Over the course of the 2024 Cape Cod Baseball League season, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks have worked their way into the No. 1 seed in the West Division for the first time since 2015. This set them up with a spot secured in the playoffs and home-field advantage, taking on the Bourne Braves in the first round.
Looking to win their first CCBL Championship since 1991, the Hawks have shown what it takes to win games, and will need to continue to showcase what makes this year’s team special to eventually go the distance.
Road Resurgence
Throughout the month of July, Hyannis struggled mightly to win games in enemy territory, finishing 3-8 over that span. No matter the opponent, it was a huge factor as to why the team lost its top spot in the West Division for a chunk of time.
The Hawks have been comfortable at McKeon Park all season long, leading the CCBL in batting average, RBIs, OPS, runs scored and walks while also striking out the least among all teams when playing games at their home ballfield.
Coming down to the end of the regular season, Hyannis came away with a big win in Cotuit against the Kettleers for the first time since 2019, and won two of the three road games prior to that. It seems the squad’s confidence on the road is growing, right at the perfect time.
“One two punch” Savary and Wynk
When looking to name a Most Valuable Player for the Harbor Hawks in 2024, it’s hard not to look at two of the team’s starting pitchers as the front runners for their dominance over the course of the summer.
Both Aaron Savary (Iowa) and Blaine Wynk (Ohio State) have combined for 50 innings pitched, showcasing consistency throughout each outing. Having two arms that head coach Mitch Karraker can trust should prove to be massive when needing a solid start in a big game down the stretch.
Savary was named the CCBL All-Star Game starter, boasting a 1.42 ERA through 25.1 innings to go along with 32 strikeouts. Wynk holds a 2.55 ERA through his 24.2 innings on the bump, with 22 strikeouts to his name.
Bullpen Beasts
No group of relief pitchers in all of the CCBL have more wins on the mound than the Hawks bullpen. Albeit starting pitchers need five innings to earn a win, Hyannis’ bullpen arms have been sharp – they combined for 22 out of the club’s 24 wins this summer.
Two of the Harbor Hawks relief pitchers earned All-Star honors, the first being Casey Hintz (Arizona). With 10 appearances out of the bullpen, Hintz was stellar. Throwing to the tune of a 2.79 ERA, Hintz quickly became a mainstay for Karraker’s club. He leads all Hyannis pen arms with 25 strikeouts across 19.1 innings.
The Hawks' second All-Star reliever was southpaw Sean Fitzpatrick (Arizona State). The Sun Devil punched out 16 over 13.1 frames, and posted a terrific 2.70 ERA. He also collected a save.
Both Hintz and Fitzpatrick served as backbones of the club’s regular season bullpen, but other names such as Stone Cushing (BYU), Andres Galan (Tampa Bay Rays) and Dominick Carbone (Coastal Carolina) provided extremely important roles to boot.
Hyannis’ relievers struck out an impressive 223 batters this summer, the third-highest club total on the Cape.
On Base Machines
The Harbor Hawks are strong in many categories, but are tied for first in the CCBL in walks with 207. The next closest team is Harwich with 177. They also lead the league in on-base percentage at .376. These two statistics are incredible factors in manufacturing runs.
Currently, there are two Hawks in the top 10 for walks, OBP and stolen bases. Kane Kepley (North Carolina) is in all three of these categories and leads the league in walks with 38.
“Kane Kepley now has a walk rate of 23.8%, the highest rate of a qualified hitter in 37 years in the CCBL. He currently sits two walks shy of tying the wood bat franchise record for walks held by a former MLB All-Star Robin Ventura,” CCBL League Statistician Chris Thoms said on X/Twitter.
Kepley eventually set the franchise record in the wood bat era for walks against Wareham on August 3.
Streaky Bats
One of the most prominent struggles that the Hawks have faced during this season is the inconsistency of their offense. The bats have been either super hot or ice cold.
At the start of this season, the Harbor Hawks went undefeated for the first five games. Looking closely at the game finals and victories there is a common pattern. It holds several wins or losses in a row creating high volumes of streaks on both ends of the scale.
Through the first five games, the Hawks accumulated 36 runs to beat their opponents. In their first three-game losing streak they only recorded 10 runs. Hyannis also suffered some close losses. During a two-week span in early July, the Hawks recorded five games that were decided by one run in a win or loss. Consistency at the plate is going to be essential for a deep playoff run.
Small Ball Success
With incredibly fast players like Kepley, Josh Tate (Georgia Southern) and Nick Groves (Illinois) all rostered at once, small ball became ‘Harbor Hawks brand of baseball’ in 2024. There’s little doubt Karraker used his club’s speed to his advantage.
“Lots of these guys just have the green light,” Karraker said. “Our team was sort of built on speed, so I’m letting these guys do what they do best - run.”
Whether it was doing a job by moving a runner over, sacrifice bunting or swiping a bag, many Hyannis players showcased unselfishness to put the club first.
Kepley stole 21 bases on the year, good for a second-place tie in the CCBL. Tate added 7 of his own, while Groves swiped 10. The Hawks totaled 72 on the summer, good for second in the league.
The Hyannis bats clubbed 19 sacrifice flies, once again the second most on the Cape. They were also hit by 43 pitches, and laid down five sacrifice bunts. Numerous sacrifice bunt attempts by players like Kepley and Tate resulted in base hits because of speed down the line, causing havoc.
Timely Hitting
Pairing perfectly with the team’s utilization of small-ball is the success that Harbor Hawks hitters have had in big moments with runners on. Hyannis holds the league lead in batting average with runners in scoring position at .270, sitting eight points over second place.
This helped the team finish with the league lead in RBIs as well, with 191 overall. Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist) has been leading the way since the beginning of the summer in that department, finishing his all-star-worthy season with 28 RBIs, making the most of his opportunities whenever he gets them.
Lineup Changes
Throughout the season, Hyannis found success with multiple lineup changes.
Not only did the club face tons of turnover in terms of new players arriving and mainstays leaving, but Karraker was never hesitant to switch things around one through nine.
Kepley hit in the leadoff slot for most of the summer, but as things winded down, that number one spot in the order featured players like Dattalo, West and even Tate.
“Man, you’ve got to juggle quite a bit,” Karraker said. “Players coming in and out, and the different responsibilities you have as a manager.”
Karraker’s managerial decisions were never questioned throughout the season – his club didn’t finish first place in the West by accident. Some of his lineup changes paid off immediately, including a 5-for-5 game from West in his leadoff debut.
Team Chemistry
It’s no secret that team chemistry builds trust and connections that lead to winning. While there have been new players in and out of the blue and orange this season, the team has something special.
“[Team chemistry] is way better this year… Guys like Dattalo have been a really good glue guy, and we have Blake Cavill (Troy) who is the best leader in the dugout ever, ” head of baseball operations Mikey Lucario said. “Him and Cannon Peebles (Tennessee) have been super good. Guys like [Zach Yorke], Jon Jon [Gazdar] and even Wallace [Clark] who were here earlier in the year and left, made the vibes better. They all left it better this year than it was last year.”
Lucario has been with the Harbor Hawks for two years and agrees that summer ball on the Cape is unlike any other summer experience. Austin Wallace who is also a part of baseball operations, has been on both sides. He was a Harbor Hawk during the 2021 season as a player before pursuing analytics and operations to help the team this season.
“[Team chemistry] definitely has an impact on the game,” Wallace said. “When the guys are getting along well, it makes it more fun in the dugout and everyone plays better.”
Coaching
First-year field manager Karraker has made waves in the CCBL this year. Through his leadership, the Hawks have successfully clinched first place in the West Division since 2015.
“It’s about the players,” Karraker said. “Making sure they have a good experience and that they get better. That’s why we are here, to showcase their skills and improve going into their fall [seasons]. Also making sure that their organizations are happy the way we do things. I think we’ve accomplished that so far. Now, our ultimate goal is to win the championship.”
The pitching staff has done a diligent job this summer. Under the guidance of pitching coaches Ray Korn and Tanner Cunha, the pitchers have an overall era of 4.25.
“My philosophy in summer ball is mainly for [the team] to have fun again,” Cunha said. “They have to do a lot at school and summer ball is an outlet for them to reset themselves. I just try to be loose and laid back with them and at the end, it creates a better relationship with the players.”
Lack of Power
All baseball fans love seeing home runs as much as possible, giving a team runs with one swing of the bat, regardless of any runners on base. In 2024, it’s a huge part of the game that plays a big part in teams winning games. For the Harbor Hawks, however, the long ball hasn’t been necessary for adding wins to their record.
Over the course of the 2024 regular season, Hyannis has hit 22 homers, good enough to slot them tied for second to last place in the CCBL. It hasn’t stopped the team from winning games, despite having less than half of the big flies as the most homerun-happy team, the Y-D Red Sox.
13 different Harbor Hawks have gone yard at least once over the summer, with Dalton Bargo and Kepley leading the way with three each. Only six of the 13 players are still currently with the team, proving it won’t be a necessity to make a run in the playoffs.
Run Differential
Two early-season run-rule victories padded the Harbor Hawks' run differential early in the season. The club never looked back.
Finishing the summer with a +66 run differential, the Harbor Hawks boasted the best on Cape Cod in the statistical category by a whopping 18 runs.
This feat helped out expected stats, as the Harbor Hawks led all of the CCBL in expected wins with 24.
The club outscored opponents 240 to 174 – no team scored more runs across 40 games than Hyannis, averaging six a game in a historically pitcher-dominated league.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After coming close multiple times in the past few years, Hyannis seems to have a team that is capable of finishing the 2024 season with a championship. Only time will tell how things play out.
The Harbor Hawks take on the Bourne Braves at McKeon Park in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs in a win-or-go-home game on Tuesday, August 6 at 6 p.m.
The Braves are the only team that Hyannis couldn't beat over the course of the 40-game regular season, proving that round one should be quite the matchup.
