HYANNIS, Mass. – The Falmouth Commodores fell to the Hyannis Harbor Hawks 4–3 in walk-off fashion on Friday night, resulting from defensive miscues late in the contest.
Falmouth’s pitching staff kept the team in the ballgame, yielding just four runs on five hits. Cole Roland delivered a solid start, striking out three batters and allowing just two runs in five innings on the mound. Southpaw Anthony DeFabbia also impressed in relief, allowing just one hit while striking out three batters in a trio of innings. The Stetson product did allow the game-tying run, but it was unearned because of an error. The club was ultimately walked-off on a wild pitch by reliever Jake Peppers.
The ’Dores were rather quiet at the plate, scoring three runs on just three hits. The team struck out 10 times and left five runners on base. However, the team did show off some power by designated hitter Colby Halter and third baseman Brayden Taylor hitting the team’s first two home runs of the summer.
Manager Jeff Trundy said he believes that the team needs to have more balanced contributions from its hitters moving forward, as the group looks to return to the win column.
“[We’ve] just got to get more consistent,” Trundy said. “Brayden Taylor’s giving us great at-bats every single time but [we’ve] just got to become more consistent throughout the lineup and have an approach that’s a little bit more consistent as well.”
The Commodores opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning, hitting back-to-back home runs to take a 2–0 lead over the Harbor Hawks. Halter gave the ’Dores their first home run of the summer by powering a solo blast over the right field wall. The University of Florida product said that despite the loss, he was pleased with the team’s effort in the contest.
“It was a tight ballgame all the way through,” Halter said. “I think our guys gave us their best shot. So, that’s all you can ask for.”
Taylor then left the yard immediately after Halter, launching a solo homer into the trees beyond the right field fence.
Hyannis got one of these runs back in the bottom half of the frame, trimming their deficit to 2–1. Philip Matulia grounded into a double play, scoring Ildefonso Ruiz.
The Harbor Hawks then evened the score at 2–2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, as right fielder Nolan Schanuel lined an RBI single to center field to plate Rikuu Nishida.
The Commodores promptly responded to the scoring, plating a run in the top of the sixth to take a 3–2 advantage against the Harbor Hawks. Center fielder Andrew Pinckney hit an RBI single on a pop-up that glanced off Nishida’s glove at second base, bringing home Alex Mooney.
Hyannis then knotted up the ballgame at 3–3 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Left fielder Tito Flores lined a single to center field that got under the glove of Pinckney in center field, allowing Justin Janas to score all the way from first base. The play was ruled a single and a two-base error.
The Harbor Hawks won the game in the bottom of the ninth, as pinch runner Cole McConnell came home to score on a wild pitch by Peppers. There were two outs in the frame when the winning run crossed the plate.
Trundy said that although the team had miscues in the field and on the mound, he believes that there were positives to take away from the club’s performance in the game.
“Overall, I thought we competed pretty well,” Trundy said. “We just made a couple of key mistakes that hurt us. But, we also made a bunch of plus defensive plays that really kept us in a baseball game. … So, very pleased with with a lot of it. And, certainly it was hard to see us make those mistakes and like I said, [in] a couple of key situations, but we’ll improve.”
The loss drops Falmouth’s record to 1–4–0 on the season. The Commodores will return to the diamond at 6 p.m. on June 18, as the club will travel to take on the Wareham Gatemen at Spillane Field.
Note: Featured image by Meghan Murphy.
Click here for Friday night’s box score.
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Tommy Mumau can be reached at tmumau@ithaca.edu. Follow him on Twitter @tommymumau13.
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