As the gray clouds loomed over Doran Park, the Gatemen finished their pregame stretches and walked over to home plate to take batting practice. As players got their pregame swings in, a storm squall came rushing in, washing everyone off the field for the next twenty minutes. The rain only delayed the start of the game by a few minutes and everything returned to normal by first pitch.
Despite the rain, however, the Gatemen were in a drought, having more trouble at the plate than ever before. The Wareham Gatemen (20-15-1) lost to the Bourne Braves (17-16-2) 8-3 at Doran Park on Wednesday. It was their first loss to Bourne this summer, ending the season series against the Braves with a record of 3-1-1. The loss is also their fourth in a row, extending their season-high losing streak by another game.
Tonight lacked a consistent offense from the Gatemen, as they only recorded three knocks on the night. From the get-go, the Gatemen did not look like the electric offense they had been most of the summer, striking out eleven times on the night and driving the ball right into the Braves' defense.
“I feel like we were, including myself, just swinging for ourselves and not having team at-bats. It was like I tried to hit it out, which is not our brand of baseball. We like to try to move the runner, put the ball in play on a bunt or a sac fly, and I felt like as a team, we would just try to do our own thing without thinking about the next guy, you know,” said Yohann Dessureault (Stetson) about the Gatemen’s offensive performance.
Despite this though the Gatemen were able to keep things close. Earlier in the second inning, Eli Putnam (Davidson) crushed a solo home run to put the Gatemen on the board. Putnam, after being down 0-2 in the count, was able to stay focused and deliver a strike that, at the time, cut the Braves lead in half.
“Every now and then a pitcher is gonna get ahead and that's just part of the game, so you can't get too stressed out when you get to two strikes because at the end of the day, about more than half of your at-bats are going to be there. So gotta be comfortable. That's something I'm working on and really refining my two-strike approach,” Putnam said.
Putnam’s approach to the count paid off and his jack would be the only run for Wareham until the eighth inning where Dessureault, despite not having his best night, grabbed an RBI single in the top of the eighth. Unfortunately, this little bit of offense was not enough for the Gatemen.
The Gatemen started the game behind the eight ball, giving up six runs in the first three innings. What makes this more shocking is that all of these runs were scored off the Gatemen’s ace pitcher Tate McGuire (Arkansas). McGuire, a pitcher who had been so consistent for the Gatemen, had an off night for the first time this season.
“I said to him on the mound before I took them off that it's okay to be human. He's been so, so good for us all year. You just expect him to go out there and throw zeros. But that didn't happen tonight. And I'd rather him get it out of the way now than in the playoffs,” Wareham Gatemen manager Ryan Smyth said.
For McGuire, it was a unique week with the All-Star game the previous weekend. He did not have the same amount of time to prepare for his start and that may have thrown him off. Regardless of the reason, the performance was not like anything he had done before and the Gatemen will need him to rebound come playoff time.
Coach Smyth also made some experimental changes in the middle of the game, taking out shortstop Antonio Jimenez (UCF) and third basemen Murph Gray (Fresno State), a tough decision considering how much they have impacted the team all year.
“I wanted to put a little bit of life into the lineup. You know it was Jimenez and Murph, and even Sam White, they've been playing almost every day for us out here and they're guys that don't want to come out of the lineup. It was hard to even do that then, but given the scenario, given how the lack of hitting that we had in general, I just wanted to put some new blood in there and see if something would change,” Coach Smyth said about the decision.
His decision did give some life to the offense in the eighth inning but it was not enough to come back. Now the Gatemen have to shift their attention quickly to the road ahead. With four games left in the regular season over the next four days, every game counts and they have no time to dwell on the loss.
Luckily, there is always tomorrow and the Gatemen have a chance to snap their four-game losing skid on the road. Wareham’s next obstacle will be the Chatham Anglers on Thursday. First pitch is slated for 7 pm at Veterans Field in Chatham, MA.
Top Photo Caption: Eli Putnam rounding third and high-fiving third base coach Mike Mobbs after hitting a home run during Wareham's 8-3 loss at Bourne on July 31, 2024. Photo by Keegan Maloney.
