FALMOUTH, Mass. — Falmouth was in a precarious spot heading into its third game versus Harwich. While its pitching — besides the ninth inning of Game 2 — has been strong, its offense hasn’t fully shown up yet.
On a cold, windy night in Chatham, the ‘Dores scored one run. On Sunday versus Brewster, they added three more. Falmouth entered Monday batting .086 and without an extra-base hit. If it wants to win games consistently, it needs both units humming at the same time.
It was the same story Monday. Falmouth (1-2) failed to generate any offense and fell to Harwich (2-1) 6-0. Despite a masterful start from Nebraska’s TJ Coats, where he allowed just one hit through five innings, the Commodores went 0-4 with runners in scoring position and its bullpen allowed six runs over four innings, leading to its shutout loss Monday.
The Mariners ended last season with a bang. After going 16-24 in the regular season, they exploded in the playoffs to capture the 2024 Cape Cod Baseball League title. This season, though, they started the season 1-1, including a one-run outing versus Hyannis Sunday.
Falmouth had a chance to capitalize on Harwich’s recent struggles. But it didn’t.
Coats took the mound Monday, looking to continue Kaden Echeman and Grayson Saunier’s dominance as starters. He transferred to Nebraska from Cloud County Community College, where he posted a 7.15 ERA in eight appearances this season. He was phenomenal in his first start on the Cape.
Unlike Echeman and Saunier, Coats got into trouble to start, with three runners reaching base in the first. But he got out of the jam via an Eric Becker double play and Ben Royo barehanded toss to first.
”It felt great,” Coats said postgame about escaping the threat. “I know the guys behind me. I've seen them field every day, so I knew if I could give them opportunities, they could get me out of it.”
And Coats took that in stride. He posted surgical frames in the second and third, easily sitting down Harwich’s top two hitters in Tre Broussard and Harrison Feinberg the second time through the order.
He said he found success by attacking the zone early, often dropping his curveball into the zone to get strikeouts.
“The biggest thing was just trying to get ahead,” Coats said. “(I) walked the leadoff guy, and then after that I just tried to not walk another guy.”
Though the question still remained — could Falmouth’s offense capitalize? The answer was no.
On the other side, Harwich starter Freddy Rodriguez (Hawaii) was just as efficient. Despite throwing 25 pitches in the first, he settled in in the second, inducing a Kent Schmidt strikeout and Coleman Mizell weak groundout. Leading off the third, Mark Quatrani and Carl Schmidt singled, but Rodriguez quickly quelled the threat by initiating a Royo double play.
Through three innings, the game was beginning to look eerily similar to Falmouth’s season-opener against Chatham. It continued that way for the next two frames.
Rodriguez sat down Falmouth’s 3-4-5 hitters in order in the fourth, adding to his stellar 3.10 ERA and 52 strikeouts with the Rainbow Warriors. Coats, similarly, finished his day in the fifth by notching two more of his seven strikeouts.
After each of the frames, both teams went to their bullpens. While Harwich subbed in Penn’s Thomas Shurtleff, Falmouth went with LSU’s Deven Sheerin, who entered his first game since tearing his ACL last summer.
The new arms led to the first score of the day. Despite topping out at 97 miles per hour, Sheerin struggled. He hit Feinberg on the elbow, who eventually moved to third on a wild pitch. The Northeastern product slid home a few pitches later on a Quatrani passed ball to break the scoreless tie.
And Harwich kept adding on an inning later. This time, it came via the power department. After Kyle Brini singled and stole second, Kyle Wolff (Boston College) drilled a two-run homer down the left field line to put the Mariners ahead 3-0. Wolff’s blast marked the third Falmouth had allowed in two days after surrendering two to Brewster on Sunday.
The offensive spurt proved to be the difference Monday.
Shurtleff seamlessly followed Rodriguez to keep Falmouth from climbing back. Despite allowing hard flyouts to Royo and Kyle Morrison in the sixth, he allowed just one baserunner across his first two frames. His third — the bottom of the seventh — was more of the same, as he ended his day only allowing a single.
Though Sheerin bounced back by striking out two in the eighth, it was too little, too late. Tazwell Butler, who transferred from Walters State Community College to Kansas State, instead became the next Mariners pitcher to quiet the ‘Dores. He struck out two in the eighth, then another two in the ninth to seal the deal.
Harwich added another three runs in the ninth against Alabama transfer Kaden Humphrey, but it was a moot point.
Falmouth simply couldn’t get anything going offensively against the Mariners. The situational hitting it used to score runs versus Brewster was nowhere to be found. Rodriguez, Shurtleff and Butler completely shut the Commodores down, contributing to their second straight loss.
Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.
