The sun was shining on Veterans Field on Thursday afternoon and the Gatemen were slammed with a wave of hot, humid air as they got off the bus. The stifling air caused players on both sides to sweat almost instantly. There was not a cloud in the Chatham sky, and thus, there was no relief from the sun.

Despite the heat, the Gatemen’s bats stayed ice cold for the second night in a row. The Gatemen (20-16-1) lost to the Chatham Anglers (19-18) 4-0 on Thursday. It is only the second time this summer that the Gatemen have been shut out and it extends their season-high losing skid to five games.

The offense once again struggled to produce. The Gatemen only grabbed three hits in the game, recording just six hits in their last two games combined. A big obstacle tonight was the Anglers’ pitching who had a great night, striking out eleven batters and only giving up three hits.

“You know, give the Chatham pitchers credit they kind of kept us off balance and they were keeping the ball on the corners. Guys were saying there wasn't a whole lot of middle misses by them so I give them credit that they executed their pitches, and it’s just the way that this league works. Every arm is pretty talented so there'll be some nights where the the pitchers went off and they did tonight,” said Wareham Gatemen hitting coach Mike Mobbs.

Leading that effort on the mound for Chatham was starting pitcher Lucas Hartman (Florida Gulf Coast) who pitched five scoreless innings, punching out five, and only giving up two hits and a walk. Despite this great performance from Hartman, the Gatemen made great contact with the ball, but shot it right into the Chatham defense. One instance was in the top of the third where Gatemen second baseman, Colby Turner (Michigan), drove a rocket right into the glove of Anglers second baseman Jayden Davis (Vanderbilt).

“That's just the way baseball goes. You know three inches lower or three inches to the right and all of a sudden we've got a rally going,” said Mobbs.

It was in that third inning were the Gatemen had the best chance to get into the game, with hits from both Aris Rivera (UCF) and Sam White (West Virginia) coming with no outs. Unfortunately, the lineout from Turner and an eventual fly out and double play at the plate would send the Gatemen home with nothing.

“This game is not for the mentally weak, you know. You're gonna have days where you square everything up and it just goes right at somebody,” said Wareham Gatemen manager Ryan Smyth about the unluckiness at the dish.

From the get-go the Gatemen’s opponent got the head start, with Chatham scoring all four of their runs in the first three innings combined. Lately, the Gatemen have not been able to produce good starts both at the plate or on the mound.

“We haven't really gotten a really productive start yet. We've kind of been playing from behind and that first couple innings of the game set the tone and we just haven't been able to set the tone in our direction,” said Smyth.

Smyth also expressed how tough it is for a hitter to try and make something for the team fast once they are down early. The Gatemen have to set the tone of the game to their brand of baseball and early to keep their team rolling.

One way Smyth attempted to do that tonight was through the lineup. The Gatemen ran a very different starting lineup than usual. Murph Gray and Antonio Jimenez were a couple of notable absences, the main reason being to rest these players as they will play important roles in the postseason. Unfortunately for the Gatemen, this lineup shift was not enough to generate the spark they were looking for.

Now the Gatemen have to turn the page quickly and aim to get a quicker start offensively in their next game tomorrow. The Gatemen will return home to Spillane Field for a Friday night lights matchup with their division rival, the Cotuit Kettleers. The Kettleers are a tough opponent, but after coming off a tough loss at home to the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, this may be an opportunity for the Gatemen to ignite their offense and climb back up in the division standings. First pitch against the Kettleers is slated for 6 pm on Friday August 2nd at Clem Spillane Field in Wareham, MA.

Top Photo Caption: Sam White walks to first base during Wareham's 6-1 loss @ Cotuit on July 19, 2024. Photo by Keegan Maloney.