Last season, the Harwich Mariners caught fire at the end of the regular season and rode the momentum to the championship. If they want to raise the trophy again, they are going have to find their groove in the last three games of the season.
The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox scored five runs off starting pitcher Olin Johnson, forcing him out of the game after the third inning. Down 6-2, Harwich’s offense fought back, but fell short, 6-4, at Red Wilson Field on Thursday night.
One night after Tom Chmielewski had one of his worst outings on the Cape, his UNC teammate suffered the same fate.
It was evident early that the Red Sox had Johnson timed up. All three of Y-D’s hits in the first inning were line drives; even the outs were hit hard. He was fortunate to get out of the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Y-D bats only picked up in the following innings. Jack Arcamone drove in two in the second inning on a bases-loaded single to center field. After the first two batters reached in the third, A.J. Nessler and Yomar Cerreras traded outs for runs with a groundout and sacrifice bunt respectively.
“Y-D is a really good team,” pitching coach Ryan Parker said. “(Olin) was out there trying his hardest, but it wasn’t enough.”
Scott Doran went the rest of the way on the mound and cooled the Red Sox. He threw five innings and allowed just one run. His coaches have been pleased with the work he put into developing his curveball the last few weeks.
“More consistency from him,” Parker said. “He’s really put himself in a great spot in terms of being able to go out and execute what he’s been working on.”
Just a week ago, the Mariners were the unstoppable force of the Cape League. Two wins by mercy rule, three one-run wins, a couple come-from-behind wins; they found every way to win.
Now the team is just trying to grind out a win.
The offense chipped away in the second half of the game, showing some fight after going down early.
Sam Harris drove in his seventh run of the season with an RBI single off Michael Malki in the sixth inning to score Jake Koonin.
Niko Brini was his usual self on the basepaths. His dash from second base on a single gave Harwich its first run in the opening inning. He bookended the scoring in the seventh on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the catcher Arcamone.
Brini finished the game with a pair of singles. The trio of him, Tanner Marsh and Aiden Robbins combined for four of the team’s seven hits.
“Those two guys are great,” Robbins said of the two guys ahead of him in the lineup. “I love hitting behind them because it makes my job a lot easier.”
While the Mariners clinched a postseason berth due to Chatham losing to Falmouth, Robbins said the team needs to grab at least one more win to build momentum into the postseason.
Moving forward
The Mariners went 13-9-2 in July and now enter August in a three-way tie for second place. They host Hyannis on Friday night at Whitehouse Field at 6:30 p.m. It will be Harwich’s last regular-season matchup against the West Division.
