
The Harwich Mariners seem to have turned a corner in late July, as they picked up their third straight win Monday night, a 5-2 defeat of the Chatham Anglers. With the win, the Mariners are back up to third place in the CCBL East Division after Brewster fell to the Cotuit Ketleers and Orleans’ game against the Bourne Braves was rained out.
It wouldn’t be a true Harwich vs. Chatham battle without at least a little bit of drama, and that’s exactly what occurred in the top of the ninth. Holding a 5-2 lead, Harwich manager Steve Englert made a call to the bullpen to bring in Jack Bowery (Northeastern) to pick up the save.
Inheriting a runner on first with just one out, Bowery got off to a shaky start, walking his first opponent, Luke Yuhasz, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Bowery dialed in for the next batter, Campbell Smithwick. The two battled out a seven-pitch at-bat in which Bowery prevailed, fanning Smithwick with a fastball low and away.
Now it was down to Chatham’s No. 9 hitter, Kyle Lodise. Lodise worked his way into a 2-0 count, and on the third pitch, he hit a towering fly ball to deep left field that just seemed to keep gaining momentum as it carried through the air. Harwich left fielder Matt Scannell (Wake Forest) tracked the ball the whole way and backpedaled all the way to the warning track before coming down with the ball just a few feet in front of the fence to end the game.
“It was a grinder win,” Englert said. “It got a little dicey there at the end, but we needed one of those, we’ve been due for one of those. We’ve got five to go, we’re playing pretty well right now, so we’ve just got to keep it going.”
The Harwich pitching staff controlled the game, with the three pitchers combining for a whopping 14 strikeouts, only allowing four hits.
Bryson Bales (Hendrix) picked up another quality start, going 5 1/3 innings, striking out nine batters, only allowing one unearned run on two hits.
“We got a quality start [from Bales], and that’s what you need when you want to start winning games down the stretch,” Englert said. “He had command of all of his pitches, it was good to see. I’m happy for him, he’s doing a good job for us.”
After a rocky start to his season, Bales has become one of the Mariners’ most consistent pitchers, dropping his ERA to 2.95 after Monday night. He has 21 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings pitched.
Cade Kurland (Florida) delivered the loudest offense of the night for Harwich, crushing his second home run of the season in the bottom of the first to give his team an early 1-0 lead.
“Cade’s a little scrap dog, a fire plug, he gets us going,” Englert said. “Kid loves playing baseball and it shows.”
The Mariners will look to make it four straight in the win column Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Cotuit for the final time this season. First pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m. at Lowell Park.