The Harwich Mariners and Bourne Braves came into Sunday needing to end June with a win. Both teams were riding three-game losing streaks and sat fourth place in their respective divisions.

Runs don’t come easy for either squad. Both teams were among the bottom three offenses in scoring in the league.

Things have clearly changed since Harwich won the first matchup 7-5 on opening night.

At Doran Field, runs came at a premium as Harwich beat Bourne 2-0. After getting outhit in their past six games, the Mariners recorded 9 hits to the Braves’ 4.

There was a new Troy Dressler on the mound as well. He struggled in his first appearance against Wareham, where he gave up four hits and three walks in just 1.1 innings.

During his week-long break between appearances, Dressler worked with his coaches to simplify his approach.

He looked like a completely different pitcher against Bourne. The Wake Forest product pitched three no-hit innings against the Braves.

“My fastball command was there,” Dressler said. “ I pounded the zone and threw a lot of strikes.”

Against an offense that scored 15 runs in its past two games, Dressler did not back down. Dressler struck out three batters while just walking two.

“He hadn’t pitched much this year,” Harwich field manager Steve Englert said. “The kid kept his work in between games. He got his opportunity out there and took advantage of it.”

Offense makes baby steps

While runs were scarce, the Mariner offense looked better than it had the previous week.

The seven hits were the most since the extra-inning win over Chatham. After averaging 11 strikeouts over the past four games, the team struck out just six times.

“We were punching out way too much,” Englert said. “We were not competing with two strikes. Tonight was a lot better.”

Harwich manufactured a run in the second inning without getting a hit. Jake Koonin led off with a walk against pitcher Zack Konstantinovsky, then advanced to second on a passed ball.

After a two-hit game against Orleans, Koonin reached base three times against Bourne. On top of the walk, he got hit by a pitch and reached on a fielder’s choice.

Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Tanner Marsh and Kyle Wolff brought the second baseman home to give Harwich the early 1-0 lead.

The Mariners managed to get on base every inning, but the key hit proved to be evasive. Eleven guys were stranded on base during the game.

That is until the top of the ninth.

Englert called on Dee Kennedy to pinch-hit for Niko Brini to lead off the inning. The Kansas State infielder drove the ball over the left field fence to give Harwich an insurance run. Kennedy had been going through a 2-15 stretch in his last five games.

“That’s an extremely tough thing to do," Englert said. "He had a tough game last night. He has that next pitch mentality and crushed that fastball.”

Bullpen shoves

After Dressler came out of the game, Matthew Heiberger and Ryan Bilka were given the task of holding the tight lead.

Dealing with a one-run lead for the most of the game, the margin of error was small.

While Bourne got its first hit of the game in the sixth off Heiberger, his defense came through to prevent any runs.

With a runner at second, Logan Hughes hit a fly ball to center fielder Tre Broussard. Making the easy catch, he fired a one-hopper to third baseman Maddox Molony to cut down Ryker Waite and end the inning.

Heiberger finished his outing with three strikeouts in three innings of work.

The Mariners called on Ryan Bilka to get the final nine outs of the game. Harwich’s most used reliever ran into a high-pressure situation during his first inning of work in the seventh.

Bourne looked to tie the game as Kade Lewis stood on third with two outs. Unnerved, Bilka struck out Campbell Smithwick on three pitches to keep the shutout.

Lewis became Bilka’s fourth strikeout of the night when he whiffed at a ball in the dirt to end the game.

“It feels great to have those guys behind me,” Dressler said of his teammates. “We got a bunch of horses in the pen.”

Bilka’s ERA stands at 2.61 through four appearances of the season.

Moving Forward

Harwich ended the month of June at 6-6-1 and in third place in the East Division. The Firebirds stand just a point behind in fourth place. The team is off tomorrow before hosting the Hyannis Harbor Hawks Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.