CHATHAM, Mass. — The Gatemen got off the bus in Chatham on Tuesday afternoon. It was the team’s first trip to Veterans Field, and they were looking to build off their Sunday win over the Orleans Firebirds.
They also looked to even the series with the Anglers, who ran away with their first meeting on June 16. Unfortunately for the Gatemen, history would repeat itself.
The Gatemen could not contain the Anglers, losing 11-6 on Tuesday. The game started with the Anglers (5-6-3) scoring nine combined runs in the second and third innings. From there, the Gatemen (6-8) were already behind the 8-ball.
In the first three innings, the Gatemen did not record a hit or a runner on base. The first baserunner of the night came in the fourth, when center fielder Hayden Yost (Florida) drew a walk, which sparked the Gatemen offense.
Wareham then tied together two RBI singles from first baseman Chris McHugh (NC State) and third baseman Andrew Cain (Arizona) to put them on the board. The offense then continued to put balls in play and chip away at Chatham’s lead.
In the fifth inning, catcher Mac Rose (Vanderbilt) scored right fielder Chase Krewson (UCF) on a ground ball. Then, in the sixth inning, designated hitter Levi Clark (Tennessee) drove a ball to right field that got just enough distance to get out of the park for a home run.
“It felt pretty good, I was just trying to get something out over the plate that I could get the barrel on. It got the team a little closer to cutting into their lead, but it was a pretty good swing and maybe got a little lucky with the wind,” Clark said.
Clark’s bat has been a great addition to the lineup since his activation June 18 against the Harwich Mariners. He is batting .316 with 12 hits, four RBIs and now three home runs.
“He's got incredible power, and he comes from strength and bat speed, and he sticks to his preparation every day," Gatemen batting coach Mike Mobbs said about Clark. “He’s got what I would call ‘easy pop’ where he doesn't have to put his best swing on the ball, and the ball can still go over the fence, and that's something you don't see from too many guys.”
The solo home run turned a 9-0 deficit into a little more manageable 9-4 game in entering the seventh, showcasing the team’s fight to compete.
“One of the marks of a professional is that you value every at-bat, regardless of the score. We saw that last summer when we came back from an 8-0 deficit. And I had a ton of belief at 9-0 that we were going to come back and do the same thing,” Mobbs said.
“We were one or two swings away from making it a two-run game at one point. We kept fighting and put up two in the end there. It's easy to just roll over and not even try, but our guys didn’t do that. Credit to them, they kept fighting,” Gatemen field manager Ryan Smyth said.
However, the nail in the coffin came from Anglers center fielder Henry Ford (Virginia), who crushed his sixth double of the season to drive in two more runs for Chatham, making the score 11-4.
The Gatemen still refused to quit in the top of the ninth. Mac Rose doubled to drive in shortstop Kyuss Gargett (Kentucky), then Yost drove in second baseman Colby Turner (Michigan) on a ground ball to short. Yet, it was not enough to keep up with the Anglers, who defeated the Gatemen for the second time this season.
A big part of the game for Wareham was its ability to stay competitive despite the score, especially on the mound. Pitcher Hudson Rowan (Louisiana Tech) came in for the final three innings of work and was tasked with keeping the Anglers at bay.
He did well, allowing only two hits and three walks, and striking out two batters, with his only mistake being Ford’s two-RBI double. It was his efforts, though, that kept a comeback plausible for his offense.
“I approached the deficit thinking: It doesn’t matter what's going on, you're here and you have a job to do. If you produce, then you help the team produce. So, at the end of the day, you are doing something for the betterment of the team. Pounding the zone, getting quick outs and throwing up zeros for the guys around you. It's not just about you. It's bigger than you,” Rowan said.
Unfortunately, it was a game the Gatemen fell behind in quickly, due to early mistakes, and had to fight their way from behind. Despite a valiant effort, it was not enough to come back and win.
“This one was tough to be down nine. It's hard to dig yourself out of that. And it's just something we’ve got to clean up the defense a little bit, play a little bit cleaner. We've played in a lot of really close games, and we've been battle tested because of that, but new team, new day tomorrow, just gotta show up and play baseball,” Smyth said.
Wareham will get a chance to bounce back when it returns to Spillane Field on Wednesday to face the Harwich Mariners at 6 p.m.
