By Meredith Perri/Field Reporter
HYANNIS — Entering the bottom of the fifth with an 8-0 lead, Trey Teakell (Texas Christian University) found himself in a jam. With one out in the inning, he gave up two straight singles to the bottom of the Hyannis Harbor Hawks lineup.
Two pitches later, the tall righty induced an inning-ending double play. Just like that, any déjà vu of his last outing against Hyannis where Teakell and the Falmouth Commodores bullpen surrendered an 8-0 lead to the Harbor Hawks en route to a 10-8 loss disappeared.
After dropping four games to Hyannis this season, the Commodores finally came away with a win in McKeon Park on Thursday, as they defeated the Harbor Hawks 12-1 thanks to early runs and a strong, seven inning performance by Teakell.
Before even stepping on the mound, Teakell had a two-run lead to work with after Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State University) ripped his league-leading sixth home run of the season over the right field fence with Kevin Newman (University of Arizona) on base.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, the Harbor Hawks threatened to tie the game up when Skyler Ewing (Rice University) found his way on base after an error by Conner Hale (State College of Florida), and a single by Austin Slater (Stanford University) put runners on first and second. Teakell then forced Hyannis No. 5 hitter Brian Anderson (University of Arkansas Fayetteville) to line out to Leon Byrd Jr. (Rice University) at second to end any threat.
The Commodores responded in the second with five more runs, reminding everyone on the field why Falmouth leads the league in most offensive categories. With two outs in the inning, and Byrd on second, Rhys Hoskins (Sacramento State University) notched his first hit of the game, a single to right. Byrd sped around third, and slid right under Ewing’s tag to give Falmouth a 3-0 advantage.
The second-inning surge did not stop there, however, as Gillaspie then singled to left, putting runners on second and third for Dylan Davis (Oregon State University). On the first pitch he saw, Davis sent the ball deep to left field, where the ball eluded the Hyannis outfield, allowing both Hoskins and Gillaspie to score.
With Davis on second after his third double of the season, Kevin Cron (Texas Christian University) ripped a pitch deep to center field that bounced off the glove of Landon Curry (Indiana State University). Cron brought in Davis on what turned into Cron’s first triple of the season.
Hale rounded out the scoring for the second after he brought in Cron on a single to center to make it 7-0 Falmouth after two.
Cron, who ultimately went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI on the night, drove in his second run of the game in the fourth when he brought in Gillaspie on a single to left.
Just as they did on July 10 against Hyannis, the Commodores cruised into the second half of the game with an 8-0 lead. This time, however, Teakell squashed any chances of a Hyannis rally in the fifth and put the Hawks down in order in the sixth before Falmouth added on another insurance run in the seventh.
This time, Troy Stein (Texas A&M University) brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to plate Davis from third and give Falmouth a 9-0 lead.
The Harbor Hawks scored one run off Teakell in the bottom of the seventh, but Falmouth went on to score three more runs after three straight singles to start off the top of the eighth inning.
Nic Manuppelli (Youngstown State University) finished out the game on the mound for the Commodores striking out one and holding the Harbor Hawks hitless in two innings of work.
Falmouth will return to action on July 19 as they take on the Orleans Firebirds at Eldredge Park at 7:00 EST.
The Commodores Corner 