Clutch Cottam Comes Through for Cats Again on Sunday
Junior Kole Cottam has proven to be a clutch hitter during his three-year career with the Kentucky baseball team. Time and again during his career in the blue and white, Cottam has been able to come through when the Wildcats needed him most.
The most memorable example of Cottam’s big plays came in last season’s regional championship game against N.C. State. In the seventh inning of a tie game, it was Cottam’s two-run double off the wall that gave Kentucky a lead it would never relinquish.
On Sunday, the Knoxville, Tennessee, native was at it again. With Kentucky trailing Missouri 10-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning and with the bases loaded, Cottam launched a Bryce Montes de Oca pitch over the wall in left-center field for a grand slam. Cottam got the pitch he was hoping to see, and he nailed it.
“He’s a really good pitcher and has been for a long time,” Cottam said. “After he threw me a first-pitch slider, I was hoping he would throw me a fastball and he did.”
For Cottam, who had a career-high five RBIs in Sunday’s 11-10 win, coming through in the clutch is a matter of keeping things simple.
“Just trying to stick with my plan that I’ve had all year,” Cottam said. “Just trying to do less in a big situation and control my breathing. It worked out well.”
However, Cottam also knew that it was a team effort that allowed him to come through in the clutch.
“We had so many guys do so many great things,” Cottam said. “(Ryan) Shinn started off the inning with a bomb. Coltyn Kessler, what a phenomenal day he had, freshman stepping up, got on base. (Tristan Pompey) getting a hit, Troy (Squires) getting a hit set it all up.”
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione knows that part of coming through in big situations is being prepared when those chances arise.
“He believes, he believes,” Mingione said of Cottam. “That guy works as hard as anybody on our team. If you were to ask ‘hey, who takes the most swings on the team’, his name is coming up. When you are prepared and you put in your work, he was ready.”
Kentucky took the lead in the bottom of the first when Cottam singled to center field, scoring Pompey to tie the game 1-1. Cottam would score when Luke Heyer hit his 16th home run of the season later in the first inning.
Kentucky would eventually take a 6-1 lead before Missouri stormed back, scoring nine straight runs to lead 10-6. Despite the deficit, Mingione knew his team was never out of the game. But he also knew it would take a team effort to rally and win.
“We just kept coming back and coming back,” Mingione said. “But it took a lot of guys to make that possible.”
And it was Cottam who came through in the clutch yet again, saving the Wildcats on a wild Sunday at the Cliff.
