YARMOUTH, Mass. — Falmouth hadn’t held a lead over Yarmouth-Dennis all game. It tied the score five different times through seven innings. But the Commodores had never done enough to pull ahead.

It simply wasn’t a winning formula.

And Falmouth squandered its final true chance to do so in the seventh. The ‘Dores scraped across a run to tie the game at nine on a perfectly executed double steal. But that was all they could muster. The Red Sox’s Dominic Desch fanned Carl Schmidt and Antonio Morales to limit the damage.

The missed opportunity ended the Commodores’ winning hopes.

Still, the ‘Dores (7-7-1) did enough to force a 9-9 tie versus the Red Sox (10-3-2) in a shortened, eight-inning slugfest. Pitching was nonexistent, as the teams scored in 10 of 16 half innings and produced a combined 21 hits. Despite the underwhelming result, it was the third straight game Falmouth had scored at least eight runs, potentially providing Falmouth a boost heading into its upcoming two-game series with Cotuit.

“I think we have some good momentum going into the end of this week, so should be exciting,” Schmidt said.

The game was on the line in the eighth inning. Both teams’ bullpens spilled into the dugouts, knowing it was the final frame due to the setting sun at Red Wilson Field. But the extra jeers from the bench couldn’t spark a final rally.

Contrary to the previous seven innings, both squads went quietly. Bo Rhudy shut down Falmouth in the top half, getting Maika Niu and Kent Schmidt to fly out and pop out, respectively.

Falmouth’s Robby Poco faced more trouble. But as yells echoed from Y-D’s dugout on every pitch, he wasn’t fazed. With Brayden Dowd on third, he got Chris Hacopian to ground out to end the game.

“That was huge, just to go out as a tie,” Carl said of Porco’s finish. “Take out that situation, just throwing up the zone and giving us a chance to be in the game was huge.”

Before the game, both teams were playing at a breakneck pace. Before falling to Cotuit on Tuesday, the Red Sox boasted a nine-game win streak. They also ranked third in ERA (2.70) and second in OPS (.706) in the league. Falmouth, meanwhile, entered with wins in four of its last five contests, including 9-7 and 8-6 wins over Chatham and Bourne, respectively.

They each continued to flex their muscles Wednesday, forcing the Commodores into another slugfest.

The Red Sox knocked around LSU’s Deven Sheerin, Falmouth’s third straight first-time starter. After allowing two earned runs and failing to record an out in his last outing at Bourne, Sheerin surrendered six runs (three earned) in 2.2 innings Wednesday.

Hacopian started the scoring party in the first by knocking an RBI single to left, scoring Dowd. Then, Will Baker deposited a two-run homer over the right-field fence, giving Y-D a quick 3-0 lead.

But with their newfound offensive firepower, the Commodores’ offense fought back again. Y-D’s Carson Ballard, who entered with a scintillating 1.13 ERA, faced a bevy of trouble. After he escaped a first-inning jam, Falmouth matched the Red Sox in the second.

Kent and McCann opened with two consecutive singles, and Mark Quatrani plated Kent by lining an RBI double over Baker’s head in right. Falmouth tied the game 3-3 after Carl scored Quatrani on his second single of the game.

Falmouth had Y-D’s fate in its hands early. Sheerin coughed it right back up. He was wild to begin the second, hitting Dean Carpentier and moving two runners into scoring position on a wild pitch. Jake Bold gave the Red Sox the lead back, 5-3, by chopping a grounder over third, scoring two.

The carousel continued in the third. Like clockwork, the ‘Dores tied it 5-5 after second baseman Cody Miller booted an Ashton Larson grounder.

“We were just piecing it together and just kept fighting back,” Carl said of the repeated comebacks. “I think that's the goal of this group, that we just keep fighting.”

The Red Sox promptly executed a safety squeeze to make it 6-5 in the bottom of the third. That marked the end of both starter’s days. But opening the bullpens didn’t change much.

First, Carl greeted Y-D’s Chris Downs rudely. He said postgame he looked for something in the middle of the plate, and he got it, mashing a solo homer 377 feet to left, his third of four hits in the game and first long ball of the season.

In a game where scoring was plentiful, both teams desperately needed a break. They didn’t get one.

With two outs in the fifth, Carpentier drilled a two-run dinger to center, handing the Red Sox an 8-6 advantage. It wouldn’t hold again. Chris Newstrom halved the Commodores’ deficit with a booming solo shot to left, and they tied the game again when a Dominic Desch wild pitch scored Carl.

Despite more offensive firepower, the deadlock remained through six. Hacopian lined a ball off reliever Jakob Schulz’s glove, which scored Bold after Adrian Lopez threw the ricochet away. That made it 9-8. The ‘Dores then immediately re-tied the game 9-9 on their double steal.

From there, both Downs and Porco locked in, cementing what felt like an inevitable tie.

Though the game went just eight innings, scoreless frames were nearly extinct. Strong pitching was nonexistent. Despite scoring nine runs, Falmouth’s inability to pull ahead doomed it of a potential win over one of the league’s top teams.

Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.