As heavy fog rolled in, Hyannis Harbor Hawks left-handed power threat Mason White (Arizona) stepped to the McKeon Park dish as the crowd tensely looked on. Bourne Braves reliever John Abraham came set and fired a fastball that White didn’t miss. The Tucson, Arizona native clocked the weathered pearl into shallow right field, and Blake Cavill’s (Portal) cleat connected with a dusty home plate to tie an important end-of-season Cape Cod Baseball League clash.
Friday's exciting contest between the Harbor Hawks (22-14-2) and Braves (18-16-3) was spoiled thanks to inclement weather, abruptly ending things in a 6-6 tie leaving both sides with something to be desired.
"It was pretty cool," White said. "It was cool to see all the [interns] and [fans] get fired up, that'll always make me happy... [Bourne] has done a pretty good job against me all summer so I knew they were going to attack me. I think I saw [their pitcher] last time, and I kind of tried to memorize his stuff."
Hyannis entered Friday with a dismal record of 0-3-1 against Bourne, the only club all summer the Harbor Hawks hadn't bested at least once. While neither team came out on top, head coach Mitch Karraker was fairly happy with how his team battled.
"Yeah, I mean we took some really good walks, and to see [Abraham] get up to 97 mph [Friday], he was really good," Karraker said. "That's tough to lay off whether it's in the strike zone or not, so I'm happy with those guys. [White] with the big hit, he's been struggling a little bit, that was huge for him."
The Hawks struggles against Bourne were adamant from the jump on Friday. With a Braves two-run home run in the opening frame, Bourne clinched first blood in all five regular-season games against first-place Hyannis.
The Braves continued to pad their lead in the second, Drake Meeks (Southern Miss) struck out his first two opponents to kick off the inning, yet was plagued with trying to find his third out. Four Braves hitters reached base in a row, including an RBI triple, and an RBI single. A third run scored via a passed ball to give the Braves a commanding 5-0 lead.
"Yeah, kind of a slow start for us," Karraker said. "A weird feeling [Friday night], I don't know what it was. I didn't feel like there was a ton of energy in [McKeon Park] when I got here. Then the fog came during the later innings... just kind of funky."
Karraker’s club showed fight during their second opportunity to hit, Dalton Bargo (Tennessee) wore a pitch to reach base, and newcomer JP Acosta (Fresno City) drove him home with a blazing single over the shortstop's head.
Unconventionally, relief pitcher Joe Steeber (UT Arlington) built momentum for the Hyannis offense with his stellar pitching.
"[Steeber] was really good out of the bullpen," Karraker said. "Obviously [Meeks] had a tough start, but Joe really kept us in the game, and for us to fight back against a really good opponent, I'm very encouraged."
In just his second appearance on Cape Cod, Steeber was lights out. The right-hander wasn't incredibly sharp in his first outing of the summer but entered Friday's game in the top of the third and didn't look back. He tallied four scoreless frames against one of the league's most potent lineups, walking just one batter, scattering two hits, and punching out four.
"Not caring as much," Steeber replied when asked about what was different than his previous outing. "Literally just going out there playing like I'm a kid again... it's a kid's game and I get to keep playing it... my sinker and changeup were working [Friday], especially against lefties. I've been working three or four bullpens on the sinker and finally brought it out today and it was working."
The six-foot-four redshirt junior also fielded his position incredibly well, especially in the top of the sixth when he covered first on a bang-bang play and turned a swagger-filled double play to fire up his teammates from the bump.
As things progressed toward the later innings Friday night, more passion and intensity were brought from the Harbor Hawks. Josh Tate (Georgia Southern) sent a frozen rope into right field and advanced on a groundout. RBI machine Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist) stayed hot, sneaking a single into the outfield grass of his own to send the speedy Tate home.
Hyannis struck again in the bottom of the sixth to cut Bourne’s lead to 5-3. Despite leaving the frame with the bases loaded, Tate came through again, he drilled a single to plate Bargo to send the home faithful on their feet. A wild pitch prompted Hyannis to score another, but a friendly bounce back to Bourne catcher Chase Meggers snuffed out the chance.
After back-to-back frames of salvaging just one run, the Harbor Hawks finally broke things open for a trio of runs in the bottom of the seventh to knot the game at six. White delivered the tying blow, but Carson Boles (Arkansas) drove in Dattalo with a sac fly, and Kane Kepley (North Carolina) manufactured himself after he advanced to home on a wild pitch.
"We've just got to keep it loose and fun like we've been doing all summer," White said. "We want to show all the [new Hawks] that this is a fun place and that we can compete with the best of 'em."
Although his club clawed back into what seemed like a lost game Friday, Karraker isn't quite satisfied with the tie.
"Two wins [to end the season] would be great," Karraker said. "We kind of control our own destiny in terms of putting ourselves in a good position... if we take care of business [and that starts with Wareham on Saturday], we can have a lot of success."
The Harbor Hawks final regular season home game is Saturday, August 3, at McKeon Park vs the Gatemen. The first pitch is expected at 6 p.m.
Sam Fosberg can be reached at samfozsports@gmail.com and followed on Twitter/X @discussbaseball
