Falmouth, Mass. 一 The good times are rolling for the Gatemen.
Wareham notched its second run-rule victory in the last eight days, both coming against Falmouth, and held onto the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division.
While Cotuit also came out of Saturday victorious against Hyannis, Wareham’s win kept pace. All the Gatemen have to do tomorrow is match results with the Kettleers. Two Wareham wins clinch no matter what happens from Cotuit, and a loss or a tie throughout the Gatemen’s two-game stretch is okay as long as the Kettleers suffer the same fate.
“We're in control of our own destiny, right? Two wins tomorrow and we're in,” Gatemen manager Ryan Smyth said. “And guys want it. You can see it. You can feel it. The arms have been there all year, it was just a matter of time before the bats got going and we got the right group right now and firing on all cylinders.”
The Gatemen have now scored 28 runs since their double-rainout off-day. What started on Friday’s two-game homestand rolled over on the road on Saturday. Wareham started out fast by putting a crooked number on the board in the first.
It only grew larger from there.
Wareham tallied consecutive three-spots in the third and fourth frames to jump ahead and take full momentum at Guv Fuller Field. Then, to end off the game and put the run-rule into effect, Wareham put together five runs in the eighth inning and forced the ‘Dores to use a fourth arm in the midst of this brutal stretch to the end of the CCBL regular season.
14 hits. 12 runs. For the third straight game, Wareham simply outmatched the arms it faced.
“At this point in the year these guys' stats are out the window. It's just about ‘let's continue to stay here a little bit longer’ and it's a pretty close group right now with the new guys that came in and we've blended well and guys are just looking to set up the next guy, pass it along team ABs,” Smyth said. “That's the thing that excites me the most cuz we could be a very dangerous offense if we do that all game.”
Wareham stays two points above Cotuit, but it must remain locked in for a critical doubleheader on Sunday to close out the regular season. The Gatemen start by visiting the Firebirds, then return home to face the Harbor Hawks. There are a ton of clinching scenarios and numbers at play with the playoff picture, but Wareham wins simplifies everything.
“Keep the foot on the gas pedal and control what we can control,” Smyth said. “And if we keep playing baseball like this…I want to see two wins tomorrow.”
