CHATHAM, Mass. - The Hyannis Harbor Hawks battled despite a big deficit, eventually coming away with a 10-7 loss to the Chatham Anglers Wednesday night. An eight-run fifth inning for Chatham (18-18) was too much for Hyannis (21-14-1) to overcome.
Down by a bunch in the ninth inning, Hyannis rallied to attempt a comeback. After a quick first out, a single, error in the field and four walks brought the tying run up to the plate. Mason White (Arizona) sent a deep fly ball into right field with the bases loaded, giving Harbor Hawks fans hope that it may clear the fence, but was eventually caught right at the wall.
The sacrifice fly wasn’t the last out of the inning, as Blake Cavill (Transfer Portal) strolled into the box still with two runners on. He got good wood on a ball that was hit directly at the Anglers’ first baseman and caught for the final out of the night.
“I think we did a really good job in the ninth [inning] with the approach and not swinging at pitches we shouldn’t,” head coach Mitch Karraker said. “We put ourselves in a really good position there, we made it real interesting. Nothing phases these guys, we feel like we can score as many runs as we need no matter what the score is or what the inning is.”
In the top of the fourth, Hyannis was set up with runners on second and third after Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist) reached on an error and White walked. This brought up Cavill, who smoked a ball into right-center field for a single. The swing scored both runs, giving the Harbor Hawks an early 2-0 lead.
For Cavill, his past few games have been much improved at the plate, after a bit of a slow start. The first baseman got some time away from the team to play a game for the Aussie Drop Bears, and since returning, seems to have newfound confidence, as well as a new bat he named ‘Steve Irwin.’
“The bat does something in my hands,” Cavill said. “Every time Steve Irwin gets in my hands, it just feels good right now.”
The next run for Hyannis came in the top of the sixth, after two quick outs with no runners on. White, Cavill and Carson Boles (Arkansas) each worked 3-2 counts one after the other, with each one ending in a walk, loading the bases. In his first game on Cape, J.P. Acosta (Fresno City College) worked a walk of his own, tallying his first RBI of the summer, and plating a run in the process.
Chatham took a big lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, with seven hits in the frame to go along with a pair of walks. Two of the seven hits cleared the fence in the outfield, both coming with the bases loaded for two grand slams and a total of eight runs.
Outside of the big fifth inning, the Hyannis pitching staff had another solid game on Wednesday. The night was headlined by a great showing from Paul Schmitz (Houston), who after struggling in his first outing on Cape, settled in and threw three scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.
“The first time [Schmitz] was out there, I think [he had] a bit of jitters, the first time on Cape, long flight from Germany, trying to adjust to all that, that’s a lot for a kid,” Karraker said. “Good to see him get back out there and have some success. He’s gonna be a big piece for us moving forward.”
Hyannis looks to bounce back in a game that will have big playoff implications on Thursday, August 1 against Cotuit. First from Lowell Park against the Kettleers is set for 4:30 p.m.
“We understand what’s at stake [Thursday] and who the opponent is,” Karraker said. “The guys are really looking forward to it.”
Mike Maynard can be reached at mikemay62@gmail.com and followed on Twitter/X @mikecmaynard.
