Out of a Thursday off-day, Falmouth (6-5-1) seemed to be slowly piecing things together against Wareham, despite the loss. A Saturday victory over Orleans (3-9) boosted the validity of that sentiment, as its offense caught barrels at the game’s most important moments, while its pitching staff missed bats when it needed to.
Austin Mallee (transfer portal) and Ty Kaunas (Texas Tech) recorded multi-hit days as Nate Stern (TCU) stopped some early bleeding, propelling the ‘Dores to victory.
Much like their previous game, the Commodores’ first cycle through their batting order brought tough fortune for their bats. Orleans starter Brennan Seiber (Vanderbilt) retired all but one Falmouth hitter through his first three innings of work, inducing soft contact through the 30 pitches of his outing.
The Firebirds struck first with their first opportunity at the dish – Rowan Kelly (UCSB) took a pitch to the body, kickstarting an early rally from Orleans. A single from Bub Terrell (Auburn) and an RBI groundout from Nate Savoie (Clemson) gave them a 1-0 lead.
The lead swayed the other direction in the top of the fourth, as Mallee and Fabio Peralta (Miami) strung together two consecutive singles to start the inning. After a stolen base, Kaunas followed suit to score both.
For the Commodores to start making better contact, according to Kaunas, a feel for direction was the most important thing, saying “second time through, we changed our approach, we were [thinking] right-center and it worked.”
Meanwhile, Stern was amidst a masterclass performance which started in the bottom of the second, when he emerged from the bullpen to bail the ‘Dores out of a one-out bases-loaded jam. He’d surrender one unearned run in four and two-thirds innings, striking out five. “The name of the game coming out of the pen like that is winning each pitch, winning [against] each batter,” he said on his outing. “I think that was the most important thing.”
The only blemish against Stern came in the fourth, following a walk, a fielding error and a sac fly from Dominic Cadiz (UCLA). He was undeterred by the speed bump, working around a pair of walks in the fifth to strand the pair of Firebird baserunners and swiftly moving through the sixth with a 1-2-3 inning.
“There’s controllables and uncontrollables,” said Stern, speaking on the unearned run. “Not everything's going to go your way, no matter what – it's life and it's baseball. Being able to have comfort in that –- that nothing will go right to an extent, not everything's going to go your way — allows you to step back and be, ‘all right, like this baseball. Who cares? Let's go win a ball game.’”
Kaunas was able to give Stern some breathing room before his last inning of work with a no-doubt solo home run to left field, putting Falmouth up 3-2 in the sixth.
He saw high velocity the entire at–bat, and after working the count, he got the cutter he wanted.
“I was getting heaters practically the whole at bat,” he said. “I was thinking right-center [light] post the whole time. Fouled a couple balls off – I didn't see any offspeed the whole bat. He threw me a middle-in cutter and I drove it to left field.”
Falmouth has established itself as a squad that turns to small ball in tight ballgames and in the top of the seventh, as the scoreboard read 2-2, that’s exactly what Jack Dahm and the ‘Dores did. After a leadoff walk from Dallas Brooks (UCF), Nick Venteicher (Creighton) laid down a perfectly placed bunt down the first-base line, straddling the chalk and eventually dying in fair territory to move a runner into scoring position – the turning point of the inning for Falmouth.
After Pearson Riebock (Baylor) was plunked to load the bases, Anthony Diaz (Missouri) put a grounder in play to induce a fielder’s choice that scored two runs. As the middle of the Firebird infield attempted to turn a double play, Brooks trotted home from third while Venteicher turned on the jets to score from second. Austin Mallee (transfer portal) added on one more with an RBI single to make it 6-2 Commodores.
“A good bunt's going to lead to runs,” said Kaunas, who watched the top of the seventh unfold from the dugout. “Then we got timely hits, and that's why we won the game.”
It was smooth sailing for the ‘Dores after their seventh inning outburst. Sachem Ramos (UCF) handled the final nine outs for Falmouth, while Venteicher and Riebock drove in runs in the eighth to put a button on the 8-2 victory.
For the now first-place ‘Dores, consistency has been hard to come by in the first half of the season. Stern believes it’ll come with time and effort, saying it hinges on “knowing what you need to do each day and skimping out on the work behind the scenes. I think all the guys here do that really well.”
With the victory, the Commodores look to bring some newfound momentum back to Guv Fuller Field on the 28th against Brewster. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
