HARWICH, Mass. — On Friday, Falmouth was just inches away from a two-game winning streak. It had Hyannis on the ropes, as Grant Meert induced a line drive to left with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

The Commodores looked to be headed to the ninth up 5-4. Ashton Wilson scampered to the spot of the ball. But he was off by a hair. Instead, the ball tipped off his glove, helping the Harbor Hawks take a one-run lead.

The loss was crushing. Falmouth looked to be turning things around after its previous four-game losing streak. But Wilson’s miscue severed all momentum the ‘Dores had.

“We’ve got to be better,” Falmouth manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia said Monday. “Whether it's the game calling, whether it's our scouting reports or whether it's just execution, we have to be better.”

The ‘Dores followed his words versus Harwich on Monday. Everything was clicking as Falmouth (13-15-1) cruised past the Mariners (13-12-3) 5-2. Falmouth jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second and never looked back. The trio of Easton Barrett (Arizona State), Deven Sheerin (LSU) and Mac Stiffler (West Virginia) pitched a flawless eight innings to push the Commodores back in the right direction.

“It's always good to get a lead, let a pitcher go out there with a little bit of a cushion,” Saltalamacchia said postgame. “We've been able to do that a few times and holding it’s been tough.”

The last Falmouth-Harwich matchup was a bloodbath. Including a 75-minute rain delay, an over-four-hour game ended in a 9-8 ‘Dores win. David McCann smashed a two-run homer in the 10th to claim the victory.

But that team hadn’t been present recently. Since then, Falmouth went 2-6, scoring over five runs once while allowing over that mark six times in that span.

It looked like that trend would continue to begin on Monday. In the first, Troy Dressler (Wake Forest) looked like he was cruising, sitting down All-Stars Antonio Morales, Adrian Lopez and Maika Niu in order.

Falmouth was seemingly resorting back to its typical offensive struggles. But that notion was put to bed in the second.

The Commodores loaded the bases with no outs, highlighted by Carl and Kent Schmidt singles. On the next pitch, Ryan Zuckerman (Georgia Tech) grounded a single through the right side, plating both Kent and Justin Osterhouse. Then, Bear Harrison (Texas A&M) ripped a double into the left center gap to make it 3-0 instantly.

The ‘Dores had established themselves from the jump. It was exactly what a struggling team needed.

On the mound, Barrett held the lead. He made his second straight start against the Mariners. Last time, he rebounded from three first-inning runs, not allowing another through his last three innings.

He was even better by pounding the zone on Monday, Saltalamacchia said. Barrett allowed just an Aiden Robbins first-inning single through the first three innings. He worked past Robbins’ knock in the first, then he held the ‘Dores’ newfound momentum by retiring nine straight batters across the second, third and fourth innings.

Falmouth’s offense, though, wasted a chance to break away. Dressler loaded the bases for the second straight inning, but he got Zuckerman to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat. They regressed through the next two innings, as Antonio Morales was caught stealing in the fourth and Kent Schmidt grounded out to end the fifth.

Fortunately, though, the Mariners couldn’t solve the Commodores’ pitchers. Barrett ended his day — going five frames, allowing zero runs and one hit — by working around two fifth-inning walks with a double play.

Sheerin and Stiffler followed with scoreless sixth and seventh innings. Despite being wild in recent outings, Sheerin controlled the zone on Monday, following a Shintaro Inoue hit by pitch with three straight outs. Stiffler matched him, inducing two flyouts to Niu in center to cap a scoreless seventh.

The Dores’ staff was spinning a gem. But they needed some insurance.

Falmouth used the long ball to do so. After going deep in the All Star Game on Saturday, Harrison launched a solo homer to left to lead off the seventh, his third hit and second RBI of the game. Zuckerman added another no-doubter in the ninth, making it 5-0.

“It wasn't your normal guys going out there and putting up the runs and the hits,” Saltalamacchia said. “It’s not always one through four, it's seven, eight, nine.”

The late offense proved to be pivotal. Harwich fought back briefly with two runs in the ninth, forcing the Commodores to use three pitchers, but Jackson Vanesko (Bryant) entered to get the final out and seal the win.

The victory once again sends the Commodores in the right direction. The remaining 11 regular-season games will be about maintaining that momentum to snag a potential playoff spot. Still, Saltalamacchia knows the team needs to focus on one game at a time.

“We had 12 games going into the night. If we go 12-0, we're sitting pretty good, but we'll work on tomorrow and go from there,” Saltalamacchia said.

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