Falmouth Loses First Game of the Season 5-3

by Zane Moses

     The season began in nail biting, yet disappointing fashion for the 2015 Falmouth Commodores on Tuesday.  In 11 innings the Commodores lost to the Hyannis Harbor Hawks 5-3.

     The Commodores battled their way to extra innings, coming back from deficits on two separate occasions.  However, Falmouth struggled to find offense in the last innings and Hyannis was able to take advantage.

     Starting pitcher Adam Oller (Northwestern State) threw plenty of strikes early on in the match up, out of his total 57 pitches 44 of them were in the zone in his four innings of work.  Unfortunately, two lead off doubles in the third and fourth innings led to two early runs for the Hawks.

     In the fourth the Commodores struck back after designated hitter Boomer White (Texas A&M) and right fielder Heath Quinn (Samford University) hit back to back singles with one out.  A two out single by left fielder Mitch Longo (University of Ohio) scored both runners.

     In the top of the sixth inning the Hawks scored another run on a single and a ground ball to first base.

     Third baseman Tate Blackman (Ole Miss) and the Commodores responded, yet again, in the eighth by leading off the inning with a ground rule double deep to left field.  Blackman scored on a hard hit ball misplayed by the Hawks first baseman to tie the score at 3-3.

     Ultimately, after two scoreless innings, the Hawks scored two runs on a pair of doubles that bookended a sacrifice fly, a balk and a walk.  The Commodores could not come back a third time in the bottom of the inning and took the 5-3 loss.

     Falmouth failed to capitalize in crucial situations.  In two separate innings they threatened the Hawks by getting the first two batters on base, but they floundered in both instances and did not score.  Falmouth had a total of eight hits and left five runners left on base.

     The first four out of the five Falmouth pitchers who pitched managed to consistently find the strike zone as they gave up no walks.  They also struck out eight Hawks batters.

     Returning player Boomer White showed how valuable he is to this team as he was the only player to have a multi-hit game.  He went three for five, with a stolen base and a run.

     For more information about the Falmouth Commodores, visit the team’s website at http://www.falmouthcommodores.com.