Five days after falling to Falmouth at Guv Fuller Field, Hyannis flipped the script Tuesday night, shutting out the Commodores, 3-0, in a key West Division showdown.
Tuesday’s victory marked Hyannis’s third shutout of the season and improved the Harbor Hawks to 11-14. The win also vaulted the Hawks into second place in the West Division, swapping spots with Falmouth in an increasingly tight race.
All three runs came in the top of the second inning. Charlie Bates (Stanford) drew a leadoff walk before Andrew Lamb (Southern California) singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Henry Zenor (USC Upstate) then laid down what appeared to be a routine sacrifice bunt back to Falmouth starter Adam Urban, but Urban struggled to field the ball before his throw sailed over first baseman AJ Putty. Bates and Lamb scored on the error, giving Hyannis a 2-0 lead, while Zenor advanced to third.
Two batters later, Liam Barrett (UC Santa Barbara) brought Zenor home on a fielder’s choice to extend the Harbor Hawks’ advantage to 3-0.
Despite scoring four or fewer runs in each of their last six games, the Hawks have gone 3-3 during that stretch. Head coach Mitch Karraker credited his pitching staff for keeping the team in games and, more recently, helping turn those close contests into wins.
“There’s no doubt the pitching staff has carried us,” Karraker said. “From the get-go, we knew we had a group that would at least keep us in games, but lately they’ve been carrying us to victories. I can’t say enough good things about those guys. It was a group effort tonight. We used a lot of different arms, and everyone threw really well.”
With the Hawks in need of a win, Karraker handed the ball to Cape Cod All-Star Brady St. Pierre (Southeastern Louisiana), who tossed two scoreless innings before newly acquired Bruce Littleton (Southern Mississippi) took over to begin the third.
Littleton’s outing was cut short after just 1.2 innings when he attempted to field a ground ball that hopped over his head. The awkward play left him on the ground, clutching his knee, forcing him to exit with an injury.
Following Littleton’s early exit, Karraker turned to another Cape Cod All-Star, Cohen Gomez (Stanford), to preserve the lead. The Anaheim, California, native answered the call, striking out three of the four batters he faced to keep Hyannis in control.
Gomez said there wasn’t much time to process the situation, instead relying on his preparation to be ready when his name was called.
“When I saw [Bruce] go down, I figured I was next up,” Gomez said. “In those situations, you don’t really have time to think. I just grabbed my energy drink, loosened up, and started throwing. The staff called a few curveballs tonight, which I don’t typically throw, so having success with that gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Karraker said Gomez’s competitive edge and ability to attack hitters make him one of the bullpen’s most reliable arms, regardless of the situation.
“He’s the ultimate competitor, and you can see it on the mound,” Karraker said. “He pitches with emotion, which is great, and his stuff is really good. He has a splitter that’s almost unhittable at times, so I always feel really good about giving him the ball, no matter the situation.”
The final four innings were split between Kevin Landry Farr (Southern Mississippi) and newly selected Cape Cod All-Star Truitt Webb (Southeastern Louisiana). Farr, who had logged just 3.2 innings all summer entering Tuesday, allowed two hits while striking out two over his two innings of work. Webb then closed the door, retiring all six batters he faced to earn his team-leading fourth save of the season.
Still three games below .500 and five points behind the division-leading Bourne Braves, the Harbor Hawks will need to find more consistency offensively as the regular season winds down if they hope to catch the reigning league champions.
“At this point, it’s all about putting together consistent performances on both sides of the ball,” Karraker said. “Obviously, we’re not swinging it great right now, but I told the guys it doesn’t matter what it looks like. We just have to find ways to score one more run than the other team. Tonight was a prime example of that.”
Hyannis returns to McKeon Park on Wednesday to host the Chatham Anglers. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Jonah Barkoff (Oregon) expected to start for the Harbor Hawks against Chatham’s Jack Gleason.
