The Hyannis Harbor Hawks managed to just squeak by with a 1-0 shutout win against the Orleans Firebirds on Wednesday night at McKeon Park.

Both the Harbor Hawks and the Firebirds went scoreless for the first six innings until the Harbor Hawks took the upper hand in the bottom of the seventh. The Harbor Hawks’ pitching staff were able to shut out the Firebirds for the entirety of the game to keep the win within reach.

The pitching staff for the night consisted of Brady St. Pierre, Cohen Gomez and Brayden Sharp, who in total had six strikeouts and only allowed two hits.

“Really proud of the pitching staff, they pitched really, really well tonight,” Karraker said. “They kept us in the game and gave us a shot.”

Offensively, Karraker said he and the team were “frustrated.” While the offense was able to get six hits on the board, they were struck out 11 times and were unable to get the ball rolling until the seventh inning.

“We missed a lot of fastballs tonight. We struck out way too much,” Karraker said. “I don’t think it’s indicative of anything, just maybe two days off and our timing’s off.”

Brady St. Pierre started things off for the Harbor Hawks, pitching for four whole innings and keeping the Firebirds off the board. In the fifth inning, however, second baseman Adam Magpoc was able to reach first base on a fielding error by third baseman Taylor Kirk. Then, a double by shortstop Corey Nunez sent St. Pierre back to the bullpen and brought up Cohen Gomez to try and close out the inning. After a walk to center fielder Rowan Kelly by Gomez, the bases were loaded with two outs, and things were looking bleak for the Harbor Hawks. However, Gomez and the Harbor Hawks’ defense were able to get out of it with a force out at second base to keep the game scoreless.

Though the defensive determination kept the Firebirds from scoring, the Harbor Hawks’ offense was still looking for their first run of the game.

“There were a lot of opportunities. We had guys at second late, early and middle of the game and we just couldn’t get that big hit,” Karraker said. “We just needed to bust through at some point.”

Cue: Andrew Lamb and Taylor Kirk.

Despite Kirk’s near costly error in the fifth inning, he more than made up for it in the seventh. In his debut game, designated hitter Lamb hit a line drive double to left field to put himself in scoring position. Then, with two outs and a chance to take the lead, Kirk came up to bat and ripped a line drive single to center field, sending Lamb home. Lamb said rounding third, all he could do was smile.

“It’s always a goal for any college baseball player to come and play here, and to have some success in my third at-bat and then score a run for the team. It just meant a lot.” Lamb said.

Once Lamb and Kirk were able to snatch the lead, all eyes looked to Brayden Sharp to close out the game and prevent the Firebirds from coming away with the win. Sharp would not disappoint, as he pitched two 1-2-3 innings to secure the win for the Harbor Hawks and send the Firebirds packing. Sharp said he was cool, calm and collected on the mound, despite knowing that the win could be taken with just a swing of the bat.

“You try not to think it’s anything special,” Sharp said. “It’s baseball. You go out there; you play your game no matter what.”

At the official midway point in the season, the Harbor Hawks sit at 9-11. Karraker said he’s extremely happy with the group of guys he’s gotten to work with this season.

“I love these guys,” Karraker said. “They love to come out and work together. They work well together, they compete, they do everything we ask them to do.”

The Harbor Hawks now hit the road for three days straight, starting with a matchup against the Falmouth Commodores in a rescheduled game due to rain.

The Harbor Hawks will face the Commodores at Guv Fuller Field on Thursday at 6 p.m.