East-leading Harwich had dropped three in a row heading into last night’s game with Chatham. The skid was due in part to the fact that Harwich was falling behind early.
Because when the Mariners get a lead and go to their bullpen, that’s pretty much their perfect formula.
That’s what happened last night as Harwich got back on track with a 6-0 victory over the Anglers. Nick Routt (Mississippi State), who was making his first start, allowed no runs on one hit in 5.2 innings and struck out nine.
With a 1-0 lead that grew to a 6-0 lead in the sixth, the Harwich bullpen went to work. Kevin Carlow (Brown) allowed two hits but pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings. Chris Overman (NC State) and Grant Gordon (Missouri State) then pitched perfect innings to finish it off.
That’s nothing new. Harwich is now 11-7 on the year. In just about all of the wins, the bullpen has played a major role — and often a starring role.
Harwich relievers have pitched 66.1 innings this year and have allowed 10 earned runs. That’s a bullpen ERA of 1.36.
The individual stats are even more impressive. Seven Harwich relievers haven’t allowed any earned runs. The stars include Carlow, Overman and Gordon, as well as Carter Capps (Mt. Olive), Blake Hauser (VCU), and Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern).
The lesson? If you want to hang with Harwich, you better score early.
Elsewhere
To stick with the Harwich game for a minute, the Mariner offense pounded out 14 hits in the victory. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Billy Burns (Mercer) had three apiece.
Hyannis picked up its fourth straight win and stopped Wareham’s three-game winning streak with a 9-5 victory. Kevin Plawecki (Purdue) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) hit his third home run. Austin Elkins (Dallas Baptist) was 3-for-3. Dean McArdle (Stanford) got the start and surrendered three earned runs in five innings. Relievers Eric Ruth (Winthrop), Matt Dermondy (Iowa) and Nick Wittgren (Purdue) finished it off with four scoreless innings, putting Hyannis eight points ahead of the Gatemen. Wareham was led by John Andreoli (UConn), who went 4-for-5 with an RBI. L.J. Mazzilli (UConn) returned from a stint as an alternate for Team USA and had a double.
Cotuit scored two in the top of the ninth to beat Bourne 3-2. Chris Beck (Georgia Southern) looked like he’d be a hard-luck loser for the second game in a row. He allowed just two unearned runs in 7.2 innings. But the Kettleers rallied in the ninth in vintage Cotuit style. Krey Bratsen (Texas A&M) reached base on a dropped third strike, moved to second on a sac bunt, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a squeeze bunt by Logan Vick (Baylor). After Kevin Mager (Rollins) singled, Stefan Sabol (Oregon State) doubled him home with the go-ahead run. The Kettleers had lost nine of 10 coming into the game but are still only five points out of second place.
Y-D scored five in the eighth to beat Falmouth 7-5 for its second straight win. The Commodores led 3-2 going into the eighth when Y-D started pushing. Five walks — two with the bases loaded — and an error paved the way for the five-run burst. Amazingly, Y-D did some of that damage against Falmouth closer John Simms (Rice), who hadn’t allowed a run before last night. He was charged with two unearned runs after relieving Ian Gardeck (Angelina), who was charged with three earned. Mason Katz (LSU) and Anthony Melchionda (Boston College) had two hits each to lead the Y-D offense.
Orleans and Brewster played to a 7-7 tie. Orleans starter Kurt Heyer (Arizona) and his counterpart Jordan John (Oklahoma) were both roughed up early and neither made it past the fourth inning. Orleans took a one-run lead in the seventh but Brewster got an RBI single by J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) in the eighth to tie it. Ryan Jones (Michigan State) and Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) led the Whitecaps with three hits apiece. Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead Orleans.
What to Watch
Game: Orleans and Chatham renew their rivalry for the first time this season with a 7 p.m. game at Eldredge Park.
Player: The scheduled starter for Orleans is Gonzaga’s Ryan Carpenter, a 6’5, 225-pound lefty who was a seventh-round pick of the Rays in the June draft.
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