Big Sixth Leads Hawks To Third Straight Win vs Bourne
By: Ben Pope
The late game heroics arrived early for the Harbor Hawks on Monday night, as Hyannis was able to ride a six-run sixth inning to beat Bourne 6-4 in seven innings (due to fog).
The Harbor Hawks (13-11-1) entered Monday’s game against Bourne (13-11-1) riding back to back strong wins against Brewster and on the road against Wareham. However, the weather had put that hope in doubt early on with rain and fog in the forecast. After a thirty minute delay, the game was set into action, but the energy was seemingly out of wack for Hyannis.
“At the beginning of the game, the energy was low.” Coach Eric Beattie said post-game.
Despite the gloomy forecast, some players were able to keep the morale alive and get the team back into their groove.
“Gotta give credit to [O’Connor] and [Hodges],” Coach Beattie said, “…they came in from the pen and showed a lot of personality. It really got us in a good place.”
The game did not start out how Harbor Hawks starter Mason Nichols would have liked. The 6-5 right-hander allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases early in the first. Nichols allowed a sacrifice fly to Bourne’s Garrett Michel but was able to limit the early damage to one.
Nichols was able to navigate a couple scoreless frames before dealing with more traffic in the fourth inning. The Hyannis starter walked the leadoff batter Sam Peterson but was quickly eliminated on the base paths thanks to a strong throw by Aaron Parker. Nichols was lifted after allowing a second walk, giving way to Cade Obermueller.
Cameron Foster was first to face the left-hander, and he lined a ball off Obermueller’s left hand. The ball bounced to shortstop Elijah Hainline, but he threw the ball away to allow the runner to score and Foster to reach. Obermueller was able to stay in the game, but not before allowing another two runs to score on a wild pitch and a Jonathan Vastine sacrifice fly. Carter Lovasz finished the fourth for Hyannis, holding the Bourne lead at four.
On the other side of the ball, the Hyannis offense was having serious trouble dealing with the Braves starter Tristan Smith. The Clemson righthander had it all working, firing five shutout innings, striking out 8 in the process.
“[Smith] was awesome, one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen this summer. We were definitely happy to see somebody else come in…” Coach Beattie commented.
Jack Sullivan replaced Smith to begin the sixth for Bourne. After two quick outs, Cam Smith stepped up to the plate and crushed a 2-0 pitch into the center-field bushes. The third baseman’s fourth home run of the year couldn’t have come at a better time, giving some life into the Harbor Hawks dugout once again.
Zach Yorke stepped up to the plate next, making his season debut at home. The first baseman had a nice debut to this point, with a single and a couple nice defensive plays in the field. That wasn’t enough, as Yorke crushed a 3-2 fastball over the right-field scoreboard to cut the deficit to two. This was Yorke’s first home run of the season.
“I was sitting fastball early in the count. I had to shorten up my approach when I got to 3-2, and he challenged me with a fastball and I just put a good swing on it,” said Yorke.
Austin Kelly kept the two-out rally going, as he got a pinch-hit single to extend the inning to Elijah Hainline. The shortstop looked to make up for his earlier mistake and did just so. He demolished the first pitch he saw to dead center for a game-tying 2 run home run.
Jon Jon Gazdar stepped up next, reaching on a hit by pitch. A threat on the base paths, Gazdar stole second to set the stage for the eighth Harbor Hawk to hit in the inning, Aaron Parker. The catcher blooped a single over the second baseman’s head, scoring Jon Jon and giving Hyannis their first lead of the evening. After a pitching change, Will Taylor extended the lead with a RBI hit to score Parker.
After a scoreless seventh, the game was delayed and later called due to fog. The Harbor Hawks take the victory, extending their winning streak to three.
Hainline, one of the key contributors in the sixth, kept his thoughts very team-oriented post-game.
“Just a good team win. Going nearly back to back to back, just keep the momentum going…. just doing your part and trying to get back into the game,” Hainline said.
It seems like the throwback uniforms will see another day, as the Hawks are 3-0 now wearing the bright orange. Hyannis will look to extend their streak to four in a row, as they take on the Cotuit Kettleers Tuesday, July 11th at McKeon Park. First pitch will be at 6 P.M.
Ben Pope can be reached at bpope9202@gmail.com and found on Twitter @bope016.
