COTUIT, Mass. — Halfway through the season, Falmouth is on a serious high. In the past 12 games before Friday’s battle with Cotuit, the Commodores went 8-3-1, vaulting them to second place in the West Division.

The ‘Dores’ offense had also established itself as one of the best in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Maika Niu, Carl Schmidt, Antonio Morales, Adrian Lopez — they can attack opponents from all angles.

“In the first couple weeks, I think we were trying to do too much, and everybody's trying to do it by themselves,” Niu said. “And now I think everybody's showing what they can do.”

Still, despite maneuvering its way above .500, Falmouth hadn’t consistently stayed over the mark. Twice, it’d peaked above the line and both times it’d immediately lost. Most recently, a 9-5 loss to Hyannis sunk the Commodores back to even.

Against Cotuit, they took another step up. Falmouth (11-10-1) defeated the Kettleers (8-12-2) 7-6 behind a three-run comeback. Despite the Commodores’ offense being quieted for most of the game, they fought back with a four-run seventh inning to again move above .500 and into a tie for first place in the West.

“ We know we're never out of the game, especially with our offense,” said Kent Schmidt, who delivered the go-ahead RBI single.

Still, entering the seventh inning, Falmouth looked like it couldn’t do anything right. Pitching. Hitting. Even baserunning. Nothing was falling in place. But just as the game was fading away, the pieces came together.

With Cotuit replacing Jonathan Adelmann, who tossed two scoreless innings, with Chase Carson on the mound, it cut Falmouth a break.

The change led to its four-run inning. Ashton Wilson struck first. The Florida product demolished a two-run shot to left, his first dinger on the Cape, putting the Commodores within one for the second time in the contest.

This time, they capitalized. The ‘Dores took their first lead of the game. Lopez and Schmidt bookended a Niu bunt single by drilling singles, putting Falmouth up 7-6.

Falmouth again had momentum, this time with the lead. It was paramount to hold it. Jakob Schulz (Vanderbilt) did just that, working a 1-2-3 seventh, which was ultimately the final blow after the game was called for darkness.

Before Friday, Falmouth last played Cotuit on July 3 and 4, where they split the series, despite both sides combining for nine runs. Part of that reason was Matthew Dallas’ four scoreless innings in the ‘Dores’ 3-1 win.

Commodores manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia emphasized after falling to Hyannis that Falmouth’s pitching needed to improve to win games. The ‘Dores played the hot hand with Dallas on Friday, as he came in allowing just two walks and hits in nine innings.

He was a shell of himself versus Cotuit. For the first time this season, Dallas was hit hard.

Dallas started by loading the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch in the first. Cotuit promptly ran up the score. Luke Matthews drilled a two-run single, then Nolan Stevens scored from third after Dallas airmailed a ball to second. Camden Johnson followed with another single, scoring Matthews to make it 4-0.

Despite its large deficit, Falmouth had time to respond. After scoring one run through the first five innings versus Hyannis, it jumped on Miami’s Rob Evans right away.

Falmouth benefited from the Kettleers’ mistakes. Stevens dropped a Wilson fly ball in right, scoring both Maika Niu and Justin Osterhouse. David McCann then trotted home on a wild pitch. Just like that, the Commodores were back in the game.

They were surging. Dallas briefly rebounded to keep the momentum on their side. After the first, he finished by tossing scoreless second and third frames, despite allowing two baserunners in the second.

Falmouth didn’t take advantage immediately, though. It notched just one baserunner in the third and fourth, ending Evans’ day with just one hit allowed after the second inning.

The ‘Dores’ woes allowed the Kettleers to widen the gap. Just as Dallas was settling in, he allowed a walk and single in the fourth and was pulled for Jackson Vanesko (Bryant). Then, Jack Natili smashed a single into center, plating two to make it 6-3.

But Vanesko, who entered with an ERA above 4.00, rebounded, not surrendering another run for the next two innings, giving Falmouth’s offense time to heat up.

 ”He shoved, his stuff was working today,” Schmidt said. “He was getting ahead in the count, getting weak contact. He kept us in the game and let the offense go to work.”

Initially, Vanesko’s outing wasn’t reciprocated. Reliever Jonathan Adelmann (Bucknell) stifled the ‘Dores. He gave up just a Schmidt single across the fifth and sixth innings, which was erased after he tried to take an extra bag on an errant throw.

Everything was going wrong for Falmouth’s offense. That was until the seventh inning, when it completely flipped the game in its favor, leading to its win.

Before Friday, the Commodores had been flirting around .500 for a week. Against Cotuit, they once again moved above the line, a necessary step toward a deep playoff run.

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