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Anglers return from All-Star break with 6-4 win over Cotuit, tally 2nd straight victory
COTUIT, Mass. — The command at Lowell Park is loud and simple. “Have a hit!” reverberates around the ballpark’s loudspeakers whenever Kettleers’ batters are hitting with runners on base. It’s an ode to Ivan Partridge, the Cotuit fan who coined the phrase as a way to provide players with an encouraging soundbite as they step into the batter’s box. If you hear Partridge’s battle cry, offense is supposed to follow.
The Anglers got the memo on Monday.
Piling on 11 hits in its return from the Cape League All-Star break, Chatham (13-13-3, East) defeated Cotuit (11-16-2, West) 6-4 on the road for its second consecutive victory — clinching the Anglers’ first winning streak in three weeks. The A’s struggled all game with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 runners stranded on the bases and batting 3-for-18 with RISP, but a two-RBI single from right fielder Ashton Larson (Texas) in the top of the seventh proved too much for the Kettleers to overcome late.
After Chatham increased its lead over Cotuit by tallying two runs in the eighth, the game was ruled final due to darkness at Lowell Park.
Though Anglers’ pitching stayed solid, too. Southpaw starter Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma) tossed 5.0 frames with one earned run and righty reliever Will Girardi (Lenoir-Rhyne) delivered a 2.0-inning shutout. Jones and Girardi’s outings were a welcome sign for a surging Chatham pitching staff that saw right-hander Duke Stone (Mississippi State) unleash 6.0 shutout innings in a win over Brewster last Friday.
Chatham manager Dennis Cook was particularly pleased with Jones’ second start of the year.
“He’s doing great, I’m proud of him. He threw a lot more strikes tonight. His stuff was really good tonight,” Cook said of Jones. “He’s only going to get better the more we run him out there … I think he’s gonna get a lot of chances to pitch (at Oklahoma).”
Against Cotuit, Gavyn Jones completed 5.0 innings for the second consecutive start. Photograph by Ella Tovey
But it was Chatham bucking a suffocating trend of offensive streakiness that highlighted its triumph over Cotuit.
Chatham entered Lowell Park without winning back-to-back games since July 1-2. In July, the Anglers went 8-7 in their first 15 games of the month, with each win coming when they scored seven or more runs and each loss occurring when they scored two or fewer. Their last game — a 7-3 win over Brewster on June 18 — happened three nights ago. This time, because of the CCBL All-Star break, the A’s had extra rest before going for their second straight win.
Eventually, it paid off. But not without roadblocks.
“We missed a lot of opportunities with guys in scoring position and less than two outs,” Cook said. “That was the discussion after the game — we have to get better at that. We got to find a way to score those runs with less than two outs.”
Pressure mounted against Cotuit left-handed starter Beau Sampson in the second as the Anglers loaded the bases with a walk drawn by Larson and singles from Isaiah Lane (San Diego) and Chase Fralick (Auburn). Yet, in a prime chance to break the scoring open with only one out, Chatham faltered. Cade Arrambide (LSU) K’d and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) hit into a 4-3 groundout, stranding three Anglers on the bases.
The A’s juiced the bags again in the third, and though they tallied a run off an RBI sacrifice fly from Larson, they left another two runners on base. Fralick got thrown out going for home on a fielder’s choice groundout by Lane, and a Jake Hanley (Indiana) flyout ended the frame while runners stood at first and third.
Chatham had plenty of hits — five, specifically — through three innings of play. But they only had one run to show for it.
Cotuit immediately answered in the bottom half of the third as Kettleers’ third baseman Zan Von Schlegell drilled an RBI double off Jones. The Chatham righty escaped the third without sustaining further damage, but the tally made the A’s squandered baserunners look even worse.
It grew quiet at the dish in the next two frames. The Anglers were held to just one base knock during that span versus Cotuit right-handed reliever Kyle Remington. The margin of error was slim for both sides. One play could turn the game on its head.
Which it did.
With one out in the fifth, Kettleers’ All-Star shortstop Ryne Farber laid down a sacrifice bunt to try to move Camden Johnson over to second base. He nicked a fastball from Jones that dribbled a few yards beyond home plate. Chatham’s pitcher grabbed the ball and spun to his right, aiming toward Fralick at first base. His throw skidded past Fralick’s feet, allowing Johnson to score with relative ease. Farber advanced all the way to third and scored on an ensuing RBI groundout from Caden Bogenpohl.
Down 3-1, the Anglers made more noise early in a frame. They started the sixth inning with an RBI single by Hanley, and after a single from Gavin Gallaher (North Carolina) and ensuing wild pitch that advanced both runners, the A’s had ducks on the pond with no outs on the board.
Flyout. Strikeout. Strikeout.
Another demoralizing result — this time against Cotuit righty reliever Jonathan Adelmann — left another pair of Chatham baserunners standing on the bags.
But Larson didn’t let that outcome repeat itself in the seventh.
Fralick, who finished Monday with three hits, looped a leadoff double before Roman Martin (UCLA) took a walk, bringing Larson to the plate with nobody out. Cotuit reliever Chase Carson entered the game and allowed both runners to advance off a wild pitch. On a prime chance to make noise, Larson drove a base knock into shallow right field that Kettleers’ outfielder Dean West took a long time to sprint over to, giving Fralick and Martin tons of time to score.
Larson’s first hit of the game brought his RBI total to three on the day. As the sun was beginning to set and a darkness-shortened game looked like an inevitable future, Larson’s clutch single came at the perfect time.
“Oh it was huge,” Cook said, acknowledging the impending darkness. “It’s a one-run ballgame, one swing can tie the ballgame. So to get a little bit of a cushion is big.”
Girardi induced a 1-6-3 double play to cap off a scoreless bottom of the seventh. Right afterward, umpires convened with Cook and Kettleers’ skipper Loren Hibbs. They choose to keep the game going through the eighth despite the sky above Lowell Park getting darker.
And maybe Hibbs should’ve accepted a premature defeat; he could only watch as Martin grounded an RBI single into left field to begin an eighth inning where Chatham’s advantage only continued to grow.
The Anglers got the memo on Monday.
Piling on 11 hits in its return from the Cape League All-Star break, Chatham (13-13-3, East) defeated Cotuit (11-16-2, West) 6-4 on the road for its second consecutive victory — clinching the Anglers’ first winning streak in three weeks. The A’s struggled all game with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 runners stranded on the bases and batting 3-for-18 with RISP, but a two-RBI single from right fielder Ashton Larson (Texas) in the top of the seventh proved too much for the Kettleers to overcome late.
After Chatham increased its lead over Cotuit by tallying two runs in the eighth, the game was ruled final due to darkness at Lowell Park.
Though Anglers’ pitching stayed solid, too. Southpaw starter Gavyn Jones (Oklahoma) tossed 5.0 frames with one earned run and righty reliever Will Girardi (Lenoir-Rhyne) delivered a 2.0-inning shutout. Jones and Girardi’s outings were a welcome sign for a surging Chatham pitching staff that saw right-hander Duke Stone (Mississippi State) unleash 6.0 shutout innings in a win over Brewster last Friday.
Chatham manager Dennis Cook was particularly pleased with Jones’ second start of the year.
“He’s doing great, I’m proud of him. He threw a lot more strikes tonight. His stuff was really good tonight,” Cook said of Jones. “He’s only going to get better the more we run him out there … I think he’s gonna get a lot of chances to pitch (at Oklahoma).”
Against Cotuit, Gavyn Jones completed 5.0 innings for the second consecutive start. Photograph by Ella Tovey
But it was Chatham bucking a suffocating trend of offensive streakiness that highlighted its triumph over Cotuit.
Chatham entered Lowell Park without winning back-to-back games since July 1-2. In July, the Anglers went 8-7 in their first 15 games of the month, with each win coming when they scored seven or more runs and each loss occurring when they scored two or fewer. Their last game — a 7-3 win over Brewster on June 18 — happened three nights ago. This time, because of the CCBL All-Star break, the A’s had extra rest before going for their second straight win.
Eventually, it paid off. But not without roadblocks.
“We missed a lot of opportunities with guys in scoring position and less than two outs,” Cook said. “That was the discussion after the game — we have to get better at that. We got to find a way to score those runs with less than two outs.”
Pressure mounted against Cotuit left-handed starter Beau Sampson in the second as the Anglers loaded the bases with a walk drawn by Larson and singles from Isaiah Lane (San Diego) and Chase Fralick (Auburn). Yet, in a prime chance to break the scoring open with only one out, Chatham faltered. Cade Arrambide (LSU) K’d and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) hit into a 4-3 groundout, stranding three Anglers on the bases.
The A’s juiced the bags again in the third, and though they tallied a run off an RBI sacrifice fly from Larson, they left another two runners on base. Fralick got thrown out going for home on a fielder’s choice groundout by Lane, and a Jake Hanley (Indiana) flyout ended the frame while runners stood at first and third.
Chatham had plenty of hits — five, specifically — through three innings of play. But they only had one run to show for it.
Cotuit immediately answered in the bottom half of the third as Kettleers’ third baseman Zan Von Schlegell drilled an RBI double off Jones. The Chatham righty escaped the third without sustaining further damage, but the tally made the A’s squandered baserunners look even worse.
It grew quiet at the dish in the next two frames. The Anglers were held to just one base knock during that span versus Cotuit right-handed reliever Kyle Remington. The margin of error was slim for both sides. One play could turn the game on its head.
Which it did.
With one out in the fifth, Kettleers’ All-Star shortstop Ryne Farber laid down a sacrifice bunt to try to move Camden Johnson over to second base. He nicked a fastball from Jones that dribbled a few yards beyond home plate. Chatham’s pitcher grabbed the ball and spun to his right, aiming toward Fralick at first base. His throw skidded past Fralick’s feet, allowing Johnson to score with relative ease. Farber advanced all the way to third and scored on an ensuing RBI groundout from Caden Bogenpohl.
Down 3-1, the Anglers made more noise early in a frame. They started the sixth inning with an RBI single by Hanley, and after a single from Gavin Gallaher (North Carolina) and ensuing wild pitch that advanced both runners, the A’s had ducks on the pond with no outs on the board.
Flyout. Strikeout. Strikeout.
Another demoralizing result — this time against Cotuit righty reliever Jonathan Adelmann — left another pair of Chatham baserunners standing on the bags.
But Larson didn’t let that outcome repeat itself in the seventh.
Fralick, who finished Monday with three hits, looped a leadoff double before Roman Martin (UCLA) took a walk, bringing Larson to the plate with nobody out. Cotuit reliever Chase Carson entered the game and allowed both runners to advance off a wild pitch. On a prime chance to make noise, Larson drove a base knock into shallow right field that Kettleers’ outfielder Dean West took a long time to sprint over to, giving Fralick and Martin tons of time to score.
Larson’s first hit of the game brought his RBI total to three on the day. As the sun was beginning to set and a darkness-shortened game looked like an inevitable future, Larson’s clutch single came at the perfect time.
“Oh it was huge,” Cook said, acknowledging the impending darkness. “It’s a one-run ballgame, one swing can tie the ballgame. So to get a little bit of a cushion is big.”
Girardi induced a 1-6-3 double play to cap off a scoreless bottom of the seventh. Right afterward, umpires convened with Cook and Kettleers’ skipper Loren Hibbs. They choose to keep the game going through the eighth despite the sky above Lowell Park getting darker.
And maybe Hibbs should’ve accepted a premature defeat; he could only watch as Martin grounded an RBI single into left field to begin an eighth inning where Chatham’s advantage only continued to grow.
