The Hyannis Harbor Hawks lost in heartbreaking fashion as the Orleans Firebirds got an extra-innings walk-off, ending the game 7-6 in the home squad’s favor. This clutch performance by Orleans (22-15-2) puts Hyannis (15-20-4) on the brink of dropping out of the playoffs heading into the final game of the season.
“We’re fighting for our lives,” manager Mitch Karraker said. “Hopefully [the players] show up ready to play.”
The Harbor Hawks could have clinched a playoff spot with a win against the Firebirds, but late heroics from Orleans prevented it. With two down in the bottom of the 10th and the winning run on second base, Dawson Bryce stepped to the plate.
The Charlotte infielder belted the third pitch he saw deep toward the right-center field gap, scoring Landon Hairston as he joyously galloped toward home.
This capped a long comeback effort by the Firebirds as they constantly played chase to Hyannis throughout the game.
The Harbor Hawks went up 6-3 in the top of the seventh with a two-run blast by Deiten Lachance. This was the Oklahoma transfer’s second homer of the game after depositing an opposite-field solo shot over the right field fence in the fourth inning.
Orleans began its uphill battle in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with two singles and a walk to start the inning. Sam Garewal attempted to settle in with a strikeout but walked in a run on four pitches shortly after.
The Stanford right-hander then lost a nine-pitch battle with Javar Williams, walking in a second run before getting a pair of strikeouts to end the inning with Hyannis still ahead.
Ryan Speshyock entered for the Harbor Hawks in the eighth, setting the Firebirds down in order before they jumped on the All-Star closer in the ninth. Bryce led off the inning with a single, followed by an infield single from Ryan Kucherak that deflected off Speshyock’s glove.
This put the tying run in scoring position as a flyout by Williams made Ryan MacDougall the last hope for Orleans with two outs. The Dayton backstop fired a top-spinning line drive to first, skipping off Jayce Dobie’s glove and into the outfield, sending the game to extras with the next batter grounding out.
While the late runs that the Firebirds scored showed their offensive skill, their early scoring exposed holes in the visitors’ defense. Hyannis committed a season-high six errors with multiple coming at crucial moments early in the game.
“We’ve got to play defense behind [our pitchers], walks didn’t help,” Karraker said. “It goes back to free bases, which we’ve talked about all season long, really hurt us tonight.”
In the third inning, Hairston singled into center, advancing to second after a fielding error by Owen Prince. Hairston advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a Jake Schaffner throwing error that allowed Elijah Ickes to reach safely with two outs.
A similar occurrence came in the bottom of the sixth with runners on first and second. MacDougall grounded toward Gabe Camacho at first, seeing the ball careen off his glove and toward Ryan McKay at second base. The Michigan State infielder also failed to field the ball cleanly, allowing Anthony Potestio to score on the overlapping lapses in defensive play.
While the Harbor Hawks did not play sound defensively, they could still walk away from this game proud of their offensive effort. Other than Lachance’s two-homer night, Owen Prince majorly contributed to Hyannis’ scoring, totaling three RBIs with opportune singles in the third and sixth innings.
The Harbor Hawks will try to extend their offensive prowess and return to form defensively in their final regular-season matchup against the Wareham Gatemen on Sunday at 6 p.m. in McKeon Park.
Tym Brown can be reached at ***tymbrown12@gmail.com\* and followed on X @tym_brown1.
