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Falmouth Forces Game Three with 6-3 Win

08/11/2008 1:52 PM

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11 August 2008

THIS WEEK IN THE CAPE LEAGUE
Championship Week

Falmouth Forces Game Three
Monday at Cotuit by Beating
West Champion Kettleers, 6-3

FALMOUTH, Mass. – Chris Gloor and the Falmouth bullpen held the potent Cotuit offense at bay, while Kevin Nolan and Michael Thomas chipped in 3-for-4 performances at the plate, leading the Commodores to a 6-3 victory over the Kettleers at Guv Fuller Field Sunday night.

     The two teams will meet in a game three showdown Monday at 3 p.m. at Lowell Park in Cotuit, with the winner advancing to the Cape Cod Baseball League championship finals starting Tuesday.

     “It was a real team effort tonight,” said Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy. “I have never once questioned the competitiveness or the spirit of this group. They really believe in themselves.”

     Falmouth took a 2-0 in the first inning. After walks to Joey Wong (Oregon State) and Darin Ruf (Creighton), Nolan (Winthrop) laced a two-out double up the middle to score both runners.

     The Commodores held a 4-0 lead after five innings thanks to a Trevor Coleman (Missouri) solo homer in the third and an RBI single by Ruf which scored Wong in the fifth.

     Despite four walks, Gloor (Quinnipiac) was solid through 5.2 innings, allowing only one hit until the sixth. With runners on first and second, Kevin Patterson (Auburn) stroked a first-pitch offering through the hole at second to put Cotuit on the board. One batter later, after Gloor’s exit, Evan Crawford (Indiana) made it 4-2 when he beat out an infield hit to shortstop.

     Cotuit tacked on another run in the seventh when Joey Lewis (Georgia) doubled in Jeff Kobernaus (Cal-Berkley), cutting the lead to 5-3.

     Falmouth, however, added an insurance run in the eighth on a Wong sacrifice fly which scored Thomas (Southern).

     “Any time you can come back and answer, it is a momentum shift back your way,” Trundy said. “Sometimes in baseball, momentum shifts are very subtle, but you can really feel it when you are sitting in the dugout and I thought that was important to answer when they scored.”

     Cotuit threatened in the ninth, with the potential go-ahead run at the plate, but with two outs, Ben Tootle (Jacksonville State) fanned Patterson to secure his fifth save of the season and preserve the Commodore win.

     Right fielder Ryan Jones (Wichita State) prevented Cotuit from striking earlier. Jones made a diving snatch in the fourth, then followed in the fifth by robbing Kobernaus of an extra-base hit and doubling up Dallas Poulk (NC State) at first with the throw in.

     “Being in this series, we know we can compete and we have been doing it for the past two games, so we feel really confident going into tomorrow,” Nolan said after the game.

     If Cotuit wins Monday’s game, the Kettleers will host Tuesday’s opener of the league championship series against Harwich, starting at 3 p.m. A Falmouth victory would have the Commodores traveling to Harwich for a 7 p.m. series opener against the Mariners.
 

Laura Rasmussen, CCBL Intern ([email protected]

 

John Garner, Jr.
Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394
[email protected] 

Joe Sherman
Web Editor
(508) 775-4364)
[email protected]

Interns 2008: Chris Blake, James Chandley, Ashley Crosby, Phil Garceau, Stefanie Marini, Laura Rasmussen