WAREHAM, Mass. – The Falmouth Commodores were edged out 6–4 by the Wareham Gatemen on Tuesday night, as a five-run sixth inning proved to be costly.
Grayson Hitt provided the Commodores with a solid start on the mound, allowing just one run in five innings of work. The southpaw struck out five batters and only walked one. The club’s bullpen then gave up five runs in the sixth, which ultimately was the difference in the game. Reliever Kaleb Corbett allowed three runs on two hits, without retiring a batter. Ryan Slater struck out four batters in a pair of relief innings, yielding two runs with one being unearned.
Falmouth’s bats posted a total of 10 hits and crossed the plate four times, but left eight runners on base. Third baseman Colby Halter had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Catcher Jacob Cozart also went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs.
Manager Jeff Trundy said that he felt the team had a solid night against the Gatemen, aside from yielding a big sixth inning and leaving runners on base offensively.
“Overall, I thought we competed pretty well,” Trundy said. “Obviously we had one bad inning, that hurt us. And, I thought we missed some opportunities early on to maybe get a couple of runs, which would have made him made a big difference.”
The Commodores opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, taking an early 1–0 lead against the Gatemen. Halter grounded an RBI single up the middle, plating shortstop Alex Mooney.
Falmouth added another run in the top of the second, extending its lead to 2–0. Left fielder Cross Factor lined an RBI double to right-center field, as Cozart hustled to score all the way from first base.
Wareham then plated a run in the bottom half of the frame, trimming its deficit to 2–1. Center fielder Ty Evans hit an RBI single to right-center field on a ground ball that hopped over the head of second baseman Anthony Mackenzie, scoring Blake Wright.
Hitt turned the game over to the bullpen after the fifth inning, leaving the contest with the ’Dores ahead. Cozart said he was impressed with how the hurler threw the ball in his third outing of the summer.
“[He] landed some key pitches when he really needed to,” Cozart said. “He got into a tough situation [and] got out of it really quick. [He] had an unfortunate hop [and] a couple of errors, but he came out with a lead.”
Wareham’s lineup came alive in the bottom of the sixth, posting a five-run frame to take a 6–2 lead over the ’Dores. Right fielder Kellum Clark grounded an RBI single through the right side of the infield, driving in Alan Roden. Evans then hit a three-run homer over Falmouth’s bullpen in left field, bringing home Wright and Clark. Left fielder Hogan Windish then plated catcher Peter Burns by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Commodores rallied in the top of the eighth, narrowing their deficit to 6–4 against the Gatemen. Cozart lined a two-run single to right field, scoring Halter and Jacob Walsh. The catcher said his previous at-bats against Wareham hurler Jackson Fristoe helped prepare him for the key situation in the contest.
“I’ve already faced [Jackson Fristoe], I knew kind of how he was going to pitch me,” Cozart said. “I knew he was going to try to [pitch inside], so I was already getting geared up for that. But, I was just trying to simplify and just put a good barrel on it, not try to do too much.”
This would hold as the final score, as the clubs traded zeros for the remainder of the contest.
The loss drops the club’s record to 5–9–1 on the campaign. The Commodores will return to action at 6 p.m. June 29, as the team will host the Hyannis Harbor Hawks from Arnie Allen Diamond at Guv Fuller Field.
Note: Featured image by Anders Saling.
Click here for Tuesday 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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