Starting with dynamic smallball and sealing the deal with clutch late-game pitching, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks downed the Harwich Mariners – to whom they had lost twice this season – by a score of 4-3 on Friday at Whitehouse Field, climbing to a 10-12 record on the season.

Smallball – bunts, singles, sacrifice flies and stolen bases – was the name of the game offensively for Hyannis in the one-run win.

“We’ve been struggling with the bats offensively,” Hyannis manager Mitch Karraker said – the Harbor Hawks’ offense had been limited to one run in each of the prior two games – but “obviously, put some bunts down tonight to create some offense. Our pitching staff did a really nice job of keeping it close.”

Leading that pitching staff was Raymond Olivas, who picked up the win with five innings of two-hit, two-strikeout ball, allowing only one unearned run and lowering his season ERA to 2.70.

Olivas, who came out of the bullpen in his previous appearances, impressed Karraker with his five strong innings.

“It doesn’t matter what role we put him in, he seems to be really good,” Karraker said. “He’s super composed. He has command of all pitches. Nothing fazes him.”

After allowing Harwich to open the scoring in the second with that unearned run from a walk, an error and a single, the Harbor Hawks struck back in the fourth with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from catcher Blake Primrose, knotting the score.

Hyannis could have hit better with runners in scoring position, stranding the bases loaded in back-to-back innings despite taking the lead. After second baseman JC Davis walked to lead off the top of the fifth, the Harbor Hawks dropped down two consecutive bunts. Left fielder Henry Zenor outran the throw for a bunt single, and shortstop Taylor Kirk moved the two runners into scoring position.

“We’re trying to just get a run any way we can at that point,” Karraker said of the smallball effort. “Let’s just play for one [run] here and just get some confidence on our side offensively, and it worked out for us.”

Mariners starter Jackson Peavy, who took the loss by turning in 4.1 innings of two-run ball, lost his feel for the zone. Peavy walked Hyannis right fielder Jax Gimenez, and the run came in as he unintentionally drilled Harbor Hawks first baseman Caden Miller.

After a pitching change, the Harbor Hawks fought aggressively for a big bases-loaded swing, but Harwich reliever Bryan Matuschat needed only three pitches to escape the jam. Hyannis third baseman Jordan Lodise and designated hitter Matt Ineich peppered baseballs right at Mariners first baseman Sean O’Leary on the first and second pitches of their at-bats, respectively.

“I like it,” Karraker said. “I err on the side of aggressiveness. You want to get swings off in runners-in-scoring-position situations, and so I’m never going to fault the kid for that.”

However, Karraker said he would like to see his hitters complement their aggressiveness with better plate discipline and more careful pitch selection in the future.

Hyannis stretched the lead in the seventh with three singles – Lodise notched the RBI – and a sacrifice fly from Ineich to bring Gimenez home from third, making the score 4-1.

The Mariners narrowed the lead to one in the bottom of the seventh, but the Harbor Hawks thwarted several Harwich rallies thereafter. Karraker praised the team’s run-prevention effort in the waning innings, from reliever Truitt Webb “mess[ing] with their timing a little bit” with his offspeed pitches to Kirk’s athletic plays in the infield.

Webb, who earned his third save of the year with 2.1 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball, entered the game with two outs in the seventh in relief of Easton Barrett. Webb immediately stranded a man at second.

Hyannis’ closer aggressively went after Harwich’s hitters. Though he got burned on a leadoff double to Mariners catcher Brayden Jaksa in the eighth, he retired three straight to strand Jaksa at second.

“[I] just tell myself, go after them,” Webb said. “Can’t shy away from the moment, and just be a dog. That’s all I tell myself every time.”

Webb ramped up the aggressiveness in the ninth, squashing the Mariners’ last gasp with his fastball, notching two swinging strikeouts and a first-pitch groundout to preserve the one-run lead.

“The heater was there, they were swinging and missing on it,” Webb said. “I was throwing it down and away, up and away, just by them. Rode really good, so just got behind it and let it eat.”

After striking out looking in the seventh inning, catcher Blake Primrose – who had missed significant time after sustaining a hamstring injury on Opening Day, limiting him to three games played this season – exited the game after possibly re-aggravating his injury. Karraker had no immediate update on his status.

In the bottom half of the frame, Andrew Lamb came in to play the backstop – his first appearance at the position in his third game of the year. He impressed defensively, making several crucial blocks on pitches outside the zone.

“We knew he could catch,” Karraker said. “He kind of got thrown into the fire there, right there in the middle of that inning, and I thought he did a really nice job.”

Karraker said Lamb has gelled with a brand-new pitching staff and coaches immediately, despite joining the club just days ago.

Gimenez put on a show for scouts in attendance in the late innings. In the eighth, he made a strong throw on a flyout that nearly caught Jaksa at third base. The next half-inning, in a valiant effort to generate an insurance run, he walked – reaching base for the third time in the game – and promptly stole second and third.

“Jax plays hard,” Karraker said. “He loves the game, and he only plays it at one speed, and it’s full go. That’s what we really appreciate from him, and our guys feel it, it’s contagious.”

Though the Harbor Hawks could not push that run across, all were satisfied with the hard-fought win.

“They’re a good club,” Karraker said of the now 13-9 Mariners. “They’re playing good right now, and it’s a good win for us.”

Hyannis will wrap up its set of three consecutive away games in Wareham against the Gatemen on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.