By Max Brill
SOUTH YARMOUTH ? The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox dispatched the Cotuit Kettleers by a score of 6-1 on Thursday evening at Red Wilson Field.
Red Sox pitching was flat-out dominant for a second consecutive day, allowing just one hit to the Kettleers through nine innings. Karl Kauffmann (Michigan), who got the start for Y-D, ran into some trouble in the first inning, loading the bases on an error and two walks with just one out. Only one run came home to score in the inning, though, on yet another error, this time by third baseman Nick Quintana (Arizona).
After the first, Kauffmann settled into a rhythm. He would allow only one hit and one walk over the ensuing four innings.
?I shied away from the fastball early on but that?s my bread and butter,? Kauffmann said in a postgame interview. ?So getting back to the fastball and letting the defense make plays [was how I tried to rebound]. Keeping the pitch count low. That was pretty much the key right there: attacking guys.?
The Y-D hitters, after managing to push across just one run in yesterday?s contest against Falmouth, were virtually silent through three innings. Then in the fourth, Andrew Daschbach (Stanford) made his presence known with a leadoff opposite field home run, his first dinger of the season. Daschbach finished the day 1-3 with a run, an RBI, and a walk. His average is now up to .350 on the season.
The Red Sox put up a three-spot in the seventh inning to take the lead for good. Christian Koss (UC Irvine), one of two returning hitters for Y-D, singled home Andrew Martinez (UC Santa Barbara) with nobody out in the inning. The Sox went on to add two more runs, one on a bases-loaded RBI groundout by left fielder Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon), and one on a wild pitch.
The offense did not stop there, though. After sending seven men to the plate in the seventh, the team sent six to the dish in the eighth. The two runs scored in the eighth came courtesy of an RBI single by none other than Koss.
?You know, it?s great to be back here,? Koss said after his standout performance. ?It?s a great place and a great team and you?ve gotta love the environment out here. I got off to a slow start. But getting back into it, getting back to being competitive, you love it. You live for the moments like this. I felt comfortable at the plate and it showed.?
Koss finished the day 3-4 with 3 RBI and a run.
Beastly Bullpen
The bullpen was stellar once again on Thursday night. After Chandler Fidel (Arkansas?Little Rock) and Sam Kessler (West Virginia) combined for four scoreless, one-hit innings on Wednesday night in Falmouth, Braidyn Fink (Oklahoma) and Ryne Nelson (Oregon) decided to one-up their teammates by throwing four scoreless, no-hit innings of relief on Thursday. Y-D relief pitchers racked up four strikeouts in their four innings against Cotuit.
Y-D has allowed just three hits over the last 18 innings pitched, and the only run against the team in that span was unearned. The Red Sox streak of eighteen consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run is the longest such streak of any team in the CCBL this season.
Play of the Game
Christian Koss? two-RBI single to break the game open to 6-1. In the eighth inning, with the team leading by three, Koss knocked a single up the middle to put the game out of reach.
?I try to enjoy every moment of it and I try to make other people enjoy it,? Koss said after the game. ?So any time I get someone to smile or get someone to laugh, that?s the stuff I live for. So I try to bring as much [sic] morale boosters as I can.?
The Red Sox return to action tomorrow evening at Red Wilson Field. First pitch against the Harwich Mariners is scheduled for 5 p.m.
