As of Friday morning, the Wareham Gatemen led the Cape Cod Baseball League in wins and were on a six-game win streak. As of Friday night, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks broke their streak and changed the pace.
Hyannis (7-4-1) started hot against the Gatemen (9-3). The Hawks tallied four runs in the first inning. Kane Kepley started it off with a walk in the first at-bat of the game. Along with Kepley, Jon Jon Gazdar walked. With runners on first and second, Wallace Clark singled to left to load up the bases. Michael Dattalo joined the group as he also got walked, tallying a run. Gazdar scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0. With two outs to go, Eric Snow scored Clark on a ground ball to Wareham’s starting pitcher. Nick Groves also scored a run via an infield grounder.
“I just tried to keep it as simple as possible. I thought for me, we're playing this many games, it just [comes down] to focus,” Groves said. “I try to be on time for the fastball. Being in the seven- or eight-hole, I’ve been getting peppered with fastballs. During [batting practice] today I focused on getting the [fastball] to right-center and getting the head out a little bit.”
The fourth inning prompted six runs for Hyannis. Once the bats started they couldn’t stop. Kepley led off the inning with another walk, marking his third of the game. After him, four of his teammates walked (or in Clark’s case, was hit by a pitch), allowing a run to score. Groves doubled to right, advancing two of his teammates home and Snow to third. TCU’s Anthony Silva brought home another run with a sac fly. Manny Garza then scored Groves on a ground ball to second. The score after this half-inning was 12-3.
“We are hot for a lot of the year,” hitting coach Sean Riley said. “It basically comes down to execution.”
Cade Crossland had the start on the mound for Hyannis. He pitched 1 1/3 innings with two earned runs. In the first, the lefty held the Gatemen scoreless, even with two runners in scoring position. The Harbor Hawks got out of the jam with a 4-6-3 double play. In the second, Hyannis wasn’t so lucky. Crossland hit a Gateman with the bases loaded, scoring the runner at third. He gave up a sacrifice fly to the next batter, allowing the second run to touch home.
In for relief was Kade Brown. With runners on second and third and one out, Brown got out of a jam, adding two strikeouts to his resume.
In the bottom of the sixth, Blaine Wynk came in to pitch for Hyannis. He didn’t allow a single hit or run. In the seventh, the Gatemen brought in a run with a single to Mason White, and then a deep fly ball in the left-center gap. That was the only run of the inning.
“We didn't get sloppy on defense. The pitching did really well, like I said, so I thought that we handled [the game] the right way… so, really proud of our guys,” head coach Mitch Karraker said.
Previously starting in left field for three games before Friday’s relief, Casey Hintz took the mound for Blaine Wynk in the eighth. He also held the Gatemen scoreless through both innings he pitched, securing Hyannis the victory.
The Harbor Hawks have now won back-to-back games and continue to add runs, leading the league in runs scored.
The Hawks’ next game will be at Stony Brook Field in Brewster against the Whitecaps on Saturday at 5 p.m.
