After the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox fell 9-5 to the Chatham Anglers in game one of the 2026 playoffs, Assistant Coach Craig Giannino was disappointed. He was also ready to move on.
“It is what it is. We’ll bounce back,” said Giannino.
He saw today’s loss as a learning opportunity, and tipped his cap to Chatham’s offense.
“Learn from it, move on. We didn’t play sharp at the beginning of the game. We didn’t get our outs on time,” said Giannino. “They capitalized early. They had the momentum most of the game,” he said.
Instead of feeling completely defeated, Giannino left the game feeling somewhat optimistic.
“The reality is, if you look at the scoreboard in the last three innings, seventh, eighth, and ninth, and you break it up into thirds, we won the last third of the game three-to-two,” he said.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Y-D’s Reid Howard and Jayce Tharnish both walked with the bases loaded to narrow Chatham’s lead to 9-3 and 9-4, respectively. Afterwards, with no outs and the bases loaded, the two, three and four hitters of Y-D’s lineup — Kevin Takeuchi (USC), Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt), and Mateo Serna (Alabama) — and all struck out to end the game.
Still, these consecutive strikeouts by some of the lineup’s best hitters did not affect Giannino’s confidence in them to perform in future high-pressure situations.
“Those guys have carried us the entire year. We wouldn’t be where we are without those guys,” he said.
Another member of the coaching staff ready to learn from tonight’s mistakes was Y-D Pitching Coach Eric Beattie.
“We need to work ahead in more counts. We just need to throw less pitches, and you do that by working ahead in more counts…the more pitches you throw, the better position you put the hitters in,” said Beattie.
The best of three series gives the team the opportunity to regroup in a different environment with different lineups and pitchers. Two-way player Brock Ketelsen (Stanford), who has a 2.41 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP, will start on the mound for Y-D tomorrow. Beattie is choosing to use the left-hander to combat Chatham’s left-handed hitting depth, he said.
“Ketelsen’s a really good pitcher, he’s a great competitor,” said Beattie. “Get another crack at it tomorrow.”
