On a night that ended in hugs, handshakes and head coach Mitch Karraker getting dowsed in ice-cold water, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks convincingly defeated the Wareham Gatemen by a score of 11-4 on a humid evening at McKeon Park.
With Saturday's victory over Wareham (21-17-1), Hyannis (23-14-2) clinched the Cape Cod Baseball League's West Division title, a feat the club hadn't accomplished since 2015. With this, they earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
"It feels great [to win the West]," Karraker said. "A lot of hard work and a lot of players were part of it, you know. The coaching staff, GM, president and the community... there's a lot of things that went into this. It was a true team effort... so it feels really good. I'm so happy for our players and the organization."
Karraker’s team embraced the "anything you can do, I can do better" mentality on Saturday.
Blake Cavill (Troy) began the bottom of the second with fireworks. The Sydney, Australia, native hit his second home run of the season, the first since his inaugural game with Hyannis. Cavill’s solo shot traveled 402 feet into the McKeon Park shrubbery, it was stung 100 mph off the twig.
"To be honest, all credit to [JP Acosta]," Cavill said. "Acosta gave me a bat that he said works, and the bat definitely works. [Wareham's pitcher] was throwing sinkers, and I was just trying to hit the ball the other way and it worked out very well [Saturday]."
Cavill came up big in Saturday's game, he finished 3-for-4 with a home run, a pair of singles and a run driven in.
Cavill’s shot only seemed to give the club more momentum. Before the frame was over, Hyannis dropped a five-spot on the Gatemen, further padding its lead to 8-2 at the time. Notable moments featured Cannon Peebles (Tennessee) finding grass with a base hit to drive in Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist) and Eddy Pelc (Grand Canyon). RBI machine Dattalo also notched his 28th of the summer with yet another single, he sits third in the CCBL in runs batted in.
"[Clinching the West] was awesome, man," Cavill said. "Lots of people here, lots of little kids running around. That was great fun. The pitchers dominated the middle innings, so that was just a beautiful experience."
Aaron Mishoulam (Michigan State) was granted the ball in the last regular season contest at McKeon Park, and he was excellent. Besides a few blemishes that included a home run in the second, the lengthy righty pounded the zone to the tune of three strikeouts and walked zero. He scattered four hits across 4 1/3 innings of work.
"[Mishoulam] was phenomenal [Saturday]," Karraker said. "He probably gave us more than we expected. Had the one inning get away from him, but other than that, he was great. He passed the ball to the bullpen, and they were great too. That's really the difference."
Mishoulam kept the Hawks in the game on Saturday, as Reed Moring (UCSB), Aidan Vining (Johnson & Wales) and Josh Och (Southern Miss) picked up the pieces and didn't allow an earned run out of the bullpen to clinch a victory.
"I just trusted myself and my defense," Mishoulam said. "I just try to lean on my preparation... this was a big game for the team, so it was exciting just to go out there and get the chance to pitch."
Hyannis’ offense picked up right where it left off on Friday night to begin the contest. Jaxson West (Florida State) and Kane Kepley (North Carolina) each reached base with singles to immediately make Wareham starter Darin Horn work. The Hawks' first run came across in no time thanks to a double scorched by Dattalo off the center field fence to drive in Josh Tate (Georgia Southern), who switched spots with West on a fielder’s choice.
Chaos in the bottom of the first continued when Pelc drove in Kepley on a ground ball to second, while Eddie Saldivar (Fresno State) clubbed a sacrifice fly to bring home Dattalo, giving Hyannis a 3-0 lead after one.
The Hawks added to their commanding lead in the bottom of the fifth. Cavill continued to be stellar with another single, while Mason White (Arizona) followed with a base knock of his own. West brought home the lone run on a clutch worm-burner up the middle to plate Cavill, making things 9-2.
Relentless is a great word to describe the Hyannis offense on Saturday, the home team added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. JP Acosta (Fresno City) peppered a pearl 94 mph off the wall to drive in White, who singled. Acosta added the Hawks' 11th run of the game when he scored on a throwing error.
"We've got some special kids," Karraker replied after being drenched by his players in water. "It's been like [that] since Day 1... I don't know what it is... it's nothing we coaches did. They just created this pretty special culture themselves. We as coaches have been very fortunate in that sense... but the job's not done."
The Harbor Hawks will travel to Dennis on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. to play their final regular season game of the summer. While the club has clinched their playoff spot, an opponent for the club has yet to be determined.
Sam Fosberg can be reached at samfozsports@gmail.com and followed on Twitter/X @discussbaseball
