The top of the Falmouth Commodore lineup had no answer for Harwich Mariner pitching Monday night. The top-three hitters for the Commodores combined 0-12 against the duo of Troy Dressler and Josh Donegan.
Unfortunately for the Mariners, the Commodores' seven and eight hitters, Ryan Zuckerman and Bear Harrison, picked up the slack.
The duo drove in all five of Falmouth’s runs as the Commodores took down the Mariners 5-2 at Whitehouse Field. It was the teams’ first game coming out of the all-star break. Falmouth wins the season series 3-1.
The Mariners have yet to win a game after an off-day, going 0-6-2.
The good news: Harwich does not have another day off until next week.
Dressler’s fourth start of the summer was another great one. He allowed just two earned runs in six innings of work and struck out a season-high eight batters.
It was a start that was deserving of a win, especially with how he battled.
The Commodore bats worked Dressler in the second inning. The first five batters reached base: four by hits and one on an error by Shintaro Inoue. By the time Dressler struck out Tristan Salinas for the first out, Falmouth was up 3-0.
To Dressler’s credit, he got the final two outs of the inning with two men in scoring position to prevent any more damage. Maddox Molony held the runners on a ground ball and got the out at first. Dressler then got the strikeout to end the inning.
In the next inning, the Commodores loaded the bases with one out. This time, Dressler got Zuckerman to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Despite heavy traffic early, Dressler kept his composure.
“When adversity strikes, you got keep attacking and not back down,” he said.
Dressler settled in for his last three innings, allowing just two base runners and keeping Harwich within striking distance.
“He’s really having a good summer,” field manager Steve Englert said. “We’re in every game he’s thrown so far.”
The righty from Wake Forest lowered his ERA to 2.95 for the summer.
Donegan threw the final three innings for the Mariners and allowed just two hits. Unfortunately, both were solo home runs that cleared the left field fence. Both came from the bats Zuckerman and Harrison.
After Harrison opened the seventh with a home run on the first pitch, Donegan struck out his next four batters. Zuckerman hit another shot in the ninth before Donegan got his fifth punchout to end the inning.
“He let up a bomb then struck out the next three guys,” Englert said. “That shows a lot about his character.”
Too little too late
For eight innings, the Mariners mustered just four hits against Falmouth’s pitching. Easton Barrett pitched five innings of one-hit baseball while striking out five Mariners.
Harwich rallied in the ninth off a trio of Commodore relievers. Trey Wells’ single put runners on first and second with no outs, forcing Mac Stiffler out of the game.
But bad baserunning plagued the Mariners once again.
Later in the inning, pitcher Jake Cullen threw a wild pitch to walk Sam Harris. Molony scored from third base while Wells’ advanced to second. Then the catcher made the turn and broke for third.
Harrison’s throw from behind the plate beat Wells easily for the second out.
Harwich stayed alive though thanks to Falmouth’s erratic pitching. Cullen walked the next two batters and hit Tre Broussard to bring in the second Mariner run.
After another pitching change, Dee Kennedy ended the game with a groundout to shortstop Adrian Lopez.
Kennedy's double in the eighth was one of five hits for the Mariners on the night.
Moving forward
Monday marked the beginning of seven games in seven straight days for the Mariners. The team heads to Hyannis for the second time this season. The Mariners tied the Harbor Hawks, 2-2, at home back on July 1st.
