Connor Kelley needed to get one more out, and the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and Harwich Mariners would walk away from Whitehouse Field with a 3-3 tie.
Matt Conte had other plans.
Conte took the first pitch he saw from Kelly and drove it into left field, scoring automatic runner Niko Brini to give the Mariners a 4-3, 10-inning, walk-off victory over Hyannis, dropping the Harbor Hawks to 15-19-4 with two games left in the regular season.
“They executed, we did not,” manager Mitch Karraker said.
Hyannis was in position to clinch a playoff berth with a win thanks to the Falmouth Commodores losing, 14-4, to the Bourne Braves, but that will have to wait at least one more day now with the walk-off loss. The Hawks dropped to 1-2-1 against Harwich in the four-game season series, losing the series to the East Division Mariners.
The Harbor Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to a single by Deiten Lachance that scored Jayce Dobie and a Myles Davis sacrifice fly that scored Gabe Camacho. However, a golden chance for more damage was squandered when Ryan McKay and Parker Brosius both struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Harwich scored one run in the fourth on a Kyle Wolff RBI single, one in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Brini and one in the sixth on another RBI single from Wolff, putting itself ahead, 3-2.
The Hawks responded in the seventh when a sacrifice fly from Brosius brought home McKay from third base to tie the game, 3-3. That would be all the scoring until the 10th, when Conte hit the walk-off single to send Hyannis home with a loss.
Two of Hyannis’ three runs scored on sacrifice fly outs and one on an RBI single. It’s a small ball way of scoring runs that the Hawks have had trouble with this summer, and Karraker was encouraged by the team finding ways to score without hits.
“We have not done a great job of that throughout the summer,” Karraker said. “That’s team baseball, that’s winning baseball. Pumped for those guys to get in there and execute like they did. We need to keep doing that kind of stuff, find ways to score runs without having to get a hit. That is really encouraging.”
However, the night was plagued by chances that came up just short. The fourth inning aside, Hyannis also left the bases loaded in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, and couldn’t score Jeff Lougee from third base in the 10th with just one out.
“In the 10th, [I] felt like we had a good start,” Karraker said. “Charlie worked a walk, bunt does not go our way. I thought Jake had a really tough at-bat, battled his tail off. Then we worked two really good walks, we had Jeff at the plate, and we feel good about that any day of the week. For whatever reason, it just did not work out.”
Max Stammel took the mound for the Harbor Hawks in this one, making his third start of the summer and last of the regular season. He allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out five Harwich hitters, setting himself up nicely for a potential playoff start.
Karraker was once again impressed by what he saw from the southpaw on the mound.
“We did not want to extend him too much,” Karraker said. “Hopefully we can get into the playoffs and he's one of our guys in the playoffs, so looking ahead a little bit to that. He did a nice job, limited the damage.”
Liam Kinneen came in in relief of Stammel, making his Harbor Hawks debut with two innings pitched, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. Jerrod Jenkins pitched a much-needed scoreless seventh inning before Andrew Wertz made his Hyannis debut with a scoreless eighth inning.
Karraker liked what he saw from the two new faces in the bullpen, who could play major roles for the team in the playoffs should the Hawks qualify.
“I think they are going to be good for us. Liam had a couple bad breaks, he will be fine,” Karraker said. “Wertz was really, really good. Giving the ball to Kelley was nice, [I] really like where our bullpen is at.”
With Hyannis three points ahead of last-place Falmouth in the West Division, the goal for Saturday is crystal clear: win and the Hawks make the playoffs. If Hyannis loses and Falmouth also falters in its game against the Wareham Gatemen, the Hawks would still clinch a playoff spot.
A Hawks loss combined with a Falmouth win would set up a chaotic last day of the regular season, with everything on the line.
Hyannis will face the Orleans Firebirds, who are looking to secure first place in the East Division. Orleans enters Saturday’s showdown on a six-game winning streak and holding a 21-15-2 record. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Eldredge Park in Orleans.
Michael Najarian can be reached at mikenajarian379@gmail.com and on X @MichaelNaj3.
