The Hyannis Harbor Hawks competed in another tight game against the Falmouth Commodores on Wednesday night. After adding another close win under their belts, the Hawks (12-8-1) proved their end-of-game strength once again, securing a win in walk-off fashion.
Through the first five innings, each team only scored a singular run. Hyannis’ pitching staff recorded 14 strikeouts, and the Commodores (7-14) registered seven hits. Similarly, the Harbor Hawks recorded eight hits with their offense.
Falmouth had a productive last inning at the plate. In the top of the ninth, spraying balls all around the field, the Commodores tallied two runs, tying the ballgame after four scoreless innings.
Kane Kepley moved swiftly down the line, registering an infield single to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Alex Lodise singled between right field and second base and Kepley showed off his speed once again making it to third. Falmouth intentionally walked Mason White to load the bases for Michael Dattalo. With a sacrifice fly to right field, Dattalo walked off the game.
“Put it in play,” Dattalo said of his mindset at the plate. “When I got down 0-2, [my approach] was just get the ball in play and see if we can make something happen.”
With runners on second and third at the bottom of the eighth, the Harbor Hawks tallied two runs. Eric Snow singled to right to start the inning and Dalton Bargo walked, advancing Snow. Cannon Peebles, who made his debut for Hyannis, sacrifice bunted them over in a textbook baseball play. With runners in scoring position, Josh Tate scored Snow on a sacrifice fly to center. Nick Groves then dropped in a single, making the score 3-1 Hawks.
The fourth inning was a breakthrough inning for both Hyannis and Falmouth. Each team was held scoreless through the third and scored a run in the fourth.
The Commodores scored first by piecing together a few base hits. Snow recorded the first RBI for the Hawks with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. His hit evened the score at the time.
In the bottom of the sixth, Kepley let one fly to deep center. Fans thought they had witnessed another home run, but it was just short of the fence and caught for the third out of that frame.
After Pierce Coppola’s last appearance on the mound, he improved his ERA on Wednesday night. He surrendered four runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Y-D Red Sox on July 3, but had an outstanding outing against the Commodores. He pitched four innings giving up only one hit with eight strikeouts.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Coppola said of his time on Cape. “Coming into it, I didn’t really know what to expect but it’s definitely the best baseball you can get coming into summer ball… it’s been a lot of fun.”
Drake Meeks came in to relieve Coppola in the fifth, through his two innings he also gave up one hit. In the seventh, Jacob Moore was the next arm Falmouth saw. The last pitcher to come in was Sacramento State’s Kade Brown.
Hyannis has been especially good late in games; the Harbor Hawks don’t let up and prove that they fight to the end of every game.
“I think [games like this] are really good for us,” head coach Mitch Karraker said. “Anytime you come out on the right side of this kind of game, you feel confident like the next time you’re in this situation, maybe you’re down by a run or two, you can say, ‘We’ve been here before.’”
