Kets Visit Patients at Dana Farber

Story By John S. Condakes Photo by Stacy Wardwell

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

BOSTON — Located not too far from one of baseball’s most hallowed grounds in the heart of Boston, stands a building athletes have flocked to for decades. The Jimmy Fund Clinic and Dana Farber Cancer Institute have welcomed these well-known visitors as they spread smiles from floor to floor. On Wednesday July 30th, Cotuit Kettleers infielders Robbie Shields, Michael Gilmartin, Matt Holliman and pitcher Drew Storen, were welcomed to carry on a tradition started by Red Sox Hall-of-Fame slugger Ted Williams and saw for themselves what these incredible people go through.
The players’ first stop was a trip upstairs to the Jimmy Fund Clinic to spend time with some youngsters who are fighting cancer. There was a very somber feeling in the air as they strolled down a hallway lined with bright paintings of scenes from Disney movies. The foursome was greeted by Rosemary Lonborg, wife of former Red Sox pitcher and 1967 Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg. Rosemary Lonborg got involved with the clinic when Jim was pitching for Boston and since they stayed in town, she was able to remain involved.
“It’s amazing to see how much joy it brings the kids,” said Lonborg. “Some of the current Red Sox players come in a few times a year. They’ve even brought in the World Series trophy,” she said.
The players took time to enjoy the kids’ company as they chatted, played and did some arts and crafts. Storen jumped at the opportunity to finger paint with one of the younger patients while a boy wowed the players with his truck drawing abilities. He even drew them a picture and autographed it as a thank you to the Kettleers.
“Walking in there and seeing those kids with cancer was very humbling,” said Shields. “Not many people realize what kids like that go through and I would go again in a heartbeat.”
For other patients, something as trivial as having hair has become somewhat of a blessing. Five-year-old Christina Johnson was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had it removed but her communication skills are limited. Prior to the operation she had straight blonde hair and after months of treatment, she now sports brown curls. “Her hair color doesn’t matter,” said her mother. “We’re just happy to have it.”
After signing some programs and baseballs for the children in the Jimmy Fund Clinic, the players took the elevator up to the tenth floor to socialize with some older patients.
Seated in a room with a birds-eye view of downtown Boston was Sergeant Scott Miller who had been stationed in Iraq with the Military Police. After originally thinking that he had a blood clot, Miller was flown to a military hospital in Washington, D.C. to have some tests done. It was there he learned that he had cancer so he shipped up to Dana Farber for treatment. The players thanked Sgt. Miller for his service and gave him a signed baseball and a team yearbook along with well wishes for a speedy recovery.
“It not only touched my heart but it really opened my eyes about how precious life is,” said Holliman.”
Just down the hall, the players crossed paths with a patient named Adrian. All four players were deeply touched by him because of his positive outlook on life after having undergone a tracheotomy due to a battle with throat cancer. They spoke with Adrian numerous times and even invited him down to Cotuit to attend a game.
“Adrian was very inspiring to me,” said Storen. “He was told that he only had six months to live two and a half years ago. He wasn’t in good shape but he was still happy. It makes you realize that there are much bigger problems in life than you think.”
But it’s not only the players who are involved. Lisa Mathieu, a resident of Cotuit who drove the players to Boston and has hosted Kettleers for the summer in her home wore the names and photos of patients visited by the four Cotuit players as she biked in the Pan-Mass Challenge on August 2nd and 3rd. She hopes that the visiting program will continue to grow and that the Kettleers can make multiple visits during the summer in upcoming years.
The four Kettleers enjoyed their visits with the patients and never refrained from introducing themselves. “It was quite remarkable,” said Mathieu. “One player would start chatting with someone and they would all follow. We almost had trouble getting them to move from person to person,” she joked.
Although Ted Williams is (mostly) gone, his spirit lives on through the efforts of these young baseball players. These four talented and caring young men hopefully will have the opportunity to carry on their mission of spreading joy to those in need as they pursue their ultimate goal of becoming major league ball players.
“Just to see those people there was inspiring,” said Gilmartin. “They’re just regular people who got a bad break and hopefully some day we’ll find a cure for them.”

Kets Beat G-men 2-0

Jackson Home Run Paces Cotuit

Story By John S. Condakes - Photo by Martha Johnston (CAA)

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2008

COTUIT — It was an old fashioned pitchers’ duel. Thursday night’s contest between the Kettleers and the Wareham Gatemen had all the makings of a good one after Wareham’s 4-0 victory on Sunday. The Kettleers were looking to dish out some serious payback after almost being no hit by Wareham’s Brandon Workman of Texas on Sunday and they succeeded with a 2-0 win over the visiting Gatemen to remain in a three-way tie for first place in the West with Bourne and Hyannis.
Four Cotuit pitchers took the mound for Coach Mike Roberts in the game and Mario Hollands of UC Santa Barbara was the first to get a crack at the Wareham bats. Hollands looked solid in two innings allowing no runs, two hits, two walks and a strikeout. Workman surrendered a single in the first to third baseman Mike Bianucci of Auburn ending all hope of throwing a no hitter this time around. Bianucci continued his success against Workman going 1 for 2 and is now 2 for 3 against Wareham’s ace and once again filled in for the injured Jeff Kobernus (Cal Berkeley) who is still recovering from a bruise on his knee from a foul ball three days ago and may return this week.
Zach Von Tersch (Georgia Tech) entered the game in the third inning in relief of Hollands and pitched well in four innings of work. He allowed runners to reach first and second in three of his four innings but each time escaped without a runner advancing to third. Von Tersch’s line went four innings pitched with two hits, no runs, three walks and two strikeouts for the win. “I haven’t thrown since Sunday,” said Von Tersch. “The fastball was working for the most part and every now and then the change-up and slider worked too so it was nice,” he said of his performance in the win.
The Cotuit offense struck against Workman in the bottom of the fourth inning when center fielder Brett Jackson of Cal Berkeley deposited a pitch over the right field fence for his third homer of the season to put the Kettleers up 1-0. The run would be all the Cotuit pitchers would need but catcher Robert Stock of USC provided some breathing room in the seventh as he drove in shortstop Michael Gilmartin (Wofford) with a two-out RBI single for the 2-0 lead. The run was charged to Wareham reliever Josh Slaats of Hawaii who allowed one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in his two innings of work.
In the sixth inning, Roberts was ejected for arguing balls and strikes by the home plate umpire. It was the first ejection of the season for Roberts and he continuously yelled at the umpire that he should not “take it out on [his] players” as he furiously left the field.
The Gatemen made it interesting against Cotuit’s Danny Meszaros (College of Charleston) as he gave up a leadoff double to shortstop Shea Vucinich of Washington State but stranded him at third base with a spectacular inning that included a reflex catch on a line drive by Meszaros and a called third strike to end the inning. Meszaros then walked clean-up hitter Aaron Baker of Oklahoma to start the eighth but bore down to strike out the last two batters to retire the side. He finished with one hit, two walks and three strikeouts in two electrifying innings of work.
Drew Storen of Stanford came on in the ninth to slam the door shut against the Wareham batters. He didn’t allow a runner to reach base and had one strikeout for the save. The game marked the first appearance for newcomer Matt Holliman of Cumberland who was added to the roster on Tuesday. Holliman flew out to deep center in his first at-bat showing glimpses of how he led his team in home runs during the spring. He also aided in moving over Gilmartin to third base in the eighth before Stock drove him home.
The win was the third in a row for Cotuit and marked the first shutout of the season for the pitching staff. The Kettleers will travel to Falmouth to face the Commodores on Friday night at 7 p.m. for another crucial two points in what has become a neck-and-neck race for first place in the West.
Wednesday night’s game was the first time Roberts used the exact same lineup on consecutive nights all season. The win was the second in a row for Cotuit and they will return home on Thursday to tangle with the Wareham Gatemen in hopes of avenging almost being no-hit last time. Game time is set for 5 p.m.