YARMOUTH-DENNIS, Mass. – The Falmouth Commodores lost 10-8 against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in a back-and-forth matchup Thursday at Red Wilson Field.
“We had some great at-bat plays happen for us, but at the end of the day we got the loss,” third baseman Dylan Carey (Nebraska) said. “But the great thing about the cape is that there is always another game to come out with the same attitude and effort.”
Tate McKee (Georgia Tech) made his Commodores debut on the mound Thursday. In the bottom of the first, he picked up two strikeouts and Luke Gaffney (Purdue) recorded a groundout to send Falmouth back to bat.
Gaffney led the Commodores off in the top of the second and picked up a single. Karson Bowen (TCU) followed with another single, but Falmouth struggled to get into a favorable scoring position before being sent back to the dugout.
McKee gave up his first walk in the bottom of the second to Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas). Aloy came home after Jonathan Kim (Michigan) hit a home run and pushed Y-D ahead, 2-0. McKee redeemed himself by picking up his third strikeout of the night on Charlie Saum (Stanford).
The Red Sox’s offensive momentum carried into the bottom of the third with back-to-back doubles from Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma) and Anthony Martinez (UC Irvine) to punch in another run to boost their lead to 3-0.
The fourth inning was a chance for Falmouth to close in on Y-D’s lead. Gaffney led with another single, then Bowen and Kollin Ritchie (Oklahoma State) followed with walks to load the bases.
The Red Sox had a pitching change after the Commodores loaded the bases. Bryan Peck (Westmont College) relieved Y-D’s starting pitcher Jason Reitz (Saint Mary's).
Carey grounded a single to bring Gaffney and Bowen home to punch in the first two runs of the night for the Commodores. The momentum was stinted with Jaxon Willits (Oklahoma) striking out.
The Falmouth defense rallied to send the Y-D offense back to the dugout after it picked up a walk and a single with a double play from Matt Bucciero (Fairfield) and Gaffney, but Drew Burress (Georgia Tech) still clocked in a run for the Red Sox to put them up 4-2.
The fifth was scoreless for both teams, but in the top of the sixth the Commodores had a late offensive rally with a double from Carey and a home run from Donovan LaSalle (Oklahoma State) to punch in three runs to take the lead, 5-4.
“It felt great,” LaSalle said when talking about his home run. “In that situation, I was just trying to score the runner, get the ball in play.”
Falmouth backed up their offensive burst with a quick three outs to go back to hitting, but the Commodores quickly picked up outs to send Ethan Phillips (Indiana) back to the mound. Phillips gave up two walks and a single that resulted in a run from Y-D in the seventh to tie it at 5-5.
After the run, Riley Stanford (Georgia Tech) relieved Phillips. The Red Sox reclaimed their lead with a double from Martinez and a home run from Aloy to punch in five runs to take the lead, 9-5. Stanford was able to end Y-D’s time at bat with a strikeout on Saum.
Falmouth’s offensive spark came back in the top of the eighth, putting up two singles, a walk and a run to sit at 9-6. The Commodores had another two runs in them with a single from Willits and a double from Gaffney to close in on the Red Sox’s lead to make it 9-8.
Y-D responded with a run, and Parker Coil (Arkansas) replaced Stanford on the mound. The Red Sox secured their victory with a double from Carmichael for Cade McGee (Texas Tech) to make the run.
Up next, Falmouth will head back home to host the reigning Cape Cod League champions, the Bourne Braves, with the first pitch set for 6 p.m. Friday.
