The Hyannis Harbor Hawks’ Thursday night game against the Chatham Anglers felt like a breath of fresh air. They got the hits when they needed to. They worked a lot of walks. They kept the Anglers off the basepaths and got a big game from the pitchers.
That breath of fresh air ended in what felt like a cathartic win for the Hawks, rolling past the Anglers with an 8-1 victory at Veteran’s Field.
Infielder Jake Schaffner summed up the feeling after the game quickly but accurately.
“It feels great,” said Schaffner. “We have not gotten a win in a little bit, so it feels unreal to finally get a win.”
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Hawks, who won for just the third time in July and for the first time in eight days. It also resulted in a temporary escape from last place in the West Division, as the Hawks win combined with a Cotuit Kettleers loss moved Hyannis up to fourth and Cotuit to fifth.
It was an unassuming start to the game, as Chatham’s Charlie Foster and Hyannis’ Tsubasa Tomii each hurled three scoreless innings early. Owen Prince put the Hawks ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, lacing a single to left field to score Myles Davis.
Shortly after Prince’s double, Schaffner came up with Prince on second base, Devin Mitchell on third, and Ray Velazquez on first. He unloaded the bases with one swing, sending Foster’s 1-2 pitch over the right-center field fence for a grand slam. Suddenly, it was 5-0 Hawks, with all five runs coming with two outs.
Not a bad time for the first grand slam of the season for the Hawks, and the first homer of the summer for Schaffner.
“I said ‘I got to put this ball in play, I got to cause havoc on the basepaths,’” said Schaffner. “It was a fastball up and in, swung at it, happened to be a home run. It was a great feeling.”
Tomii had a brief hiccup on the mound in the bottom of the fourth, giving up a solo home run to Chatham’s Daniel Jackson, ending the shutout bid and making it a 5-1 score.
It did not end the best start of the week for the Hawks and the best one of the summer for Tomii. He earned his second win of the season with two hits and one walk allowed to Chatham hitters, striking out six in five innings pitched.
Hyannis manager Mitch Karraker, when asked what was working for Tomii on the mound, said “pretty much everything.”
Tomii felt that his fastball was getting good results after his offspeed pitches got hit by the Orleans Firebirds in his last outing.
“The slider I think was the best pitch, but I threw a lot of fastballs today,” said Tomii. “Last week, I did not throw a lot of fastballs, a lot of breaking balls. Orleans hit my slider, cutter, curve stuff. So I was thinking before today’s game, ‘I need to throw a lot of fastballs.’”
The win felt especially good for Tomii, as the Hawks’ five-game losing streak started with the Orleans game, his previous start.
“When the losing started, it was my pitching day,” said Tomii. “Last Friday, we lost to Orleans. I thought about it a lot this week into this morning. Just happy [to get a win].”
Hyannis made it 6-1 in the seventh when Schaffner scored on a wild pitch. They added two more in the ninth, as Jayce Dobie scored on a groundout by Deiten Lachance before Ryan McKay scampered home from third on a wild pitch by Chatham’s JJ Glasscock.
Karraker was impressed by the approach by the Hawks at the plate, as they worked eight walks and scored eight runs despite only getting three hits.
“We took some good walks tonight,” said Karraker. “They threw some really good arms, our guys did a really good job of battling, put some balls in play, which was good. Schaffner's big swing there was really huge to feel just a little bit of breathing room there, and the pitching staff was phenomenal tonight.”
In relief of Tomii, the Hawks got two shutout innings from Chris Diaz and Zach Edwards, with the two combining for five strikeouts while allowing just three baserunners.
“Diaz, that is two outings in a row where he has been really, really good,” said Karraker. “Zach’s got electric stuff and was able to continue to pound the strike zone.”
The Hawks have one more game before the two-day break for the Cape League All-Star game, hosting the division rival Falmouth Commodores at McKeon Park Friday night. Hyannis is 3-0 against Falmouth so far this season and will be looking to make it 4-0 with Carson Jasa getting the start.
Michael Najarian can be reached at mikenajarian379@gmail.com and on X @MichaelNaj3.
