The Harwich Mariners found themselves in a prime opportunity to give the Hyannis Harbor Hawks their second-consecutive walk-off loss. Harwich put a man in scoring position in the ninth and tenth innings against Hyannis Tuesday night.
Unfortunately they had nothing to show for it.
For the second time this season, the Harwich Mariners ended a game in a tie after being down in the game. A seventh inning home run from Jake Koonin turned a two-run deficit into a 2-2 tie, which held up as the final score.
After recording nine hits against Bourne, the Harwich offense took a step backwards. Against four Hyannis pitchers, the Mariners struck out a season-high 18 times and recorded just five hits.
Hyannis’ Thomas Crabtree continued his hot start to the summer. He tossed four scoreless innings against the Mariners, striking out five guys and giving up just one hit.
“He was getting ahead early. Threw a lot of first pitch strikes,” Koonin said.
The Mariners had two hits just through six innings.
Harwich starter Freddy Rodriguez gave Hyannis as good of a start its seen all season. As he walked onto the mound, he was staring down the task of facing the leagues’ highest scoring offense in the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
But he wasn’t fazed.
He allowed just three hits across 5.1 innings, with his only blemish coming from a solo home run from Hayden Federico.
After giving up a single to Jason Walk with one out in the top of the sixth, Rodriguez left the game as Tom Chmielewski came into the game.
Trouble ensued on the bath paths immediately. As Walk attempted to steal second, catcher Macon Winslow’s throw went into center field, allowing him to advance to third.
With Harwich moving the infield in, Matthew Miura snuck a single by Maddox Molony to extend the lead to 2-0.
Chmielewski buckled down after the run and got the final two outs to strand Miura at third.
The UNC lefty combined with Cooper Harrington to throw 4.2 scoreless innings and keep Harwich within striking distance for the entire game.
New Mariners duo?
While the Mariners have only scored seven runs in the past three games, Koonin and Tanner Marsh have been the driving forces.
The Princeton utility-man hit his second home run in three games with a shot over the left-center fence at Whitehouse. After blowing a fastball by Koonin, Tyler August went back to the heater. This time Koonin was ready and turned on the pitch.
The home run tied the game at two.
Koonin had the chance to be the hero again in the tenth. With two outs and Niko Brini standing on third, he struck out swinging to end the game.
The newest player Marsh has started off hot for Harwich, already on a three-game hitting-streak, the infielder is hitting .364.
Marsh singled twice Tuesday, scoring on Koonin's home run.
Ninth inning woes
The ninth inning was anything but calm, as both teams had a men in scoring position with a chance to score.
Hyannis got Ryan McKay second after a wild pickoff attempt from Harrington got by first baseman Sam Harris.
McKay eventually made it to third base before Cooper Harrington forced Federico to ground out to end the threat.
The Mariners had a chance to win the game as Shintaro Inoue stepped up to the plate with Tre Broussard at second base and Sam Harris at first.
Inoue worked the count full against Griffin Graves before taking a called-strike three up in the zone to send the game to extras.
Moving Forward
Tuesday’s game marked the first of six straight games for the Mariners. Harwich makes the long trip to Wareham tomorrow to face the Gatemen at 6 p.m. Luke McNeillie gets the start for the Mariners.
