The Harwich Mariners moved one win closer to a Cape Cod Baseball League Championship on Wednesday evening with a 10-2 thumping of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in Game 1 of the East Division Championship Series. Backed by strong pitching and an all-around dominant day from the offense, the Mariners took a 1-0 lead over the Red Sox as the series transitions to Whitehouse Field for Game 2 on Thursday night.
Although the Mariners scored 10 runs on the evening, they got all of the offense they needed in the top of the first inning when they hung a three-spot on the Y-D defense. Harwich jumped all over Red Sox starter Caleb Anderson, with Cam Maldonado (Northeastern), Aiden Robbins (Seton Hall) and Aden Hill (Maryland) all reaching base before Anderson could pick up the first out.
Wilson Weber (Oregon State), Cade Kurland (Florida) and Jake Ogden (Miami) all drove in runs with productive at-bats, and before the Red Sox got their first chance at the plate, they were already chasing three runs.
“That was good to jump out on them early, you have to stay on top of these guys because their offense is extremely dangerous,” Harwich manager Steve Englert said. “We had some really, really disciplined at-bats that set the tone for the day.”
The Mariners were held scoreless for the next four innings while Y-D crept back into the game with runs in the third and fifth innings.
Heading into the sixth inning, the Harwich offense caught its second wind. Jake Ogden kicked off a one-out rally with a double down the left field line, and then advanced to third when Danny Dickinson (LSU) legged out an infield single that landed in the Bermuda Triangle between the pitcher and third baseman.
Next up was the No. 9 hitter, Sam McNulty (Boston College). McNulty, who has primarily remained in the lineup for his work in the field, drove a single to right field to drive in Ogden and double the Mariner lead to 4-2.
Cam Maldonado then singled on a laced line drive that was hit too hard to allow Dickinson to score from second, loading the bases for Aiden Robbins. During Robbins' at-bat, Y-D pitcher Brooks Ey balked, allowing Dickinson to walk home and make the score 5-2.
Robbins then had a productive groundout that scored McNulty from third, making the score 6-2.
Wilson Weber drove in one of his three runs on the day to put the cherry on top of a great inning from the Harwich offense that completely deflated any momentum the Red Sox had gained.
Weber was one of the main offensive catalysts for the Mariners on Wednesday evening, posting his second multi-hit game in a row.
“[Weber] is tremendous,” Englert said. “That was a great pickup for us a few weeks ago, he’s fitting right in with this group and he’s a great kid.”
The Harwich pitching staff had an efficient day, with Justin Mitrovich (Elon) and Jack Bowery (Northeastern) eating up innings and shutting down the Y-D lineup.
Mitrovich picked up the win, going five full innings, allowing just two runs on two hits, while Bowery completely locked down the Red Sox batting order in his four innings of work. He finished his outing with just two hits allowed.
Englert was thrilled to only have to use two pitchers in Game 1.
“It’s so big because now we get a fresh bullpen tomorrow,” Englert said. “You have to get quality starts out of your guys who start the games and get deep in the innings, eat some innings for you so you can save your bullpen. When you get to this part of the season it’s an extremely tough road and being able to just use a couple of guys is very beneficial.”
The Mariners have a chance to sweep the Red Sox on Thursday night in Game 2 back home at Whitehouse Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
“It’s going to be a dogfight all week long,” Englert said. “We blew them away today, but that’s a dangerous team over there and they can really hit. They came in first in the league for a reason, so we’ve just got to keep it going.”
