With a 5-2 win over the Falmouth Commodores at Guv Fuller Field, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks picked up their third consecutive win. This begins the first winning streak for the Harbor Hawks (6-2-1) in the 2025 season, thanks to multiple Houdini acts from their bullpen to shut down the Commodores’ (3-6) offense.
“It’s baseball, [bad situations are] going to happen from time to time,” Hyannis manager Mitch Karraker said. “[The bullpen] made some really good pitches when we needed them to, and to only give up two runs to any Cape League team, with the way these offenses are, is pretty dang good.”
Ryan Speshyock had the most clutch of these magical outings, stepping in with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth.
With the go-ahead run at the plate, the Harbor Hawks closer got behind 2-0 to Maika Niu, but battled to run it full, striking out the Marshall product with a high fastball. In a nearly identical sequence, the Stanford right-hander struck out Adrian Lopez to end the inning, concluding the seven-pitch battle with another blow-by heater.
The start of the ninth didn’t go as smoothly for Speshyock, conceding a walk to Justin Osterhouse, settling in with a flyout, then allowing a single to Kyle Morrison. This base-knock put runners on the corners with one out and the tying run coming to the plate.
The California native stepped up in his plight, making Carl Schmidt climb the ladder on three straight fastballs for a strikeout. Bear Harrison stood as the last hope for Falmouth.
In a 1-2 count, Harrison pulled a breaking ball into shallow left-center field. Hayden Federico charged at the ball, sliding on his left hip to narrowly make the game-sealing catch.
This incredible play gave Speshyock his third save and Santi Garcia his second win of the season. Those two relievers, in addition to a hold-earning outing from Chandler Dorsey, characterized Hyannis’ ability to neutralize its opponents' offense in dangerous situations.
“I think that’s what you ask for as a pitcher, everyone wants the ball, everyone wants to get the big out,” Speshyock said. “With what we’ve been doing offensively and defensively, too, it makes it a lot more comforting, the desire to be out there in those spots goes up.”
The Commodores went 2-for-16 at the plate with runners in scoring position. In total, the home squad stranded 15 runners, including seven that were in scoring position with two outs.
The only offense the home team generated came in the bottom of the seventh. Kent Schmidt came up with two outs and the bases juiced against Eddie Copper III. Schmidt grounded a single through the right side, scoring two runs before Dorsey came in to end the inning.
The Harbor Hawks, by contrast, started scoring in their first opportunity to bat in the game.
As the second batter in the first frame, Federico lined deep over the head of the right fielder, pulling into second to kickstart the offense. Jaxon Willits and Myles Bailey both drew walks to load the bases.
Ray Velazquez blasted a ball into the left-center field gap, scoring a pair of runs while he and Bailey pulled into scoring position. Falmouth starter Jack Berg got two quick groundouts to stop the visitors’ offensive flow.
Thomas Crabtree, the Hyannis starter, bode well with the early run support, going two and two-thirds innings in his Harbor Hawks debut before passing the baton to Garcia.
Hyannis added insurance runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to gain a more comfortable lead. Two of these runs were produced by Ryan McKay.
The Harbor Hawks' leadoff man came up big with a single in the fourth to score Charlie Bates from second, then a double into deep right in the sixth that allowed Jason Walk to score from first.
Eventually, a Vahn Lackey sacrifice groundout put the visiting team ahead 5-0, a strong enough cushion for the bullpen to close the game comfortably.
Hyannis looks to continue its complementary two-way play against the Brewster Whitecaps. That game is on June 25 at 6 p.m. in McKeon Park.
