ORLEANS, Mass — Kane Kepley (North Carolina) stood in the box with the game-tying run at second base, and the game-winning run at first. It's the exact situation the Hyannis Harbor Hawks had been clawing for all Thursday night against the Orleans Firebirds.
Unfortunately, and anti-climactically, Kepley popped up deep into the Eldredge Park sky, and the contest ended.
The Harbor Hawks (15-11-1) dropped their second game in as many nights on Thursday. The Firebirds (8-19) got the best of them in a close 4-3 battle, completing the season sweep at Eldredge Park.
"Seems like the same story, different day," head coach Mitch Karraker said. "Our bats have been getting off to a really slow start as of late. It's nothing that we are doing completely different, we're trying to stick with the same approach, try and make adjustments as we go, and for whatever reason, it just hasn't worked out."
As the Hawks got off to a slow start, it didn't help that Orleans came out of the gates firing on all cylinders.
Firebirds leadoff stick Hudson Shupe worked a walk to begin the home half of the first, as Aaron Mishoulam (Michigan State) couldn’t establish the strike zone from the get-go. Jack Gurevitch then supplied some opposite-field pop. The left-handed hitter threw his bat at an outside pitch and squeaked one over the left-center wall, giving Orleans a 2-0 lead after one.
After Thursday, Hyannis is leading the CCBL in terms of home wins with 11, yet is third to last in road victories with just four.
"You know, we're out of a normal routine when we're on the road," Karraker said. "We're more comfortable in our own yard for whatever reason. We try to keep the preparation the same while we're on the road, but it's just a little more difficult. You're on a bus, it's faster in between [batting practice] and first pitch... good teams win a way to win on the road. That's been one of the struggles for us."
As things went on, another leadoff base runner came back to haunt Mishoulam. After Bennett Markinson reached on a walk, Gurevitch scratched another RBI in the bottom of the third with an infield single to give the Firebirds a 3-0 lead. Orleans took advantage of the Spartan arm giving up a few free passes, scoring both times Mishoulam walked a batter. Gurevitch enjoyed a 3-for-4 night with three RBI, a run scored, and a home run.
Despite not collecting a hit until the fifth inning, Hyannis managed to show a fight and hold things close.
After four hitless innings from Brennan Seiber, Orleans skipper Kelly Nicholson opted for Caleb Freeman in the bottom half of the fifth inning. The right-handed pitcher struggled, facing just three Hyannis hitters. Freeman walked two of them and even balked in a run. The Harbor Hawks got on the board before collecting their first knock.
Newcomer Carson Boles (Arkansas) clubbed Hyannis' first hit of the game, and his first single as a Hawk, pushing the club’s second run home in the fifth. Anthony Silva (TCU) and Mason White (Arizona) worked the walks, as Hyannis still trailed Orleans 3-2 after the halfway point at Eldredge Park had passed.
Boles finished Thursday's game going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
"Coming into [Thursday], especially after playing [Wednesday] and going 0-for-3, I just wanted to get on time and adjust so I think that was the biggest thing for me," Boles said. "I can use this as a snowball effect rolling into the next game. I think this was a tone-setter for me."
Reed Moring (UCSB) was another reason why the contest remained close. The right-hander got the nod to chuck after Mishoulam lasted three innings. This proved to be the correct decision for Karraker and company, as Moring went three innings of his own. He scattered just a pair of hits, punched out three and didn't let a run across. The Aptos, CA native was huge for Hyannis.
"[Moring] had three or four pitches working for him [Thursday]," Karraker said. "He attacked the strike zone which is really good. We're confident that as long as he's in the strike zone, he's gonna be really good for us."
The Firebirds added an important insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Left-handed stick Michael Mancini roped a leadoff double at 95 mph, Drake Meeks (Southern Miss) threw it 97, but Mancini sent the pearl right back. Orleans manufactured their second baseman around to score thanks to a groundout to advance the future Vanderbilt product and a passed ball. This proved to be the game-winning run.
Thanks to stellar pitching, hits were extremely hard to come by throughout Thursday night’s cross-division clash. A combined six hits were recorded across the first six innings of the contest, and bullpens were dipped into. The Hawks used four arms, while Orleans managed to come out on top using a whopping six pitchers.
"We need to play for the guy next to us a little bit more," Karraker said. "That was kind of my message out there. I don't think guys are terrible with it, but I think we could do a little bit better of a job. Maybe we need to go mini-golfing or something just to get everybody together to gel."
Hyannis will head back to McKeon Park for a two-game homestand starting Friday, July 19. The squad will face the Chatham Anglers with the first pitch expected at 6 p.m.
Sam Fosberg can be reached at samfozsports@gmail.com and followed on Twitter/X @discussbaseball
