The Hyannis Harbor Hawks defeated the Cotuit Kettleers in a high-stakes game, 4-0.

Games this late in the season now determine the West Division rankings and ultimately which teams will
have home-field advantage. With Thursday night’s win over the Kettleers (21-14-1), the Hawks
(22-14-1) are now in first place.

“[Wednesday night’s] game was a tough one. We came out of there with a little bit of positive
stuff at the end of it and it just rolled into today,” head coach Mitch Karraker said. “[The team]
had a lot of energy on the bus. I didn’t need to say anything. They showed up ready to go.”

Despite coming up short in the first inning, Dalton Bargo (Tennessee) led off the second inning
with a solo homer to put the Hawks on the board. This was crucial to set the tone of the game.

The pitching staff had themselves a day. Chandler Dorsey (LSU) pitched a total of four innings.
In his starting debut, he had five Ks and didn’t allow a single hit.

“It was a super competitive atmosphere,” Dorsey said. “[Cotuit] started me out with seven lefties
in a row. I usually struggle more against lefties. So I was proud of myself for being able to battle
against the lefties and get them out.”

In the fifth, a run was added by outfielder Kane Kepley (UNC). His solo homer and third of the
season was hit 340 feet with an exit velocity of 91 mph. This pushed the Hawks further ahead,
making the score 2-0.

With two outs at the top of the eighth, Kepley found a way to produce another run for Hyannis.
Josh Tate (Georgia Southern) led the inning off with a walk, stealing second and advanced to
third on a throwing error by the catcher. Kepley laid a beautiful squeeze bunt down the
third-base line. Both Hawks were safe making the score 4-0.

“I figured if anyone was going to be able to pull this off, it’s going to be me and [Tate] because
we’re pretty fast,” Kepley said. “[Tate] was going to get the right read on it...It was a good
situation for all of this to come together like it did.”

The Hawks' pitching and defense shined all nine innings. Dominick Carbone (Coastal Carolina),
Casey Hintz (Arizona) and Josh Och (Southern Miss) were nails in their performances, not
allowing a single Kettleer to touch home. The defense also flashed the leather, finishing
errorless, making routine plays and turning double plays. The Kettleers came close a few times
but couldn’t advance past third base.

“Dorsey was phenomenal, [Carbone and Hintz too.] Och made it a little interesting, but he was
good again. I can’t say enough about our pitching staff,” Karraker said. “Just really happy,
obviously a huge win for us.”

The Harbor Hawks took advantage of every opportunity there was to score. In the seventh
inning, the Hawks registered their third run of the game via throwing errors.

Eric Snow (Auburn) made it safely to first and then advanced to second on the Kettleer’s first throwing error of the
inning. With Snow on third, Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist) hit a grounder to third. The third
baseman made another throwing error, allowing Snow to score and Dattalo to make it to second
safely.

This win was huge for the Hawks. All aspects of the game went into a tough team win. Pitching,
defense and hitting excelled.

“It’s really good to see the team continue to grow as the new guys come,” Dorsey said. “I got
here at a good time...To be able to help the team and see all of them go out there, win and take
first place is awesome. It’s huge.”

Hyannis is back at McKeon Park, on Friday, Aug. 2 to face the Bourne Braves at 6 p.m.