FALMOUTH, Mass. – Gavin Turley (Oregon State) rocketed the ball past the fence right down the middle to put up the Falmouth Commodores' first grand slam of the summer to lead them to a 4-3 win over the Chatham Anglers on Saturday.
“I knew it right off the bat, so I was looking for that exact pitch in that exact moment,” Turley said. “I was sitting on the fastball waiting for it. He went 2-0 to me with bases loaded, so I was like, he’s got to come at me right here.”
Falmouth is now 6-4 when playing at Guv Fuller Field. Chatham marks the second team not ranked fourth or fifth in its division that Falmouth has overcome.
“Last time we went there and it didn’t go our way,” Gage Wood (Arkansas) said. “But tonight we came out on top and that’s all that matters.”
Wood made his first start for the Commodores and he opened up with two strikeouts and a popout to send Liam Paddack (Gonzaga) to the mound. Paddack responded with two strikeouts and a groundout to go toe-to-toe with Wood.
John Bay (Austin Peay) snuck a single off of Wood to start the second inning, but Wood cleaned up, picking up back-to-back strikeouts to come out unscathed. Trent Caraway (Oregon State) secured the first hit for Falmouth in the bottom of the second, but Paddack closed out the second swiftly.
“I told the guys I wanted to strike out double digits and I came up one short,” Wood said. “I’m a little mad about it, but I did what I could to give my team a chance to win and we came out on top tonight, so can’t ask for much more.”
Falmouth left two runners stranded on base in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the game scoreless going into the sixth inning. The scoring drought was snapped in the sixth.
The Anglers struck first in the top of the sixth with two runs off a single from Bay and a costly throwing error from Caraway. Chatham kept chugging to extend to a 3-0 lead with an RBI from Aiva Arquette (Washington).
The Commodores were overdue for an offensive outburst and it came when bases loaded off a single from Caraway. Turley was next at-bat and delivered his grand slam for Falmouth to give the Commodores the 4-3 advantage over the Anglers.
A fiery sixth inning was followed by a three-up, three-down seventh inning. Tom Chmielewski (North Carolina) checked into the game in the top of the seventh and kept it clean for Falmouth.
Chmielewski was three outs away from clinching a Commodore win in the top of the ninth. He started having trouble walking two hitters after hitting them both with a pitch, so Edward Hart (Duke) relieved him to close the game out.
The Falmouth defense backed up Hart with a forceout and lineout, and then Jayson Jones (Oklahoma State) finished it off with a flyout in right field on Jayden Davis (Vanderbilt).
The Commodores (6-12) will travel to Doran Park to take on the Bourne Braves (6-10) on Sunday with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.
You can get live game updates on Instagram and X @FalCommodores or tune in to the live radio broadcast featuring Aiden Blanc and Braden Schenck on YouTube @FalmouthCommodores.
Photo credit: Meghan Murphy
