In a game with serious implications for the Cape Cod Baseball League East Division standings, the Harwich Mariners battled until the very end before faltering in the bottom of the 10th inning, failing to score as Orleans reliever Saul Soto shut down the Harwich lineup.
Down a run and starting with the ghost runner on second base, Cam Maldonado (Northeastern) led off the bottom of the 10th. Instead of attempting to bunt the runner over to third base, which most teams, including Orleans in the top half of the inning, opt to do, Harwich manager Steve Englert decided to let his All-Star right fielder swing the bat.
Maldonado grounded a sharply hit ball right at third baseman Daniel Bucciero, who bobbled the ball as he was playing in on the grass expecting a bunt. He was able to leg it out to first base before Bucciero could collect it, giving the Mariners runners on first and second with no outs.
Now with another strong hitter in Cade Kurland (Florida) coming up to the plate, Englert again decided against the bunt to advance the runners to second and third, instead letting Kurland swing the bat. Kurland produced an unproductive out, a pop fly to the shortstop that put the inning-ending double play in effect for Orleans.
Wilson Weber (Oregon State) was next on the docket but was unable to snap out of his hitless day, going down on strikes.
So with two outs it was up to ... Jack Bowery? The reliever who had come in to pitch the 10th inning was forced to take what was originally Luke Heyman's (Florida) spot in the lineup and had FIVE different players slot in the spot. Because Harwich had put in a pinch runner in the ninth inning and taken out it's last player that is a batter, Bowery (Northeastern), who hadn't had an at-bat since his senior year of high school, was forced to take the spot in the batting order as the last hope for the Mariners.
Unfortunately for Harwich fans, the last glimmer of hope was out when Bowery came to the plate, as he struck out on five pitches to end the game.
With both teams entering the game with identical records of 10-19 and tied for the last playoff spot in the CCBL East Division, Orleans officially moved ahead with the win, putting Harwich out of the playoff picture for the first time this season.
The Mariners forced the game into extras in the bottom of the ninth with some drama of their own.
Trailing 4-3 entering the inning, Harwich loaded the bases with one out and Tommy Barth (Kansas) coming to the plate. Barth hit an almost identical grounder as Maldonado's in the 10th to Bucciero at third, who was unable to make a play, allowing pitcher Chance Mako (NC State) (the fourth of five substitutions in the aforementioned revolving No. 5 spot in the lineup) to score and tie the game.
Jake Ogden (Miami), who subbed in for Sam McNulty (Boston College) in the eighth inning, had a chance to send his fans home happy with a walk-off hit. And it looked like he had it for a split second — he roped a 98 mph line drive DIRECTLY at Firebird shortstop Lorenzo Meola, who promptly caught it and looked back the runners. A foot to the right or left and the ballgame would have been over right then and there.
Matt Scannell (Wake Forest), who had an unusually quiet game, grounded out to second base to end the inning and send it to extras.
Maldonado hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning, further solidifying his All-Star selection. He is now batting .284 with 17 RBI.
The Harwich pitching staff had a strong night in spite of the loss. Jake Hilton (Pomona-Pitzer) was once again the star on the bump in his second outing of the season, pitching two shutout innings in the eighth and ninth, giving his team every opportunity to fight back on offense.
Harwich is off Monday and will have a chance to reset before a matchup with the Bourne Braves at Whitehouse Field on Tuesday night. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
