I feel like I’ve written a lot about Hyannis and Orleans in the last week.
They’re making it hard to write about anything else.
The Harbor Hawks and Firebirds each won their seventh consecutive game last night. Hyannis beat second-place Bourne 9-5 while Orleans ripped Cotuit 12-4.
Tonight, the winning streak will end for somebody. Hyannis and Orleans play each other in Orleans at 7 p.m.
But last night, the streaks showed no signs of stopping.
The win by the Harbor Hawks gives them a 26-12 record and puts them 10 games ahead of Bourne. Hyannis has six games left while Bourne has five, meaning the magic number for Hyannis to clinch the division is just one.
Hyannis trailed for much of last night’s game, going into the sixth inning down 2-0. But that’s when everything changed, with the Harbor Hawks exploding for nine runs in the sixth. Thirteen men came to the plate as the Harbor Hawks had six hits and took advantage of three Bourne errors.
Eric Stamets (Evansville), Joey DeMichele (Arizona State), Kevin Plawecki (Purdue), Chadd Krist (Cal) and Justin Gonzalez (Florida State) all knocked in runs. DeMichele’s two-run double capped the big inning.
The rally made a winner of Ryan Gibson (Oklahoma) who pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Bourne scored one in the eighth and two in the ninth off the Hyannis bullpen but could get no closer.
As for the Firebirds, their offensive was plenty explosive too. An eight-run fourth broke the game open and they cruised to the 12-4 win. Matt Duffy (Long Beach State) went 4-for-6 with three RBI, and Jayce Boyd (Florida State) hit a grand slam in the eight-run fourth. Reed Gragnani (Virginia) added three hits and three runs scored.
Tyler Johnson (Stony Brook) allowed four runs in five innings for the win. Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) pitched four shutout innings to finish it off.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Game: The match-up between Hyannis and Orleans is a pretty easy choice here. It’s at 7 p.m at Eldredge Park.
Player: Matt Duffy has been key in Orleans’ surge. He has nine hits in his last four games and now ranks fourth in the league in hitting with a .328 average.