As Harwich field manager Steve Englert walked out to the mound in the top of the sixth inning, it looked like pitcher Troy Dressler was going to be done for the night.

The Bourne Braves had men on the corners with two outs in the inning. Dressler already tossed a season-high 77 pitches. He was on his last fumes.

Knowing this was the deepest Dressler had gone into a game all year, Englert said he was going to bring in a reliever. But the Demon Deacon wanted to finish the job.

“I want the last batter,” Dressler told his coach.

With the chance to face one more batter, he got out of the jam by forcing Mark Quatrani to ground out to second baseman Shintaro Inoue to keep the score tied 1-1.

Englert said he usually goes out to the mound to gauge how a guy is feeling and where their confidence level is at. Dressler’s response gave Englert more than enough assurance to keep the young pitcher in.

“He earned it,” Englert said. “He was great.”

Dressler gave the Mariners the performance they needed to snap their three-game losing streak, beating the Braves 3-1 at Whitehouse Field Sunday night.

It was the rising sophomore’s third straight start giving up one or fewer runs. With each appearance, the Mariners have stretched him deeper into ball games. Dressler picked up a season-high five strikeouts.

“He’s worked so hard to get everything in sync,” pitching coach Ryan Parker said. “It’s so fun to watch everything come together for him.”

The lone run the Braves scored came on a two-out RBI-single from Jon Legrande in the top of the second inning that gave the Braves the 1-0 lead.

It was the second time Dressler faced Bourne this summer. In his first start, he tossed three no-hit innings.

After the latest outing, Dressler lowered his ERA to 2.93, best among the current starting pitchers for Harwich.

Brini comes in the clutch:

With just a run in their last 17 innings, the Mariners were desperate for some offense. With Dressler giving the team a great start, they couldn’t afford to let the game slip away.

In the seventh, Matt Conte led off with a single to right field off Bourne pitcher Jack Brown, his second hit of the day. He had an RBI-single earlier in the fourth to tied the game.

Tanner Marsh kept the inning alive with a two-out double to put two men into scoring position for Niko Brini.

Already with a hit as well, Brini pulled a slider down the right field line, scoring both runners. He raced into second base as Harwich took the 3-1 lead.

It was a big day for Brini, who had entered the game on a 1-16 stretch. The double was his fourth extra base hit with the Mariners.

“He’s been having some bad luck, hitting balls right at people,” Englert said. “He’s had some quality at-bats, but nothing to show for it. Tonight it finally paid off for him.”

Moving Forward:

Harwich (10-9-3) is off tomorrow before hosting Orleans (11-11-2) on Tuesday. The Mariners have lost both matchups against the Firebirds this season. Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard will throw out the pitch and be available to take photos with fans.

Game starts at 6:30 p.m.