The Hyannis Harbor Hawks took a 12-6 loss to the Bourne Braves on a rain-ridden night at McKeon Park. This brings the Harbor Hawks’ (9-8-3, 5-3 West Division) record to 0-3-1 in their last four contests.
In the top of the fourth, thunder and rain caused an hour-long delay. Prior to this stoppage, Hyannis scored in each of the first three innings. The home squad only scored one run in the final six frames.
“[The delay] impacted [the game] huge,” Hyannis manager Mitch Karraker said. “Felt like there was some fight there from the offense, just felt like we were playing catch-up the whole day.”
After action resumed, the Braves (9-10-1, 4-4 West Division) took over. Ryker Waite led off first with one out in the top of the fourth, quickly moving up a station after a single by Logan Hughes.
A double steal by Bourne led to a Brody Briggs throw deflecting off of Hughes, allowing Waite to score after taking third.
In the top of the fifth, the Braves tied the game at five runs apiece on another defensive lapse from the Harbor Hawks.
Bourne's sweltering momentum peaked in the sixth with a two-out rally to take the lead. Stammel loaded the bases and walked in the go-ahead run with a pair of plunked batsmen and a pair of walks.
Ryan Cooney extended the Braves’ newly found lead with a bloop single into center, scoring a pair of runs.
Bourne played lockdown defense and added four insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings, suffocating all efforts of a Hyannis comeback.
Even as the Harbor Hawks started hot on offense, the momentum flipped multiple times in the early innings due to continuous defensive mistakes.
“[We] played poor defense again,” Karraker said. “[We] gave them the momentum right back and we just couldn’t get it back.”
After a pair of singles to start the game by Waite and Hughes, the Braves stood with runners on the corners. Thomas Crabtree battled back with a strikeout, but the defense faltered that effort quickly.
Hughes took off for second, prompting a throw from Briggs that skipped into the outfield. The Texas Tech outfielder moved up to third as Waite jogged home.
To complete a walk of Kuhio Aloy, Crabtree threw a wild pitch between the legs of Briggs, allowing Hughes to score.
Hyannis ended the inning with an excellent outfield assist by Jason Walk and a strikeout.
The home offense struck back in a flash. After a Jake Schaffner single and a Matt Miura walk, Ryan McKay powered a single through the middle infield to score a run.
Gabe Camacho followed this with an infield single, narrowly avoiding a tag to load the bases. After a pair of unproductive outs for the Harbor Hawks, Jason Walk drew a free pass, bringing in another run to tie the game.
Bourne punched ahead again in the second inning. Gavin Kelly got to second on a throwing error by Schaffner. Waite knocked him in with a double down the right field line.
Again, Hyannis quickly responded. Charlie Bates, Schaffner and Miura loaded the bags to start the bottom of the second. McKay came through again with a two-RBI single into left, giving the Harbor Hawks their first lead of the game.
With the stoppage in offensive momentum and multiple self-inflicted wounds defensively, Hyannis was left with few chances to gain traction.
The Harbor Hawks look to get back in the win column against the Falmouth Commodores on July 9 at 6 p.m. at Guv Fuller Field.
Tymothy Brown can be reached at tymbrown12@gmail.com or followed on X @tym_brown1
