FALMOUTH, Mass. — First place. It’s a feeling Falmouth didn’t enjoy once last year. The Commodores went 16-23-1 and finished last in the West Division, missing the Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs.
But halfway through the 2025 campaign, the 'Dores had a chance to take the outright lead for the first time since 2023 on Wednesday.
After Falmouth downed Harwich, 9-8, via David McCann’s 10th-inning homer and the Harbor Hawks fell to Bourne on Tuesday, both teams moved into a tie for first in the West. As fate would have it, the Commodores faced Hyannis immediately.
The Commodores squandered their opportunity. Instead, Falmouth lost to Hyannis, 9-5, on Wednesday, pushing it back to second place in the division. Though the 'Dores tied the game with a three-run seventh, their pitching set them back by allowing four runs in the ninth.
“ We're doing everything we can to manufacture runs, but when you're playing to try and get eight or nine runs every night to get the win, we can't sustain that,” Falmouth manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia said.
All the momentum was in Falmouth’s corner after knotting the game 5-5.
Both sides wasted chances with runners in scoring position in the eighth inning. But Hyannis (9-8-3) had the final say in the ninth.
Off reliever Zach Johnston (Wake Forest), Charlie Bates singled on a flare to center and Hayden Federico walked. With two runners on and no outs, the Harbor Hawks opted for a sacrifice bunt. Jake Schaffner laid it down and reached after Johnston threw late to third.
Hyannis was one clutch at-bat away from pulling ahead. It didn’t even need to lift the bat off its shoulders. Johnston walked Jason Walk, then reliever Deven Sheerin handed Ryan McKay another free pass to make it 7-5. That was all Hyannis needed.
After scoring two more runs, Ryan Speshyock closed the game in the ninth, ending Falmouth’s first-place campaign.
“ When you're in a 5-5 ballgame like that, you’ve gotta be able to find a way to win,” Saltalamacchia said. “We just couldn't throw strikes and had a rough ninth inning.”
The Commodores (10-10-1) didn’t enter with past success against the Harbor Hawks, either. In their previous two matchups, Hyannis beat Falmouth 5-2 and 5-1. Across the contests, Falmouth produced 11 hits and went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
But the 'Dores had changed significantly since those games. Their offense led the CCBL in runs scored (103) before Wednesday, helping them go 8-2-1 in their last 11 contests. Falmouth had optimism despite its struggles versus Hyannis.
That firepower was absent to start. Saltalamacchia said Falmouth was too pull-happy, leading to early offensive woes.
The Harbor Hawks’ Richie Roman (Houston) shut Falmouth down. Despite Harwich sporting the CCBL’s third-worst ERA (4.57), he allowed just one run and two hits over five innings. Roman matched TJ Coats (Nebraska/transfer portal) by fanning Maika Niu to end the first, then posted a 1-2-3 second, highlighted by a Ryan Zuckerman strikeout.
But the 'Dores stayed in the game. Hyannis entered boasting the highest OPS (.735) and batting average (.258) in the league. Coats stifled them early.
In his third start of the year after two straight bullpen outings, Coats came out hot. Despite allowing two hits, he faced the minimum across four innings. He unconventionally retired the side in the first two, with Bear Harrison gunning down McKay stealing and Ray Velazquez flying into a double play. Coats posted more ordinary third and fourth innings, inducing two weak flyouts to Niu in the third.
Coats was spinning a gem through four. But after many offensive outbursts in their recent surge, the 'Dores couldn’t solve Roman.
He finished the next two frames in style, sitting down 10 consecutive batters after an Adrian Lopez second-inning single to match Coats. Roman retired Falmouth in order in the third and fourth, fanning Carl Schmidt, Lopez and Niu — who entered with a combined 30 RBIs — part of his six total strikeouts.
“ He was throwing that slider, spotting it,” Saltalamacchia said of Roman. “It seemed like he could do whatever he wanted with the ball.”
That allowed the Harbor Hawks to finally figure out Coats. After getting two outs in the fifth, Coats looked to be cruising again. But Bates grounded an opposite-field single to left, scoring Stone Lawless to open the game’s scoring.
Bates’ knock was just the start. Sawyer Black made it a crooked number, driving a three-run dinger to right, making it 4-0 right away.
Falmouth briefly responded after Kent Schmidt slid home on a Roman wild pitch. But its fire was immediately put out.
The Commodores replaced Coats with Holy Cross’ Jaden Wywoda, making his CCBL debut. After being named the 2025 Patriot League Pitcher of the Year, Wywoda struggled. Hyannis got the run right back after Gabe Camacho scored on a Kent error.
Hyannis also went to its bullpen, ridding the Commodores of Roman’s wrath. And that paid dividends. After a Carl Schmidt single and stolen base, Lopez made it 5-2 with an RBI double into right-center off Harwich’s Hunter Dietz.
Falmouth broke out in the seventh. It loaded the bases to open the frame, highlighted by Tristan Salinas and Justin Osterhouse singles. The Commodores pushed across two runs on a wild pitch and passed ball, then tied the game 5-5 on a Bates error at shortstop.
Momentum was on Falmouth’s side. But it all evaporated quickly in the ninth, leading to the Commodores’ defeat.
The 'Dores hadn’t felt the elation of first place in nearly two years. They could've quenched that thirst versus Hyannis. But by blowing its chance Wednesday, Falmouth will need to wait to do so.
Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.
