If you’re going to drive over an hour to a baseball game, it better be worthwhile. In their first trip over the Bourne Bridge, the Mariners found themselves in a game where no lead was safe Tuesday night.
With three early lead changes, the Mariners found themselves with the bases loaded, down to their final out, behind 5-3 to the Wareham Gatemen.
Shintaro Inoue, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, hit a line drive single past second base to score Bristol Carter and Tre Broussard to tie the game.
The clutch hit gave Harwich new life.
In the top of the tenth inning, the Mariners drew three walks against pitcher Patrick Galle to take the 6-5 lead. With a clean bottom of the inning, they clinched their first victory of July and second against the Gatemen.
It was the second night in a row Harwich played extra innings, tying Hyannis Monday night.
The Mariners jumped out in the top of the second inning. With Maddox Molony at first base, Dee Kennedy blasted a drive off the wall in left center field. Molony, running on contact, beat the throw home with a head first slide to give Harwich the 1-0 lead.
Harwich tied the game at two in the third when Jake Koonin hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Broussard.
Against submarine pitcher Jacob Faulkner, the Mariners flooded the bases. In the top of the fifth inning, Matt Conte took the first pitch of the leg, then advanced to third on a single by Kennedy. Sam Harris gave Harwich the 3-2 lead with a single to center.
McNeillie squeezed
After tossing four no-hit innings in his previous outing, McNeillie had to fight through adversity against Wareham.
He came within a pitch on multiple occasions from getting out of the fourth inning. The infield came up short of turning a double-play, leaving guys on the corners with two outs. With Levi Clark up, McNeillie was on the wrong end of several borderline pitches. Trying to keep his pitches low, McNeillie eventually walked Clark to load the bases, setting up Cain to put his team ahead
While McNeillie still racked up five strikeouts, he gave up seven hits and allowed a base runner in each inning.
Wareham scored two runs in the second off him to take a 2-1 lead.
Moving forward
The Mariners play their third straight game tomorrow when they begin a home-and-home series with the Brewster Whitecaps. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. from Whitehouse Field.
