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June 23, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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June 23, 2006
 
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Perfect pitch Furbush adds talent,tenacity to Mets lineup By Kathleen Szmit Manwaring kmanwaring@barnstablepatriot.com KATHLEEN SZMIT MANWARING PHOTO OFF THE MOUND - Charlie Furbush, pitcher for the Hyannis Mets, joins the team from St. Joseph's College in Windham, Me where he is majoring in Sports Management. Furbush brings a lifelong love of baseball and a strong pitching arm to the team. BaseballplayerCharlieFurbush wasjust atyke when he played for the Dodgers. Now, at the tender age of 20, he's playing for the Mets. That would be the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League. 2006 marks the second year Furbush will play for the Mets. Last season, while playing base- ball at Saint Joseph's College in Windham,Maine,Furbush received an invitation to play on a temporary contract with the Hyannis team. As a seasoned player, Furbush was familiar with the long history and solid reputation oftheleague. "I never thought I'd play in this league,"he said. "I am head over heels for it." His talent didn't go unnoticed by his fellow players. Furbush describeshimself aslucky enough to be asked back on afull contract for the 2006 season. "I am very excited," he said. Furbush,asportsmanagement major, has difficulty recalling a time when he wasn't playing baseball. Since he was a tot he's been perfecting his pitch, as well as his swing on various fields in his home state of Maine. He began with T-ball, moving on to Little League with the aforementioned Dodgers, then to high school when he played for the SouthPortland Red Riots. He now plays at St. Joe's as pitcher for the Monks. A southpaw, Furbush brings someimpressivestatsto the game. In 2005 he pitched ateam-high 50 innings with 55 strikeouts in 12 appearances that included seven starts.No slouch at bat,hehit .392 with two homers, 10 doubles for ateam best, and only nine strike- outs during 125 at-bats. "He'sprobably the best Charlie I've ever seen," league president TinoDiGiovanni saidof the North Atlantic Conference Co-Player of the Year and Division III NEIBA Regional Ail-American. "Con- sidering the kids he's playing against he's done a marvelous job . He's held his own and then some." When presented withhisaccom- plishments,the ever-humble Fur- bush shrugs and attributes them to his love of the game. "It'sjust so much fun for me," he said. Althoughhetoyed withtheidea of playing basketball in college, his heart wasn't as taken with it asit is by baseball. "I'd talkto the coach andthen decideIwouldjust play baseball," he said. Lookingback on last year'sdif- ficult seasonfor theMets,Furbush notes that the 2006 team intends to show their strength and regain the faith of their fans, and put the Patriot Cup back in the hands of the Mets. "We're definitely going to have agood ball clubthisyear," he said. "We're going to try to get [the cup] back with the Mets." When not on the mound or at practice, Furbush and his team- mates do their best to take in the sights around Cape Cod and catch as many Red Sox games as possible. "I'm watching John Papelbon real closely right now," said Furbush. Furbush hopes to see himself on that mound in the future. That there will be Major League Baseball talent scouts watching him closely has motivated him to put in his best performances. "In ten years,Iwant to be playing professional baseball," he said. In the meantime he is gearing up for tomorrow'smatch against the Orleans Cardinals. "I'm so glad to be back,"he said."This is the best league in the country." KATHLEEN SZMIT MANWARING PHOTOS GET ON THAT BUS - Cotuit fan Alec Sturm, 18 months, checks out the Mets travel bus. Alec, from Brooklyn, is visiting his grandparents, Sandy and Joe Slotnik of Mashpee. MEETING ON THE MOUND - In an attempt to work out pitching issues, the Hyannis Mets meet with field coach Greg King (#25) during a brief time-out. Unfortunately the Mets fell to the Kettleers, 9-3 HYANNIS - With last season's struggles fresh in their minds, Mets fans are hoping the 2006 season will be successful. The team fell in its home opener against the Wareham Gatemen , 5-3. Nonetheless,the Mets put forth a valiant effort. Starter Matt Dalyheld tight until the third inning when the Gatemen began their charge, racking up all five hits before the fourth in- ning ended. Refusing to go down without a fight,the Mets rallied in the fourth when Vanderbilt's Ryan Flaherty hit a solid double to left center and drove home Sean O'Brien of Virginia Tech. Ramon Corona (NC State) followed with a bat- breaking single over the shortstop 's head that al- lowed Flaherty to cross the plate from second. In the fifth,catcher Max Arsenault of Southern Maine hit a nice single to lead off the inning, claim- ing third base following a CONTINUED ON PAGE A:13 vs.Wareham Gatemen 5 p.m. vs. Orleans Cardinals 5 p.m. at Harwich Mariners 5:30 p.m. atY-D Red Sox 5 p.m. at Wareham Gatemen 7 p.m. OPEN Rain Out Make-up Games vs. Harwich Mariners 5 p.m. at FalmouthCommodores 7 p.m. vs. Falmouth Commodores 5 p.m. at Bourne Braves 5 p.m. vs. Cotuit Kettleers 5 p.m. fornstnUf patriot Cup Series game at Cotuit Kettleers 5 p.m. JSarnstable patriot Cup Series game Kettleers take lead in Patriot Cup race By Kathleen Szmit Manwaring kmanwaring@barnstablepatnot.com In Game One of the Barnstable Patriot Cup com- petition between the Cotuit Kettleers and the Hyannis Mets, the Kettleers made it apparent that they have no plans to relinquish the trophy without a fight. The evening began with a brief mention of the Cup, es- tablished by the newspaper in 2004 to heighten the rival- ry between Barnstable 's two Cape Cod Baseball League teams. Then it was time to play ball. In the beginning, the game belonged to the Mets who scored tuns in each of the first two innings. Accom- panying this strong offense were two diving plays made by Matt Mangini and David Macias in the first. Unfortunately the Mets couldn't hold onto their lead, allowing 14 walks to the Ket- tleers. "We were fortunate ," said Kettleers field manager Mike Roberts. "They gave us a lot of opportunities be- cause of base on balls." Macias,a center fielder from Vandcrbilt, led off the game with a single before scoring on a basehit byNorth Carolina State's Mangini. In the second Ryan Fla- herty, also from Vanderbilt, drew afour-pitch walkto lead off the inning. Flaherty made it around the bases, crossing the plate on a double hit by Brian Juhl (Stanford). The game was tied by the third inning as Cotuit bats went to work,providing backup for the solid pitch- ing of Princeton's Christian Staehely. Errors by the Mets defense also contributed to Cotuit's rally. In spite of a pitching change by the Mets, the Kettleers bats remained on fire and pitcher Josh Coll- menter was no match.Cotuit netted two more runs in a short fourth inning and held tightly to the lead for the remainder of the game. The Mets attempted arally led by Macias in the sixth, as the outfielder led with a base hit that set off a string of four hits on six pitches including an RBI from Sean O'Brien (Virginia Tech). It was a noteworthy effort but fell short when afly out and a double play by Cotuit ended a bases-loaded threat. I Several pitching changes by the Mets made it obvi- ous the team was struggling to find their groove, while Cotuit was out-hit by the Mets 10-6 in the game. For Hyannis,Macias , Mangini and O'Brien each had two hits for the Mets, while Cotuit'sJeff Rea (Mis- sissippi State) reached base on all five of his at-bats, scor- ing four times and finishing three for three. The Kettleers win puts Cotuit ahead 1-0 in the race for the Patriot Cup. The ri- vals meet next on July 3 for a 5 p.m. game in Hyannis. Cotuit crunches Mets Town's CCBL season opens, albeit a day late By Kathleen Szmit Manwaring kmanwaring@barnstablepatriot.com KATHLEEN SZMIT MANWARING PHOTOS GAME FACE - Cotuit pitcher Christian Staehely lets one fly during the Kettleers game against the Hyannis Mets on Saturday. Cotuit emerged victorious over Hyannis in the first Patriot Cup match. Rain is fast becoming the bane of the existence of many Cape folks,includingthe Cape Cod Baseball League. An early morning soak- ing last Thursday left both McKeon and Lowellparks too soggy for play on opening day, much to the disappointment of loyal fans. Fortunatelythey didn't have to wait long as both teams held their openers at their respective fields a day later. Play ball! THE ULTIMATE REWARD - The Barnstable Patriot Cup shines beneath the tent during the first of six games between the Cotuit Kettleers and the Hyannis Mets. The Kettleers are one up on the Mets, having won Saturday 's match 9-3. at Brewster Whitecaps 5 p.m. atY-D Red Sox 5 p.m. vs. Bourne Braves 5 p.m. vs. Harwich Mariners 5 p.m. at Orleans Cardinals 7 p.m. OPEN Rain Out Make-up Games vs. Falmouth Comodores 5 p.m. at Harwich Mariners 7 p.m. at Chatham A's 7 p.m. vs.Wareham Gatemen 5 p.m. at Hyannis Mets 5 p.m. iBarnstafjle patriot Cup Series game vs. Hyannis Mets 5 p.m. JBamsftaMe patriot Cup Series game COTUIT - The Kettleers ' season got off to a great start Friday eveningwithawinover the Brewster Whitecaps. Dan Delucia, on the mound through eight innings for Cotuit,was impressive during the delayed opener. The temp from Ohio State allowed just three hits and one earned run while striking out four Whitecaps. At bat the Kettleers domi- nated,pounding out 16 hits with three runs in the second and two each in the third and fourth. Tennessee's Tony Delmo- nico demonstrated histalents and went four for five. Desig- nated hitter Kellen Kulbacki stirred things up as he went three for five with two stellar doubles for his team, includ- ing a neat RBI double in the fourth, and scoring runs in the second and third. Belmont' s Tony Thomas also went three for four and Brett Lilley went two for two for the Kettleers. In the end the Kettleers trumped the Whitecaps 8-2, kicking off what fans an- ticipate will be a successful season.