Hyannis Gets Walked Off in Second Straight Defeat
By: Matt Coates
The Hyannis Harbor Hawks began their weekend with a heartbreaking loss against the Bourne Braves on Friday night. Entering the game, both teams were tied for third place in the West Division of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Tonight’s outcome propelled Bourne (9-8-1) to second place while dropping Hyannis (8-8-1) to fourth place.
Fresh off respective shutouts, both the Harbor Hawks and Braves offenses came in with extra motivation at the plate. However, the starting pitchers had no interest in making this matchup a shootout.
Both starters went one-two-three to start their nights, shutting down the beginning of each lineup. However, Bourne did not wait much longer, as they brought a run home in the bottom of the second inning.
After Hyannis starter Jamie Arnold allowed two singles with one out, the Harbor Hawks had a chance to end the inning with a double play ball hit to the shortstop. However, after failing to get the out at first, the Braves had runners on the corners with two outs. This allowed a short, chopped hit to bring in the first run of the game, giving Bourne an early lead.
That failure to turn two has been all too common for Hyannis this summer. Entering the game, the team was tied for last in the league in fielding percentage.
Hyannis was ready to battle in this game, as they responded immediately in the top of the third inning. With two outs in the inning, Eric Snow hit a single in between the first and second baseman to give the Hawks a baserunner. After a wild pitch, Snow got on his horse and made his way to scoring position. New centerfielder Nick Mitchell earned his first hit of the season, bringing home Snow to tie the game.
After loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, Arnold worked his way out of the jam with a soft lineout to shortstop Elijah Hainline to end the inning.
That was Arnold’s last out of the game. He exited after three innings, with three strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run. With tonight’s performance, Arnold continues his great season on the Cape, increasing his strikeout total to 18 alongside a 2.13 ERA. Arnold entered the game tied for eighth in the league in strikeouts.
Head coach Eric Beattie praised Arnold for his performance tonight. “He did a good job,” coach Beattie said. “He gave us a chance to win.”
Unfortunately, the tie would not last for much longer. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Bradley Hodges from the University of Virginia made his first appearance of the summer on the mound. The Braves were able to plate two runs against him, retaking the lead to the tone of 3-1.
Even after falling behind for a second time, Hyannis refused to relent in this matchup. Mike Sirota stepped up to the plate, leading off the sixth inning with a deep shot over the fence in left-center field. The game had a short delay in the next at-bat after the umpire took a foul ball to the throat. When the game resumed, Brody Donay wasted no time. On the first pitch back, he ripped a line drive that hopped over the fence in left field for a ground rule double.
Zach Ehrhard entered the game as a pinch hitter to keep the rally going. After a 0-25 stretch to start the season, Ehrhard bunted his way on for his first hit of the season. He put runners on the corners, setting up Will Taylor to tie the game up with a sacrifice bunt of his own.
Entering the sixth inning, the game was notted at three apiece. Even though Bourne got their first extra-base hit of the game, Hodges and Ethan Lanthier combined to escape the inning.
Then, each pitching staff hunkered down. There was only one hit for either team in the seventh and the eighth inning. Lanthier continued his successful season for the Harbor Hawks, lasting two and a third perfect innings with three strikeouts.
Trouble struck for Hyannis in the bottom of the ninth. The Braves led off the half inning with a deep double, putting the walk-off run in scoring position with no outs. Chris Stanfield of Bourne then legged out an infield single to make it runners on the corner with no outs.
Michael Rodriguez, who has been dominant for the Hawks this season, faced trouble in this ninth inning. Hyannis opted to intentionally walk Jonathan Vastine, loading the bases with no outs. After earning one out in the inning, the count struck full, and the pressure was on to deliver a good pitch. Rodriguez just missed the zone, allowing the Braves to walk on in for a game-winner.
“We just have to play better,” coach Beattie said. “In close games, you have to make the plays that you have to make, and we didn’t make the plays.”
After the heartbreaking loss against Bourne, the Hawks will stay on the road against the Chatham Anglers (5-11) at 7 p.m. on July 1st.
Matt Coates can be reached at coatesm@misericordia.edu or followed on Twitter @MattCoates14
