The previous eight innings no longer mattered.
With the tying run at third, the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Y-D had a chance to save its season against Harwich. The Red Sox had the situation they wanted. The Mariners had the matchup they wanted.
Harwich reliever Reese Oakley (Murray State) was called on to face Phoenix Call (UCLA). Call battled, but chased a high fastball for strike three. Suddenly, Y-D’s season rested on Reid Howard (Virginia).
The at-bat — and the summer — ended too quickly. Howard went down looking.
After building a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning, Y-D’s bullpen faltered once again, and this time there was no tomorrow. A 6-5 loss to the Harwich Mariners at Whitehouse Field ended the Red Sox’s summer with a 2-0 sweep in the East Championship Series.
“You got to credit what Harwich did,” manager Scott Pickler said. “But we made too many mental mistakes tonight. Way too many.”
Y-D struck first when Dante Vachini (Cal Poly) plated Jayce Tharnish (Kentucky) with a sacrifice fly in the opening inning, though the Red Sox managed only one run after loading the bases with nobody out.
Ryder Robinson (BYU) ripped an RBI double in the third before Jake Souders (Mississippi State) scored on an error in the fourth. Tharnish followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Mateo Serna (Alabama), extending Y-D’s lead to 4-0. Tharnish finished with three hits and remained one of Y-D’s most productive bats throughout the postseason.
Zach Robinson (Cincinnati) surrendered two runs in the fourth but limited the damage before Brisen Tweedy (USF) relieved him after 3 1/3 innings. Robinson allowed six hits and struck out three.
Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt) answered in the fifth, launching a 428-foot home run to dead center. It was his fourth homer at Whitehouse Field this summer and sixth of the season, giving Y-D a 5-2 cushion.
It didn’t last.
CCBL MVP Tyler Smolinski (Kansas State) erased it in a hurry. With two aboard, Smolinski drove a fastball 346 feet into the lawn chairs beyond left field, tying the game at 5.
An inning later, Cameron Teper (Cal Baptist) replaced Tweedy and immediately allowed an inherited runner to score on a double. A two-out wild pitch brought home another run, and Y-D was suddenly chasing the game it had controlled.
“We just had all the momentum, and then they did a good job of taking momentum,” assistant coach Craig Gianinno said. “But I'm proud of our guys for the toughness they showed, and you know, giving us an opportunity and a chance. That's all you can ask for.”
Y-D gave itself one final chance in the ninth, but couldn't find one more hit.
The loss hurt. Players, coaches and host families remained on Whitehouse Field for nearly half an hour, exchanging hugs, shedding tears and soaking in the final moments of a summer that had once seemed capable of ending with a championship.
It didn’t, but that doesn’t erase what came before it.
Y-D opened the summer 13-1-1, its best 15-game start amongst every team in more than 15 years. Its pitching staff carried a sub-2.00 ERA through 20 games. The Red Sox finished the regular season 29-10-1, captured the East Division and claimed the President’s Trophy for the CCBL’s best regular-season record.
And through all the roster turnover that defines a summer on Cape Cod, a core remained.
Tommy Goodin. Connor Hamilton. Peyton Rodgers. Rhett Vaughn. Brock Ketelsen. Cade O’Leary. Mateo Serna. Jake Souders. Phoenix Call.
They stuck around until there were no games left to play.
“That core of guys are as good as it gets,” Gianinno said. “Top shelf humans. They’ve had unbelievable performances, but even better humans. Nobody wants to leave. It says something about the group.”
Eventually, though, everyone has to.
So long, Y-D.
The summer of 2027 awaits.
