The hits were there. The runners were in scoring position. The result on the scoreboard wasn’t.

Wareham returned to West Division action for the first time since Sunday's game against Hyannis for its second date of the season with the Harbor Hawks.

This may have been the Gatemen’s best offensive night of 2026. Not only did Wareham smack its second home run of the summer, its continued growth with wood bats was evident. The Gatemen were lining and looping hits into gaps to get on base. Once they got on base, those runners would craftily use passed balls for steals to move into scoring position.

It was a strong night at the plate against a Harbor Hawks squad that the Gatemen will see three more times this summer. A fruitful offense night in nearly every aspect: stolen bases, power hitting, contact hitting. Wareham even loaded the bases in two separate innings. It just didn’t show on the scoreboard.

“We had seven hits tonight, squared the ball up a couple times right at some guys,” Gatemen manager Ryan Smyth said. “Now we just got to capitalize, we had a lot of guys on base, we didn't get them in. The punch-out came into play tonight, and those are at-bats that just need to change a little bit, ball and play and chip away, especially when you're down a couple runs. But yeah, it was exciting to see some action tonight, and balls coming off the bats were a lot louder.”

Wareham tallied 11 men on base, including nine in scoring position. Four different Gatemen batters earned free passes.

But with all of those runners on, that opportunity to collect multiple RBIs and put Wareham in the driver’s seat, the strikeout numbers increased. Wareham was swinging for the fences to be the hero and get its offense back on track.

“Actually, we just got to hit them a little softer, cut down the big swing,” Smyth said. “Especially with two strikes, get yours early on, but cut it down with two strikes. Just find ways to put balls in play. If we minimize the strikeouts, and there's more balls put in play, good things are going to happen.”

The offensive progression has been clear. It’s been evident throughout the entire lineup, but Friday’s star was catcher Drew Rogers (Georgia Tech). He smacked his first home run of the summer to tie the game at one and finished the night 3-4. The defense has been critical behind the dish all summer, but it was Rogers’ bat that finally broke through at McKeon Park.

“I mean, that's why we brought him back, right? We knew the defense was going to be there, and I think this year from an offensive side he's going to pick it up a little bit,” Smyth said. “And he’s a veteran that knows how the league works and knows how to hit in this league. And I'm happy to see that it was kind of a breakout night for him.”

It doesn’t go down as a win, but the progress is there and the results一at least individual一are beginning to show up.

The long ball is starting to gain traction. Wareham’s “Smart baseball” tactics are being put into play and executed by moving runners across and utilizing outs to an advantage.

All that’s left now? Put the pieces together, the whole lineup together, to win.