Hyannis Win Streak Ends with a 5-5 Tie in Harwich

By: Matt Coates

The red-hot Hyannis Harbor Hawks traveled east on Route 6 to square off with the Harwich Mariners in search of their fifth straight victory. 

Unfortunately, a late Mariners (14-16-1) rally and faulty lights ended the Hyannis (17-12-2) win streak, as this game ended in a 5-5 tie after 8 innings of play. 

“It felt like a loss,” head coach Eric Beattie said. “We came up big pretty early and just let them little by little get into it.”

Coach Beattie was not exaggerating when he said the team was big early on. The Hawks wasted no time getting on the board, earning a 1-0 lead off of a Cam Smith triple in the top of the first inning. After Zach Ehrhard walked his way on with one out, Smith walked to the plate. Smith fouled off two pitches after falling behind 0-2 in the count, before ripping a pitch to left-center field for his third triple of the season. That hit helped Smith extend his hitting streak to an impressive 12 games. 

“It feels pretty special,” Smith said. “Just shows that when you have an approach and you stick to it, it can work out pretty good.” 

Hyannis starter Mason Nichols did his job to start the game, earning two Ks in a one-two-three bottom of the first. 

In the top of the second inning, the Harbor Hawks got to work with two outs. The Harwich starter seemed to lose control, as he walked Aaron Parker and then hit both Trey Lipsey and Nick Mitchell with pitches. Unfortunately, Hyannis couldn’t manage a run after a couple of questionable strike calls to Ehrhard ended the inning. 

Hyannis was hungry for more after their scoreless second. Smith and Zach Yorke led off the inning with bloop singles to left field and right field, respectively. Then the speedy Elijah Hainline bunted his way on to load the bases with no outs. Jon Jon Gazdar decided to make it four straight singles and bring home Smith, keeping the bases loaded but increasing the lead to 2-0.

Donay decided to break up the single train, placing a double down the left field line to increase the Hawks' lead to 4-0. That extra-base hit out of Donay surprised no one watching, as it was his fourth in the past five games. Hyannis finished the top half of the inning with a four-run cushion after a Lipsey sacrifice fly.

After that sacrifice fly in the top of the third, the Hawks bats fell flat. They didn’t muster a run for the remainder of the eight inning game, only managing one hit from the fourth inning on. 

“They made some good defensive plays,” Beattie said. “I think a couple of breaks just didn’t go our way.”

It was just that type of game for Hyannis, not catching enough breaks to come out on top. However, the team was 7-3 over the last ten games heading into this matchup, making this the first tough break in quite some time. 

Not everything was disappointing for the Harbor Hawks tonight, as Nichols was sharp throughout his appearance. He had his longest outing of the season to date, lasting four innings, only allowing one earned run with four strikeouts. This was a big start for Nichols, as he struggled some this season. He had a 6.56 ERA entering this game, but lowered that number to 5.51 with this performance. 

“[Nichols’] fastball looked really good today,” head coach Eric Beattie said. “He found his off-speed the second time through, I thought he threw the ball really well.” 

The scoreless innings for Hyannis were not for lack of effort. Aaron Parker looked like he was going to make a splash with two outs in the top of the fifth. He hit a ball hard to deep center field, only to be matched by Mariners’ center fielder Devin Obee, who ran back and tracked the ball into the breadbasket, effectively ending the half-inning. Obee made another spectacular catch running to the wall in center field, earning a nod of respect when we talked to coach Beattie in the postgame. 

“Their centerfielder made some epic plays out there,” Beattie said. “If either of those balls fall, we score three, maybe four more runs.”  

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Harwich started mounting their comeback. Shortstop Ali Camarillo crushed a fastball on the second pitch of the inning, chasing Mitchell back to the wall with no avail, as he watched the ball fall beyond the fence. That shot cut the Hyannis lead down to 5-2, and was the first run scored since the third inning. 

Trouble struck once again for the Harbor Hawks in the bottom of the eighth. The Mariners loaded the bases with one out, putting Hyannis' three-run lead in jeopardy. The Hawks allowed a bloop single to no man’s land behind first base and another hit that tied the game, making it 5-5 after eight. 

Unfortunately, eight innings were all that was in store tonight. In a season riddled with fog and rain delays or cancellations, this was cut short because it was too dark. Harwich’s lights were not working, and because of that, the game was called after the eighth. 

This game ended on a sour note for the entire Hyannis team and fans, as they were unable to respond after letting the Mariners tie the game. 

The Harbor Hawks will look to get back to their winning ways as they host the Falmouth Commodores on July 17th for “Bark in the Park Night” at McKeon Park. If you like good baseball and dogs, that’s the place to be Monday night.

Matt Coates can be reached at coatesm@misericordia.edu or followed on Twitter @MattCoates14