HARWICH, Mass. — David McCann was supposed to bunt.
With Falmouth and Harwich knotted 7-7 in the tenth inning and Antonio Morales at third, Falmouth manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia told the Virginia Tech catcher, batting sub-.150 on the year, to execute a safety squeeze.
Instead, McCann swung away. Saltalamacchia got more than he bargained for. McCann launched a no-doubt, two-run homer into the trees in right field, completely turning the momentum in Falmouth’s favor.
McCann’s late-game heroics saved Falmouth (10-9-1), leading to its 9-8 win over Harwich (10-7-3) after Joe Sabbath closed the game in the bottom half. The win pushed the Commodores into a tie for first place in the West Division after Hyannis fell to Bourne 12-6.
“It sets us up down the road,” Falmouth starter Easton Barrett said about the win. “We’ve gotta win every game late, and if we can do that, we're gonna be a good team.”
Falmouth entered with a dire need to win. Not because it was struggling. But because the MLB Draft is approaching, likely taking the Commodores’ star players with it.
For Falmouth, players like Maika Niu (Arkansas) and Adrian Lopez (USC), who are draft eligible, are likely playing their last games for the Commodores this week. Its best pitcher, Kaden Echeman, had already left to prepare for the draft. Falmouth’s extra-inning surge helped the Commodores take advantage of their final days.
But it almost wasn’t that way.
In the eighth, the ‘Dores clung to a 7-5 lead. They looked to be cruising into the ninth after Connor Linn got Dee Kennedy to hit a pop up into right.
But the ball plopped harmlessly onto the ground next to right fielder Chris Newstrom, scoring Maddox Molony from third. Harwich ultimately tied the game at seven after a Matt Conte bloop single to right.
The blown lead forced the Commodores to win the game in the tenth.
Falmouth entered Tuesday with mixed results against the Mariners in its past two matchups. First, the Commodores fell 6-0 in its third game of the season on June 16. In their next matchup on June 27, the ‘Dores downed Harwich 3-1, backed by stellar pitching performances from Grayson Saunier and TJ Coats.
But the Commodores jumped on a familiar foe — Harwich’s Freddy Rodriguez — early. Rodriguez tossed five scoreless innings in the two’s first matchup. This time, the ‘Dores knocked him around for four runs and seven hits through 2 ⅓.
Like many of its recent games, Falmouth grabbed the lead instantly. Carl Schmidt continued to be reliable out of the leadoff spot, starting the game with one of three doubles, and Niu drove him in with an RBI single to left.
It was up to Barrett (Arizona State) to hold the lead. But after allowing four runs versus Bourne last week versus Bourne, he coughed up the lead. He surrendered four straight baserunners to open the first. Molony plated Bristol Carter with a single, then Kyle Wolff and Conte made it 3-1 with sac flies into center.
Barrett had put the Commodores behind the eight ball. They responded with an avalanche. Rodriguez sat Falmouth down in order in the second, but he wasn’t as lucky in the third.
Schmidt doubled again, then Justin Osterhouse singled. Lopez narrowed Falmouth’s deficit with a sac fly to left.
Then, the newest Commodore came through. In just his third game with Falmouth, Ryan Zuckerman (Georgia Tech) collected his first two RBIs on the Cape by roping a double down the left field line, plating Osterhouse and Niu to make it 4-3.
With the lead back, Falmouth needed Barrett to hold it. Using his newly-minted cutter, slider and fastball, he built an iron fortress.
Barrett used 24 pitches to retire all nine batters in the second, third and fourth. He displayed his strikeout stuff, fanning five across the three frames to rebound from his rocky start.
“I was throwing strikes, and things weren't going my way,” Barrett said. “But I just kept attacking hitters, and the hits stopped falling, and it worked out in the end.”
Falmouth’s offense responded, too. Off reliever Olin Johnson, it doubled its lead. After starting with two singles, the Commodores executed a perfect double steal, as Niu slid in just before Conte’s tag.
But then, Mother Nature struck, forcing both sides to reboot. It caused a scoring frenzy.
With Kent Schmidt on third entering the delay, the Commodores made it 6-3 after he scored before Ashton Wilson was tagged out on a rundown.
On the mound, the ‘Dores were forced to replace Barrett with Connor Linn (Northern Kentucky). After all the down time during the delay, he struggled. The first batter he faced, Niko Brini, immediately took advantage, drilling a solo homer to right.
After a Lopez RBI single briefly re-established Falmouth’s three-run lead, Linn was hit again. This time, Aiden Robbins lofted another solo dinger to left, making it 7-5.
It was clear the extended off period had shaken both teams. The question became which one could settle back in.
At first, the Mariners did. Tom Chmielewski induced 1-2-3 seventh and eighth innings, Harwich’s first such frames since the second inning.
With their offense quieting down, the Commodores needed a spark to pull out the victory.
McCann provided it. And Falmouth is lucky he didn’t bunt.
Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.
