For over 25 innings, the Harwich Mariners pitching staff was nearly untouchable. Entering the third inning against the Wareham Gatemen on Thursday night, Harwich had not given up a run since the third inning against Hyannis. That streak ended after Wareham scored in three consecutive innings, taking down Harwich, 5-2, at Whitehouse Field.
Wareham scored three runs in the fifth inning against relief pitcher Troy Dressler. After scoring one run in the inning already, Wareham had two men in scoring position. Wareham's Landon Stripling then singled to center field, where Bristol Carter scooped up the grounder and fired home. His throw forced catcher Matt Conte off the plate as Wareham brought in two more runs.
Conte tried throwing out Stripling at second base, but his throw ended up back in the outfield.
“The fifth inning is what did us in. Kind of snowballed a little bit,” Harwich field manager Steve Englert said. “Can’t fault guys for trying to make plays. Sometimes you have to step back and let the game come to you.”
Luke McNeillie took the mound for the first time this summer. The Florida righty cruised through the first two innings, striking out three and allowing no runs. Harwich’s scoreless inning streak ended with one out in the third when nine-hitter Hayden Yost hit a no doubt home run over the right-field wall to put the game’s first run on the board.
Dressler entered in relief for McNeillie in the fourth inning. The Wake Forest pitcher struggled through his first two innings, giving up four runs (three earned) while allowing three walks and four hits.
After the three-run inning, Dressler, who pitched just 8 1/3 innings this spring, turned things around. His final two were both scoreless and he faced the minimum of six batters.
Catcher Matt Conte drove in the first Harwich run in the bottom of the fourth. After scoring Maddox Molony, Conte was thrown out trying to go for third by Wareham catcher Levi Clark.
Harwich tacked on another run in the fifth when Niko Brini grounded out into a fielder’s choice, allowing Evan Dempsey to score from third.
Brini reached base twice and stole two bases in addition to his RBI.
Baserunning mistakes ruin scoring chances
The opportunities were there for Harwich to put up more runs. Conte getting thrown out at third took away a chance to have a runner in scoring position with no outs.
An inning earlier, Harwich had three men reach base but failed to score a run. Shintaro Inoue led the inning with a single. He was then doubled-up off first base after a Dempsey line drive was caught by Wareham shortstop Shamaar McDuffie and Inoue could not make it back to first before the ball.
While Brini and Carter reached base for Harwich and got into scoring position, an Eric Becker flyout to left field ended the threat.
In the eighth, after Dempsey drew a leadoff walk, he got tagged out in a pickle after a pickoff attempt to first base
While the baserunning plays can lead to frustration for most coaches, Englert knows it's part of the learning process for his team.
"You always point that stuff out. You're here to develop players and increase their baseball IQ," Englert said. "You're going to make mistakes, you just have to learn how limit them"
Harwich heads to Cotuit on Friday to take on the Kettleers. Harwich won the first matchup with the Kettleers on Tuesday, 6-0. Jake McCoy will make his second start of the summer. He struck out 10 batters during Harwich's first game of the season versus Bourne. First pitch is at 5 p.m.
