By: Greg Levinsky
BREWSTER – The Falmouth Commodores reversed course in triumphant fashion on Sunday afternoon at Stony Brook Field. After sweeping a double-header over the Brewster Whitecaps, the Commodores ended a six game losing streak and won consecutive games for the first time this summer.
Outfielder Steven Williams broke out in game one, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and TJ Sikkema cruised in the second contest as the Commodores (4-8-0) broke a week-longskid. The Commodores collected a combined 19 hits in 7-2 and 5-3 decisions over the Whitecaps (3-9-1).
“It was a good day of baseball, and I really think it helped us to come together as a team,” said Williams, who collected his first multi-hit effort of the summer with three hits in the first game.
“Today was very pleasing,” said Commodores head coach Jefff Trundy said. “Tuesday’s a brand new day, but we needed this.”
Game 1:
Coming on in relief of starter Pat McGowan (3.2 innings pitched, two earned runs), Duke rising junior Adam Laskey had a stellar Cape League debut. He pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, earning the victory in the first contest.
“It was a tough losing streak, and we just wanted to end it,” Laskey said. “I was just trying to keep the team in the game.”
Laskey escaped jams three times. First, he inherited a mess, then worked around a pair of his own jams. He stranded five Whitecaps on the basepaths.
“Baseball is a tough game when it comes to the mental side,” Laskey said. “It’s just trying to take it one pitch at a time, trying to treat each as its own battle.”
Both sides scored in the opening frame, but the Commodores plated three in the top of the fourth.
Williams (Auburn) laced a first-pitch double. Davis Sims (Murray State) and Maverick Handley (Stanford) drove in runs, and a Brewster throwing error off a single by James Cosentino (Kansas) allowed Logan Foster (Texas A&M) to scamper home to make it 4-1.
Willams, who began his summer 2-for-9, tripled his season hits total on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m starting to get adjusted to the pitching, adjusted to the umpire’s strike zone,” Williams said. “I’m really starting to see it well.”
Brewster scored in the bottom of the fourth, but the Commodores countered with three insurance runs in the top of the seventh behind RBI singles from Williams and Kyle Stowers (Stanford).
Game 2:
Commodore third baseman Cameron Cannon (Arizona) and Stowers slugged back-to-back doubles in the top of the second, and catcher C.J. Schaeffer (Western Illinois) added an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Stowers collected an RBI in consecutive at-bats, singling home a run to make it 3-0 in the top of the third. He’s extended his hitting streak to four games.
Commodores starting pitcher TJ Sikkema (Missouri) faced a based loaded, no outs situation in the bottom of the third, but struck out Justin Ammons (Tennessee) on a nasty breaking ball.
He allowed a walk, which ultimately helped turn two.
Sikkema induced a ground ball off the bat of Michael Massey (Illinois) for a double-play to escape the jam. Massey came into the afternoon leading the Cape League with a .441 in batting average.
“I got a little too amped up on that first guy and walked him, but luckily that set up the double play and that’s what made it possible to get out of it,” Sikkema said. “I knew I had to really get my stuff working.”
“I mean, it all works out in the end,” Sikkema said. “I just knew that I really had to get my stuff working and it went well.”
Sikkema evened his record to 1-1 in his second start, throwing six scoreless innings. He struck out four.
“TJ’s a good competitor and he knows how to pitch,” Trundy said. “He’s very, very good, and I’m glad he’s on our side.”
After an 0-for-9 start to his Commodores career, Edouard Julien (Auburn) smacked an RBI ground rule double and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Hayden Cantrelle (Louisiana-Lafayette) added another to make it 5-0 in the top of the 6th. All nine Commodores had a hit in the second game.
“They always say hitting is contagious, and I really believe that,” Williams said. “Today was a great example of that.
“Once one person got going, someone else was right behind them with another hit.”
After scoring just five runs across 55 innings during the losing streak, the Commodores plated 12 in 14 innings on Sunday. Pitching and hitting came together and the team’s vibe instantly changed for the better.
“Our spirits are a lot higher,” Sikkema said. “We knew we had the guys to do it and it just had to all come together.”
Greg Levinsky can be reached at glevinsk@bu.edu. Follow him on Twitter @GregLevinsky
Up next: Commodores travel to Chatham on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:00 p.m.
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