There aren’t many losses after which you’ll see players showering their manager with a water cooler, but Saturday’s 15-8 defeat at the hands of the Cotuit Kettleers at McKeon Park was one for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
By virtue of the Bourne Braves’ concurrent loss to the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Bourne now sits three points behind 42-point Hyannis – a deficit impossible to make up with one game left to play in the season.
“We’ve come a long way,” Hyannis manager Mitch Karraker said. “We got off to a really rough start” – the 21-18 Harbor Hawks only climbed above the .500 mark on July 28 – “and the last few weeks, how well we’ve played, really proud of the guys.”
The Harbor Hawks almost had more to celebrate in a chaotic game against the Kettleers – first digging themselves into a 6-0 hole, storming back to tie the game at 7-7, and finally losing 15-8 after a bullpen meltdown.
Hyannis was at an automatic disadvantage to start the game. Due to several recent rainouts and the lack of makeup dates so late in the season, the Harbor Hawks have played four games in the last two days. Cotuit only played one game on Saturday.
“They’re tired,” Karraker said. “It’s been a long two days. Four games in two days is really hard. To win three of four” – Hyannis was on a six-game winning streak – “is really hard. So the guys did a really good job of that.”
Hyannis starter Kevin Robinson’s struggles continued in his second start of the season. The Northwestern State righty, coming off a standout collegiate season in which he struck out 48 and walked only three batters. On Saturday, Cotuit tagged him for six runs – five earned – on seven hits. Robinson struck out four and issued a base on balls.
“His stuff’s good, it’s just the location of it,” Karraker said. “He’s leaving too many balls over the middle of the plate.”
Robinson’s struggles began with his first pitch of the game, as Kettleers right fielder Landon Beaver attacked the first pitch he saw from the right-hander and drove it over the center-field wall. Cotuit’s leadoff man, its hottest hitter with an .836 OPS, reached base six times in the game with a homer and two doubles while walking twice.
Robinson gave up a single and threw a wild pitch in the first inning, but escaped without further damage.
The Kettleers jumped on Robinson again in the second, loading the bases with a walk and two hits. It was Beaver that struck again – even in his only plate appearance on the night that resulted in an out, he padded Cotuit’s lead by grounding into a force play, putting the Kettleers up 3-0.
It took until the fifth for Cotuit strike again, but the Kettleers’ offense – which ranks eighth in the league in slugging – added on with three consecutive extra-base hits: a Beaver double, followed by an RBI double from designated hitter Hogan Denny and a home run to left-center by left fielder Sam Christiansen. Cotuit led 6-0.
Karraker said, despite Robinson’s struggles, the plan is for Robinson to see playoff innings – “pitching coaches Austin and Ray are going to do a great job of getting that guy right. He’s going to be a big piece for us down the stretch,” Karraker said.
Meanwhile, only three men reached for the Harbor Hawks’ offense in the first four innings against Cotuit southpaw Landen Doll.
Karraker commended Doll’s fastball, and said Hyannis’ offense – desperate for a comeback – chased pitches outside the zone a little too much against the Kettleers’ starter.
Following the Christiansen homer, Karraker had seen enough, and he replaced Robinson with reliever Liam Kinneen, who momentarily quieted the Kettleers. Kinneen struck out three, walked one and gave up three hits, and the Kettleers put up only one run on his statline.
Hyannis then mounted what would have been the comeback of the season, had its bullpen held on in the late innings. Catcher Andrew Lamb retaliated with a first-pitch homer of his own, hammering Doll’s offering out to right field.
The Harbor Hawks loaded the bases on two hits and a walk, and center fielder Charlie Bates hit a sacrifice fly to the center fielder to put Hyannis’ second run on the board.
Though Kinneen gave up one more in the sixth, the Harbor Hawks kept up their momentum. Cotuit reliever Aidan Healy needed only 14 pitches to walk the bases loaded with one out in the sixth. Cotuit manager Rob Cooper replaced him with reliever Tyler Finkbeiner, and Hyannis leadoff man and shortstop Matt Ineich strode to the plate.
Ineich was a thorn in Cotuit’s side all night. Like his leadoff counterpart in the other dugout, Ineich reached base every time he came up to the plate. He walked thrice and notched two hits, driving in three – all of which came against Finkbeiner.
“He’s a really good player,” Karraker said. “He’s got a professional approach. He can hit the ball to all parts of the field, has a great understanding of the strike zone. He’s a really tough guy to pitch to, and you can see why.”
The West Virginia infielder, who has been one of Hyannis’ best hitters with an .827 OPS, battled through an eight-pitch at bat. The sixth pitch of the at-bat could have been strike three, but was debatably called ball three, and the Kettleers’ dugout erupted.
That call led directly to a bases-clearing double, as Ineich attacked an offering right down the pipe. Ineich stood on second, the score stood at 7-5 and Cooper stormed out of the dugout – his team irate at the earlier call. Home plate umpire JC Fernandes tossed him from the game.
Hyannis wasn’t done, and received another big hit with runners in scoring position in the seventh. With two runners on following a pinch-hit walk drawn by Will Fosberg, Kettleers reliever Truitt Manuel – who received both a blown save and the win – threw one wild to advance both runners into scoring position.
Karraker pinch-hit the left-handed outfielder Henry Zenor against the righty. Zenor drove the fourth pitch of the at-bat into center field, scoring both runners and tying the game.
“He played Game 1, then you sit down, you cool off for a long time,” Karraker said. “To come off the bench and put a really good at-bat like that together is huge. We expect that from all of our guys, and Henry was ready to go.”
Despite the loss, the Harbor Hawks’ offense has much to celebrate as it put up eight runs for the second consecutive night, after doing so in an 8-2 victory over the Harwich Mariners on Friday.
“We’re swinging at good pitches, we’re taking good walks, we’re running the bases really well,” Karraker said. “We’re doing a lot of really good things. Hitting’s really up and down, and right now we’re up, and hopefully we can keep that going in the playoffs.”
The lead was not to last. Karraker inserted Northeastern righty reliever Tom Mahoney for his Cape League season debut, and Cotuit ultimately put seven runs on his line. Messy fielding sunk Hyannis, and the first five batters Mahoney faced reached safely.
The Kettleers drew up two infield singles – on plays that could have been made – to lead off the inning. Cotuit second baseman Tito Kiefer-Espinoza bunted to the pitcher, and Mahoney threw the ball wild of first, scoring a run.
With the bases loaded and no men out, Denny doubled, stacking two more runs on Hyannis. After a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout got two outs – in between three more men reaching – first baseman Ryan Tyranski blew the game wide open for the Kettleers with a home run to right field.
Karraker was not significantly concerned with Mahoney’s struggles. Mahoney had arrived on the Cape a matter of days before his appearance, and had not yet adjusted to the rigors of pitching in the Cape League – “it’s going to be a game of adjustments,” Karraker said.
“Can we make some adjustments to put them in a good position to succeed?” Karraker said. “If we can do that, we’re in good shape.”
Tyranski’s home run effectively put the game on ice. Though multiple Hyannis runners reached in each of the last two innings, and a wild pitch from Manuel scored Ineich, the Harbor Hawks did not have a miracle comeback in them and ultimately fell, 15-8.
The Harbor Hawks have one more regular-season game, against the Wareham Gatemen, who are still in the hunt for a playoff berth. Karraker said the priority is for the starters to get some rest, but for some late-arriving pitchers – Hyannis has received four new arms in the last two days – to “get their feet wet on the mound.”
First pitch in Wareham is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday at Clem Spillane Field.
