New Englanders help Cotuit nab record 17th Cape League crown

Chris Holcomb of Osterville, Mass., (left) and Cody Pasic of Cotuit, Mass., host the CCBL trophy. (kettleers.org)

This summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League began like any other for Mike Roberts, the 16th-year manager of the Cotuit Kettleers.

When his team assembles at picturesque Lowell Park for the first time each June, Roberts asks a simple question that can set the tone for the eight or nine weeks that lie ahead.

“The first question we ask them is, 'Why are you in Cotuit? Why are you here?' And their answers this year were very mature about why they were here and what they wanted to accomplish,” said Roberts, whose Kettleers entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the West Division after amassing a 20-20-4 record. “It showed me that we had a lot of good young men who were excited about Cape League baseball and they wanted to do well.”