Wareham, Mass. — It was a weird afternoon for the Gatemen on Friday. Spillane Field was left without power for most of the day, and crews worked in a race against time to get things operational before first pitch.
The game, which was originally scheduled for 6:00 p.m., was moved to 7:00 p.m. to allow time to get the power back up. The power outage, caused by a severe thunderstorm on Thursday night, affected the pressbox and the field lights, which, if not fixed by game time, would have forced a double-header on July 11, where the Gatemen play the Braves again at Spillane Field.
Fans entered the field ready for a game, but were told it was a 50/50 chance of the game actually happening. As fans waited in anticipation for the verdict, the Gatemen tried their best to stay loose and ready for anything.
“There's a fine line between being loose and focused. I feel like you've got to have both of them. I feel like this team does a really good job of being loose but also focused at the same time. So you know, you just got to find that happy medium,” said Gatemen Pitcher Shea Wendt (Creighton) on staying prepared for the game.
“I was hopeful to play tonight. I wanted to get right back on the field after last night. I feel like we had one taken away from us. We had a hell of a storm last night. I hope everyone's safe. There were a lot of power lines down, trees down, and it was just banking on the electricity company putting everything back together. Credit to those responders who allowed us to play a baseball game tonight,” said Gatemen Field Manager Ryan Smyth.
Then the decision was made, the game would start at 7:00 p.m. and go until it was either dark or the lights came on. Luckily, the lights came on during the third inning, avoiding a double-header on July 11; however, the game did not end as the Gatemen hoped.=
The Gatemen (6-11) lost to the Braves (7-9-1) by a score of 5-2 after allowing five runs in the sixth inning. The loss is the Gatemen’s fourth-straight loss and drops them three points behind the Braves in the West Division standings.
The game started with the Gatemen breaking the ice early. Catcher Levi Clark (Tennessee) scored on a wild pitch from Bourne pitcher Folger Boaz (North Carolina) to put Wareham ahead 1-0.
The Gatemen held that lead for five innings, but the lead slipped away in the sixth. The Braves put up five runs in the inning on only two hits. A combination of RBI singles from Kuhio Aloy (Arkansas) and Jon LeGrande (St. John’s), as well as a couple of wild pitches and a failed pickoff attempt, led to the Braves taking a commanding 5-1 lead.
The Gatemen would respond with a solo home run from third baseman Colby Turner (Michigan), his first of the summer, to cut the Braves’ lead to 5-2.
“I was looking for one fastball out, got the slider, hung it a little inside, got my hands to it. It felt good to get a good barrel on it,” said Turner.
The Gatemen had some momentum, which was carried on by relief pitcher Shea Wendt, who allowed only one run in his outing, holding the Braves offense at bay.
“There's definitely a momentum swing. They put up a five spot, then you throw up two zeros. That gets the boys going a little bit. And tonight, I feel like we battled regardless of the score,” said Wendt.
However, the Gatemen's offense ran out of steam and could not make a comeback as the game ended in a 5-2 score. Once again, the Gatemen played well, but it was one bad inning that did them in.
"We just have to eliminate that one inning. If we do that, our record looks a lot different. Our division is all packed together. Nobody's broken away from anything yet, with a lot of games to play. So, tomorrow's a big one for us, we're going to look back to get in the win column,” said Smyth.
The Gatemen now hit the road to face another division foe in the Falmouth Commodores on Saturday. First pitch will be at 6:00 p.m. at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth.
