaningless. Jackson said postgame that Cotuit righty reliever Tyler Albanese simply wasn’t executing his pitches, and the Anglers rapidly recognized it.
“Honestly, the guy on the mound for them wasn’t really controlling the strike zone very well. He was kind of spraying it a little bit,” Jackson, who went 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBI Thursday, said of Albanese. “It made it very easy for us to score.”
Albanese allowed two hits, issued two bases on balls and threw a wild pitch — on which Chatham shortstop Isaiah Lane (San Diego) crossed home to make it 4-2. In surrendering the go-ahead run, where Gavin Gallaher (North Carolina) scored on a bases-loaded walk, Jackson didn’t have to move a muscle against Albanese, watching four straight balls go by.
It wasn’t always that easy for Chatham. To open the ballgame, the curtains drew for the Cole Carlon show. The Arizona State southpaw K’d a pair of Anglers in a dominant first frame.
But even in a commanding frame, it still seemed inevitable someone would make Carlon pay. Though Carlon retired the Anglers’ side 1-2-3 to open the first, he fell behind the count in each at-bat. His high release point and herky-jerky windup caused him to miss fastballs way above the strike zone and scuff breaking balls in the dirt. Carlon’s stuff is nasty, so strikeouts are common. But with patience, he’s plenty hittable.
Jackson figured that out in the bottom of the second inning, lacing a two-strike slider up the middle for an RBI single. Carlon kept pumping Ks — he finished with five after two frames — but Jackson punishing Cotuit’s opener canceled out Luke Jackson’s first-inning blemish.
“Just going up there trying to be a dog, and just go and battle,” Jackson, whose 1.224 OPS leads the CCBL, said of his mentality at the plate. “Don’t think about missing the heaters, go up there and attack and see what happens.”
An offensive standstill ensued which, considering the Anglers’ first two low-scoring losses, wasn’t a good sign for Chatham. With the score tied 1-1 after a scoreless fifth frame by Burns, they received a pristine chance to capture a lead. Jackson singled and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) walked, bringing up Cole Johnson (Austin Peay) and the top of the order with no outs. Though Johnson and Ethan Mendoza (Texas) each flew out, Henry Ford (Virginia/transfer) walked to load the bases.
It was either now, or never.
The Anglers chose a third option: maybe later.
It couldn’t have been closer — Ace Reese (Mississippi State) tattooed a low fastball from Charlie Walker and right fielder Case Sanderson grabbed it at the wall — but close doesn’t cut it in baseball. Just ask Cook.
“We’re not taking advantage of being ahead in the count,” Cook said of the A’s hitting. “(There’s) too much soft contact when we’re ahead in the count, so we need to do a better job of that. And hitting with guys in scoring position — we’re not doing a good job at either.”
Anglers starter Luke Jackson tossed four innings of one-run ball in his Chatham debut. Photograph by Ella Tovey.
Chatham wilted in its best opportunity of the day. Though, Cook’s just thankful for his pitching staff. A’s righty starter Luke Jackson tossed four innings of one-hit ball, K’ing two Kettleers in the process as Cook praised his sinker execution. Afterward, Burns and Bixby combined to let in one run from the fifth through the eighth. It gave the Anglers time to conduct a trial and error of sorts — searching for the formula to gain an advantage over Cotuit.
“They’ve been attacking the zone, haven’t been walking guys, getting a lot of double-plays,” Jackson, the A’s catcher Thursday, said of Chatham’s pitchers. “It makes it easier on offense.”
At last, the Anglers complemented their pitching staff with offense in the seventh frame; Jackson drew a walk, and he subsequently advanced to third base after a wild pitch and a Freeman sacrifice groundout. After a Johnson walk, the Anglers had runners on the corners for their leadoff man, Mendoza. With a 5-3 groundout, the second baseman drove in Jackson — eliciting the Veterans Field faithful to exclaim the loudest cheer possible for an RBI grounder.
Bixby gave those cheers plenty of merit, escaping eighth unscathed as the game remained locked at 2-2. Then, the eighth-inning walk circus commenced, as Jackson’s free pass proved to be Chatham’s game-winning run. There was nothing sexy about it. It was just winning baseball.
Through five games, that might be the theme of this early-season Anglers’ squad. They might not be pouring runs on the scoreboard, but hitting comes with repetition in the CCBL. For now, Chatham has a litany of arms at its disposal to get the A’s where they need to be.
Because at the moment, the bats won’t get them there.
“I just think that some of these guys got to relax and have a plan, going up there with a good approach,” Cook said. “When we get that pitcher in an offensive count, we have to start doing damage.”
