The Harwich Mariners picked up their most important win of the season Friday night in Orleans, defeating the Firebirds by a score of 5-4 in an intense game at Eldredge Park. Not only did the win move the Mariners into third place in the CCBL East Division standings, but it also solidified a 3-2 record over the Firebirds on the season. This must-have series win gives Harwich the tiebreaker over Orleans in the event that the two teams have identical records at the end of the regular season.
Up 5-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Mariners were teetering on the edge of another collapse, after Orleans loaded the bases with no outs. Harwich reliever Kevin Zarnoch (UMass Lowell) was in yet another high-stress situation, something that has become common in his outings.
Zarnoch kept his cool and began his uphill climb against Orleans designated hitter Landon Moran. He needed just three pitches to fan Moran, spotting a fastball up in the zone on the third pitch that Moran had no chance of catching up to.
Now that Zarnoch had cleared his first hurdle, the right-hander out of UMass Lowell was in a situation where contact wouldn’t kill him. He allowed the next Orleans batter, Austin Smith to hit a line drive to center field, which Matt Scannell (Wake Forest) easily caught. The run scored on the sacrifice, but it was the lesser of two evils, a run the Mariners could afford to give up thanks to the insurance run they had picked up in the seventh inning.
Now with all of the momentum on his side, Zarnoch made easy work of Lorenzo Meola, fanning him on five pitches with a backwards K to end the inning.
Zarnoch remained on the mound for the ninth inning and picked up his second save of the season.
“We pitched it well, got some knocks when we needed them, manufactured some runs,” Harwich manager Steve Englert said. “[Zarnoch], the Dorchester guy, coming in and getting the two-inning save.”
Although Zarnoch delivered the most high-pressure pitches of the evening, Donovan Burke (James Madison) delivered another strong outing for the Mariners, picking up his second win of the season. Burke fanned three batters over 5 2/3 innings, keeping the Mariners within attacking distance even after he gave up two runs in the second inning.
“[Burke is] a stud man; he’s battle-tested,” Englert said. “He’s pitched a lot of innings, he’s very poised and he pitches with conviction. He’s a competitive kid, I love him.”
The Harwich offense was only able to muster four hits on the night, with all four hits coming from just two players, Aiden Robbins (Seton Hall) and Aden Hill (Maryland), who each had two apiece. Robbins hit his first home run of the season in the third inning, a solo shot that cut the Firebirds lead in half at the time.
Much of the Mariners’ offense came from Orleans' errors. On the evening, Orleans made four, two of which led directly to Harwich runs being scored.
“You’ve got to take advantage of those mistakes,” Englert said. “In this league you’ve got to play great defense and throw strikes if you’re going to come out on top. We took advantage of those errors, but we’ll take them any way we can get them.”
“When you get down the stretch here, every game is huge,” Englert said. “It seems like every time we come over here it’s a grinder of a game. It was a lot of fun, the fans got their money’s worth.
The Mariners will have a chance to clinch a playoff spot Saturday night at Chatham. First pitch against the Anglers at Veterans Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.
