Post ALCS blues

It all had to end sometime. The Red Sox were eliminated by the Rays in 7 games. It was pretty tough to watch. The offense struggled all series and honestly, I was impressed that the Sox were able to force a game 7. The Rays pretty much had their number all year. What was most shocking to me living within plain view of Fenway Park was the blase feeling from most fans about the whole series. Sure, there are a fair number of pink-hatters around these parts but even casual fans seemed to be taking the whole situation for granted. For me, watching the game in Boston BeerWorks on Sunday night was one of the toughest games to watch. It just made me wish that the season had ended those two games earlier. I likened it to the run the Bruins went on against the Habs in March. The Bruins miraculously forced a game 7 and then shat the bed. Even though this city is known as "title town" with the Celtics winning it all this summer and the Sox and Pats combining for 5 titles this decade. Oh well, there's always next year for the Sox but for now go Bruins!

Band of Brothers: The Story of the 2008 Cotuit Kettleers

By John S. Condakes

Journalism Intern

For the last five summers, Coach Mike Roberts has been faced with the challenge of taking a group of college baseball players and making them better. At the same time, Roberts helps the boys become men. This season, 39 players put on a Cotuit jersey at some point and by the end of the summer, the final roster had been trimmed down to 24 due to injuries and the draft. The 2008 Kettleers matured and played hard together over the summer and became friends while capturing a few honors along the way. Cotuit won the Western Division regular season title over Hyannis in one of the wildest division finishes in years to qualify for the playoffs for the third time in the last five years. The Kettleers then beat the Falmouth Commodores two games to one and earned a date with the Harwich Mariners for the league championship. The boys played their hearts out, but lost in game two in the bottom of the ninth and finished with an overall record of 26-20-2.

The local nine were impressive for the first quarter of the season as they won eight of their first eleven contests for an 8-3 record and at the time were rated the number one collegiate summer baseball team by PerfectGameUSA.com. They also swept the Columbus All-Americans of the Great Lakes Summer League in a two-game exhibition series to start the summer. The most intriguing part of the team’s success was that Coach Roberts never used the same lineup on consecutive nights until July 9th. Cotuit had the bats firing on all cylinders and was the team to beat in the Western Division from the get go.

As a team, the Kettleers hit over the .300 mark for the first 15 games of the season. Cotuit was led by Auburn sluggers Mike Bianucci and Kevin Patterson and Jason Kipnis of Arizona State. Center fielder Brett Jackson and third baseman Jeff Kobernus picked up the slack later in the season but the duo from Cal Berkeley played strong defense all summer long.

Bianucci enjoyed an MVP-Caliber summer but it was cut short when he became the first Kettleer to sign a Major League contract with the Texas Rangers. The left fielder’s departure ended his line in the Cape League with an impressive .282 average with 5 home runs and 19 RBI in only 24 games. He left tied for the league lead in home runs and RBI. Bianucci wasn’t the only Major League signee from Cotuit. Nebraska’s Dan Jennings had his Cape League experience limited to just one outing before he signed. College of Charleston hurlers Clay Caulfield and Danny Meszaros also earned pro contracts and headed for the professional ranks.

Cotuit also lost their starting shortstop Robbie Shields after eleven games. Shields suffered a broken bone on his right wrist which forced him to return home and sit out the rest of the summer. The Florida Southern shortstop returned after his surgery and became an inspiration, friend and leader to his teammates.

With all of the turnover on the Cotuit roster, positions opened up for players who hadn’t won starting jobs from the beginning. The loss of Shields and the early departure of others put Coach Roberts in a tough position. General Manager Bruce Murphy and Coach Roberts got to work immediately to fill the roster spots. One of their most important acquisitions came with the return of Michael Gilmartin of Wofford. Gilmartin was an infielder who, after being released from a temporary contract in early June, came back to become the starting shortstop and a valuable contributor to the offense. Whenever there was a need to sacrifice bunt, Gilmartin was given the sign and became a specialist at moving runners along. He finished the summer with a .257 average with 2 home runs and 11 RBI in 29 games. Not bad for a guy who had started out as a temporary player.

Other late additions to the roster were second baseman Matt Holliman (Cumberland University in Tennessee), pitcher John Lambert (Santa Fe CC in Florida) and Sandwich’s own Brendon Kelliher (George Washington). Holliman solidified the middle of the infield with Gilmartin and added some pop to the lineup with his bat as he knocked in 7 runs and played the final 12 games of the season for the Kettleers before an injury kept him out of the playoffs. Lambert helped eat up some innings in the bullpen in 4 games and 4 and 2/3 innings of work and Kelliher got his feet wet in the Cape League getting a single in 5 official at-bats along with a walk.

Jeff Schaus of Clemson and Evan Crawford of Indiana were also key contributors all season long. The two showed versatility as they both started games in the infield and outfield for the Kettleers when the bench was cut short due to injuries and players who had left. Crawford also showcased unbelievable speed by stealing 11 bases without getting caught once.

Catcher Robert Stock of USC returned for his second summer and provided solid defense all season long. Stock split time behind the plate with Georgia’s Joey Lewis. Lewis also filled in at first base and designated hitter after arriving late due to competing in the College World Series. Lewis hit two homers and eight RBI in 20 games. Arizona State’s Jason Kipnis emerged as the clean-up hitter by the end of the season and sported some good offensive numbers as well as a moustache at times. Kipnis also provided great defense in the outfield. Dallas Poulk (NC State) was the everyday second baseman and after some early struggles, made some spectacular defensive plays down the stretch in close games for the Kettleers.

With all of the great offense from the Kettleers, it was their pitching that made them so tough in the final stretch for the playoffs. Cotuit basically had two aces in their rotation in Arizona State’s Seth Blair and Nick Hernandez of Tennessee. Blair’s highlight reel included a complete game, one-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over the eventual Cape League Champion Harwich Mariners and another complete game win in a 12-2 shellacking of the cross-town rival Hyannis Mets. Blair was also on the mound for when the Kettleers clinched the Western Division regular season crown in a 3-1 defeat over the Mets that also captured Cotuit’s third Barnstable Patriot Cup. Blair finished the regular season with a 4-1 record in 7 starts with a 1.72 ERA over 52 and 1/3 innings and was awarded the team’s most valuable pitcher award.

Even after all of Blair’s accomplishments, Hernandez was the most consistent fireballer in the Cotuit rotation. The southpaw from Tennessee led the league in wins at the conclusion of the regular season with a 6-3 record and a 2.54 ERA in 56 and 2/3 innings. He also led the staff with 48 strikeouts. Hernandez was also brilliant in the playoffs for the Kettleers as he won the opening game against Falmouth and held Harwich scoreless until the bottom of the ninth in game two of the Cape League Finals. Both Hernandez and Blair along with Patterson were selected to represent the Kettleers in the All-Star Game in Chatham.

Other members of the Cotuit rotation were Mario Hollands (Santa Barbara), Nate Garcia (Santa Clara), Paul Applebee (UC Riverside) and Brandon Cumpton (Georgia Tech). Zach Von Tersch (Georgia Tech) and Alex Sogard (NC State) provided relief all season long. Sam Brown of NC State not only contributed out of the bullpen but also made a few appearances at the plate and as a pinch runner. Brown scored the game winning run in a wild 1-0 win against the Bourne Braves and also started game two of the League Championship in left field. Daniel Wolford of Cal Berkeley was a valuable member of the bullpen and led the team in appearances. The “Wolf” also compiled a 3-1 record with a 3.38 ERA in 24 innings for the Kettleers as he was called upon to work out of numerous jams in the seventh and eighth innings. Drew Storen of Stanford earned the job as the closer for Cotuit. He earned 5 saves in 13 appearances with 15 strikeouts in 16 and a third innings with a 2.76 ERA.

Cotuit will return to action next year with four key players already signed in Blair, Storen, Cumpton and Patterson. They will defend their Western Division Championship and contend once again with Hyannis for the Barnstable Patriot Cup. Under the guidance of Coach Roberts and the leadership of the returning players, the Kettleers will certainly be a contender for what could be their fifteenth Cape League Championship in 2009.

Origin of the Term "Kettleer"

After writing 50 some-odd articles about them, I figured it might be a good idea to explain what a Kettleer exactly is. Not to be confused with a kettler, there is a story dating back to the late 1600s when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was in its infancy. Back then, the colonists bartered for food with the locals in any way possible because they were unable to efficiently grow or hunt their own (for the most part). In exchange for sustenance (usually corn), the colonists provided kettles to the natives. Hence the term "kettleer."

The Cotuit Kettleers were established in 1947 and are one of the Cape Cod Baseball League's most storied franchises. The Kets have won a league high 14 CCBL Championships since the league's creation in 1963.