Hyannis explodes for 15 runs in huge victory over Chatham
Nine different Harbor Hawks reach base with a hit
By: Mike Maynard
The Hyannis Harbor Hawks took home a huge 15-6 blowout victory Friday night over the Chatham Anglers. Explosive offense throughout the whole lineup was the story of the game for the Harbor Hawks (16-12-1).
In the bottom of the third inning, Hyannis had the bases loaded. Brody Donay was the man tasked with taking the plate in this intense situation. In a 3-1 count, he drove a line drive over the wall and into the bushes into left-center field for a grand slam.
This was not the first time that the bases were juiced for the Harbor Hawks in the frame. Will Taylor and Elijah Hainline were the two batters before Donay, and both also had three ducks on the pond. Taylor was hit by a pitch and Hainline walked to plate two runs before the four-run blast.
The six-run third inning was also not the first in which Donay had success at the plate. In the bottom of the second, he came up to bat with Hainline on base from a walk. He put the exact same swing on the baseball he faced in this at-bat and, yet again, did damage by placing the ball over the wall in left-center in almost the exact same spot.
“[If we] keep swinging at good pitches and keep finding the barrel [of the bat], good things will happen,” head coach Eric Beattie said.
The offense for Hyannis came back alive in the bottom of the seventh. Alex Lane pinch hit to lead off the inning and doubled down the right field line. He came in to score after a Hainline single and an error by the Anglers’ (7-16-1) catcher.
Hainline scored as well with Trey Lipsey smacking an RBI single into right field to bring in another run. Nick Mitchell was the next batter and he followed up Lipsey’s single into right with one of his own. Donay came in to score his third run of the game.
Mitchell led off the bottom of the first inning with a hit-by-pitch in a two-strike count. A stolen base and back-to-back fly balls to the outfield from Zach Ehrhard and Cam Smith brought home the first run of the ballgame for Hyannis.
Zach Yorke continued his hot start to his campaign for the Harbor Hawks in the bottom of the fourth inning. He grounded a single up the middle that scored Mitchell who had walked to lead off the inning.
Hyannis finished up its scoring in the bottom of the eighth starting with a run scored on a fielder’s choice. Eric Snow didn’t want to be left without a hit in this one as he reached with an RBI infield single to score the 15th run of the contest.
Nine of the 10 batters for the Harbor Hawks ended this game with at least a one in the hit column. The extreme offensive showing was one that will look to be built off in the future.
“The Cape League is usually pitcher dominant,” Beattie said. “But I feel like our offense has put us in a position to win every game over the last 15-20 games. They’ve really done their part in scoring a lot of runs.”
Chatham got its biggest offensive explosion in the top of the fourth inning. Two singles followed up by a double plated the first two runs of the frame. Another single came in the following at-bat, followed by a pair of wild pitches and a balk to bring in the third run. An RBI single scored another to make it a four-run inning for the Anglers.
The other two runs for Chatham came in the top of the third. The first was from a fielder’s choice and the second was from a passed ball while the bases were loaded. This made it a total of six. This was one of a few innings that featured an uncharacteristically high number of errors in the field by Hyannis in an otherwise pretty much flawless victory.
“I think we just kind of let [the details] go there for the first few innings,” Beattie said. “[The team] locked back in and we made some really good plays down the stretch of this game.”
Tyler LeBlanc and Dennis Colleran threw two innings a piece out of the bullpen for the Harbor Hawks. Each player finished with a scoreless outing with LeBlanc having one and Colleran with three strikeouts added on to their stat lines.
“Everybody across the board in the bullpen has come through,” Beattie said.
Cade Obermueller was tasked with the ninth inning on the mound for Hyannis and he did not disappoint. He set down the three Anglers he faced in order with two of them coming by way of the strikeout to cap off the win.
The Harbor Hawks full team came to play against Chatham and each player that entered the game made sure to leave their mark. It was a great team win to help to create some momentum into the next few games.
“There are so many close games [in the Cape League] that when you get to keep a four or five-run cushion the whole game, it definitely eases everyone up a little bit,” Beattie said. “When you’re playing every night, those games are big.”
Hyannis took the lead in the first inning and never looked back in this one, extending the deficit to nine runs by the end of the contest. From a team that has shown great ability to come from behind, it is nice to see they are comfortable holding an early lead as well.
The Harbor Hawks will look to build off this huge win in their next battle at home against Bourne. First pitch at McKeon Park will be Saturday, July 15 at 6 p.m.
“[The team’s] having a good time,” Beattie said. “Lots of smiles and lots of good energy. Just got to keep that around.”
Mike Maynard can be reached at mikemay62@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @mikecmaynard