Falmouth wins West, advances to championship series Article By: Commodores 10, Kettleers 2: Falmouth continued its unbeaten streak in the 2014 Cape Cod Baseball League postseason with a decisive victory over Cotuit at Lowell Park on Monday to complete a sweep and clinch the West Division championship, presented by Rockland Trust. The Commodores will advance to the best-of-three Cape League championship series and will represent the West. Falmouth will square off against the winner of the East Division, which will be decided in a crucial Game 3 between Y-D and Harwich on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Whitehouse Field in Harwich.
The Commodores wasted no time putting runs on the board, taking an early 1-0 lead when league MVP Kevin Newman (Arizona) singled to left field to bring in Matt Eureste (San Jacinto).
The lead did not last long, as the Kettleers also came out swinging. Kyle Holder (San Diego) ripped a two-run home run to erase the deficit and give Cotuit a 2-1 lead. Holder was the only bright spot on the night for the Kettleers, tallying two of the team's three hits and driving in the only runs.
The score remained until the fifth inning when Steven Duggar (Clemson) singled to drive in a run. Not content to close out the inning tied, Conner Hale (LSU) singled to bring Duggar around for what would prove to be the game-winner. Hale wasn't finished there and went on to have a monster game, going 4-for-5 with a double, a run scored and four RBIs. Duggar, for his part, was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs.
The Commodores added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh before putting the game away in the eighth with five more runs. The team recorded a total of 17 hits to the Kettleers' paltry three.
Travis Stout (Jacksonville St.) pitched one inning of shutout relief in the fifth inning and was awarded the win. The Commodores used a combination of Ryan Moseley (Texas Tech), Kevin Mooney (Maryland) and Garrett Cleavinger (Oregon) to close out the game. The trio did not allow a hit over the final four innings.
The win makes it six straight for the Commodores, whose streak began with back-to-back victories to end the regular season. Falmouth has cruised through the playoffs thus far, sweeping both of its best-of-three series to go a perfect 4-0 to this point. The Commodores got the best of Hyannis in the West semifinals.
This championship series marks Falmouth's first appearance since 2011, in which the Commodores were swept by Harwich. The Commodores are looking to end a 34-year championship dating back to 1980. |