A matchup against the Chatham Anglers seemed like the perfect recipe for a win for the Harwich Mariners. The Anglers got shutout in their previous two games and were about to face one of the best pitching staffs on the Cape.
Instead, Anglers attacked Mariner pitching, winning 12-7 at Whitehouse Field Friday night. The Anglers scored in five consecutive innings.
For the second start in a row, Luke McNeillie got hurt by the walk. In the second, he walked the first three batters. Roman Martin put the Anglers on the scoreboard with a hard single to right field.
Martin finished the game with four hits.
For the first 19 games of the season, the Harwich Mariner pitching staff allowed more than five runs in a game just once. Now in the past two games, the Mariners have given up 21 runs.
Chatham then got back-to-back sacrifice flies to go up 3-0.
McNeillie left the game after an RBI-double from Jackson Freeman gave the Anglers another run.
It was the second straight game McNeillie walked three batters. Against Wareham, he gave up back-to-back walks that eventually allowed for a Gateman rally. His ERA is now up to 5.68.
Tazwell Butler came in for McNeillie with a guy on second in the top of the third. The Kansas State product managed to prevent any more damage in the inning.
Unfortunately for Butler, by the time he came out in the fifth, Chatham was up 6-3. The Anglers scored another two
The Anglers even got to the Mariners’ shutdown reliever Matthew Heiberger.
The lefty from the University of Alabama had allowed just one earned run coming into the game. Chatham tagged Heiberger for two runs in just 1.1 innings. Normally a steady arm, he gave up three hits and two walks, striking out just one Angler.
When it was all said and done, the Mariners gave up nine free passes on the night, leading to a season-high in runs.
The bottom of the order led the way for Chatham. The team’s 6-9 hitters combined for seven hits and nine RBI’s.
Scoring the Mariner way:
After recording just two hits in the first three innings, a pair of singles from Tre Broussard, the Mariners finally timed up Chatham pitcher Nate Taylor in the fourth.
Aiden Robbins and Maddox Molony opened the innings with back-to-back base hits. Sam Harris loaded the bases after he reached on an error by Chatham second baseman Gavin Gallaher.
In his last four games, Robbins is hitting .467 with a 1.356 OPS.
Left fielder Niko Brini put Harwich on the board with a fielder’s choice then Molony scored on a passed ball to make the score 5-2.
Catcher Matt Conte hit into a fielder’s choice to shortstop Isaiah Lane to score the speedy Brini from third to give Harwich its third run of the inning.
Carter sparking the offense late:
Right fielder Bristol Carter has started to find his rhythm at the plate. With the Mariners down 9-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Carter led off with a walk. Two stolen bases later, Carter quickly made his way to third base with just one out. A Tanner Marsh single allowed the Auburn Tiger to jog home with ease.
In the seventh, Carter gave the Mariners some new hope with a three-run home run over the left field fence to make the game 10-7. It was Carter’s second home run of the summer.
“I’ve been working on my swing all summer,” Carter said. “I feel like right now it's the best its been.”
It's been a great week for Carter. He's hit a pair of home runs and has a .333 batting average in his last four games.
Celebrating Heroes:
Friday was First Responders Night across the Cape Cod League. The Harwich community honored the town’s police department, fire department, state police and all first responders. During pregame, first responders lined up along both baselines as the Massachusetts State Police presented the colors and Sergeant Peter Cherry sang the National Anthem.
As part of the league’s ‘Hero of the Game’ series in partnership with the Massachusetts State Lottery, the Mariners honored all the heroes in attendance.
Moving Forward:
Harwich heads to Brewster for the second time this season. The Mariners scored a season-high 10 runs against the Whitecaps back on July 4th. First pitch is 5:00 p.m. at Stony Brook Field. Toby Twist will make his fourth start of the summer.
