Hyannis has deja-vu with another fog game and comeback all in one in 7-4 win over Chatham

Harbor Hawks hitters put together nine hits in just five-plus innings

By: Mike Maynard

The Hyannis Harbor Hawks got some assistance from fog for the second time this season, coming back to defeat the Chatham Anglers 7-4 in what was a just over five-inning game on Saturday night. Hyannis (9-8-1) scored six unanswered runs en route to the comeback victory.

In the top of the fourth, down by a run, Austin Kelly found himself at the dish with the bases loaded and only one out for the Harbor Hawks. He smashed a high fly ball out into deep right field that bounced just short of the fence and hopped over for a two-RBI ground-rule double that gave Hyannis the lead.

Although the Harbor Hawks found themselves down at a point later in the game, the offense for the team got off to a fast start in the top of the first inning. Nick Mitchell led off the ballgame with a hard-hit ground ball down the third base line that rolled all the way into left field and out of play for a ground-rule double of his own.

Cam Smith drove Mitchell in with a hard-hit grounder of his own in between the Anglers' (5-12-1) first and second baseman for an RBI single that gave Hyannis the lead to begin the contest.

Smith had yet another solid night for himself at the plate, finishing the game 3-4 with an RBI while just being a home run shy of the cycle.

“[Smith] is on it right now,” head coach Eric Beattie said. “He’s seeing the ball well. He’s laying off the slider, which earlier in the year he was swinging at. I think that’s making a big difference for him. Hopefully, he stays locked in; I think he will. He does things right, so I’m not surprised [by his success].”

As has become common for the Harbor Hawks, the lead was short-lived and was quickly relinquished to their opponents. Chatham exploded for a four-run second inning with the help of a pair of walks, an RBI single and a three-run homer down by the foul pole in left field off the bat of Hudson White.

Hyannis began its comeback in the following inning down by three, with Elijah Hainline and Smith both getting hits to lead off the inning and put runners on second and third with no outs. Kelly drove the first run of the inning in with a sacrifice fly.

Eric Snow batted later in the inning with runners on the corners and smacked a single in the same spot that Smith had earlier in the first inning to score Smith from third and shorten the deficit to one run.

Two runs of insurance were added on late by the Harbor Hawks, coming from a fielder’s choice and an error in the field by the Anglers.

The three-run lead proved to be enough with a nice pitching performance from both Ethan Bates and Cade Obermueller. Bates got the start for Hyannis and had a solid outing outside of the four-run second inning.

“I thought Bates made a lot of good pitches,” Beattie said. “Didn’t quite get the calls we wanted, but he stayed with it and kept us in the game.”

Obermueller came out of the bullpen in the fourth inning and ended up throwing two scoreless innings, where he didn’t allow a baserunner while also striking out three to go along with it.

“[Obermueller] is really good, he’s got a fastball that hitters don’t seem to pick up very well,” Beattie said. “He gets a lot of swings and misses and he [stays] around the zone.”

The sixth inning only featured one batter, as Smith sent a ball into the dense fog that got lost by the Chatham right fielder. Smith found himself on third base with a triple by the time the ball was located.

After this at-bat, the fog proved to be too much and the game went into a delay for 20 minutes, which became 30. After deliberating for a while, the umpires decided to call this one after five-plus innings which left the Harbor Hawks on top for the win.

Hyannis had success in all aspects in this one and will look to build off this win in its next game against Harwich. First pitch against the Mariners will be at 6 p.m. at McKeon Park.

“I saw a lot of confidence from the hitters,” Beattie said. “We went down, and we came right back and chipped away and kept scoring. I think the energy all day [Saturday] was really good.”

Mike Maynard can be reached at mikemay62@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @mikecmaynard.