The Hyannis Harbor Hawks lost, 5-4, in a heartbreaker against the Chatham Anglers, narrowly missing a comeback victory. This was the Harbor Hawks’ (13-17-3) first loss to the Anglers (14-16-3) all season, finishing the season series 2-1-1 in Hyannis’ favor.
“I thought we swung it alright tonight, for whatever reason, [hits] just weren’t falling for us like they were last night,” Harbor Hawks manager Mitch Karraker said. “We put ourselves in a position to win the ballgame, so it was good to see some fight out of the guys.”
Sealing this interdivisional win wasn’t easy for Chatham as the Harbor Hawks' offense applied pressure late to demand clutch outings from the visiting bullpen.
Trailing, 5-2, in the bottom of the eighth, Hyannis’ offense kicked into gear. Owen Prince led off with a walk, moving up to second after a sky-high fly ball off the bat of Jayce Dobie dropped in front of Daniel Jackson in right field.
Ryan McKay produced a similar result, flying deep into right as Jackson lost the ball in the night sky, loading the bases with no outs. Deiten Lachance brought a run in with a sacrifice fly into right as Trace Mazon ranged from second base into right field to make the catch.
After a Jake Schaffner pop out, back-to-back walks for Myles Davis and Gabe Camacho forced another run through. With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Parker Brosius dug in as a pinch-hitter and was retired with a flyout to deep left field after an eight-pitch at-bat.
Hyannis gave its best effort offensively in the ninth, seeing its first two batters reach but be cut down on a fielder’s choice and caught stealing. A two-out double by Dobie and intentional walk of McKay put the winning run on first for Lachance.
This ended Will Girardi’s day on the mound for the Anglers, going 2 2/3 innings to earn a hold following a quality start from TCU right-hander Kaden Smith. Caleb Freeman, a sidearm righty, secured the final out for Chatham as he produced a flyout to notch his first save of the season.
While offensive momentum changed hands multiple times in this game, the Anglers were the first team to find their flow with the bats. The Chatham offense broke through against Harbor Hawks starter Tsubasa Tomii in the top of the third. Mazon led off with a single, followed by a Cade Arrambide walk, applying pressure with two on and no outs.
Ashton Larson cashed in with a double into left, scoring Mazon while placing himself and Arrambide in scoring position. Jackson moved both runners up with a sac fly to deep right-center, leading to a Chase Fralick infield single on a slow grounder to shortstop, scoring the Anglers’ third run of the inning.
Chatham added its winning pair of insurance runs in the top of the fifth, getting to Hyannis’ first man out of the bullpen, Brandon Olivera. With runners on first and second and two outs, Reed Stallman dropped a single into right field, batting a run in and putting men on the corners.
Isaiah Lane then chopped a grounder to the left side of the infield, forcing Jake Schaffner to attempt a difficult cross-body throw that rendered unsuccessful, scoring Jackson as the Anglers’ final run.
Hyannis’ only scoring outside of the eighth inning came in the bottom of the third as Sawyer Black, Dobie and McKay all got on to load the bases. Deiten Lachance got the first crack at this opportunity, grounding softly to second base where the ball deflected off the cusp of Mazon’s glove, scoring a run while every runner reached safely.
Schaffner added a run with a fielder’s choice to third base as Roman Martin tossed to second while the UNC infielder sprinted through first to prevent the inning-ending double play.
Overall, the Harbor Hawks went just 1-of-8 at the plate with runners in scoring position, stranding nine baserunners total.
On the other side of the ball, the Hyannis bullpen was a steady force throughout the game. After three innings from Tomii as the home starter, Olivera, Zach Edwards and Justin Minaberry combined to allow just two runs and struck out eight Chatham batters in the final six innings.
The Harbor Hawks hope to bring their pitching momentum and offensive hunger into Spillane Field as they face off against the Wareham Gatemen on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Tym Brown can be reached at tymbrown12@gmaill.com and followed on X @tym_brown1.
