If I were a betting man, I would have put some money on the team that could get a late lead in game one of the Cape League championship series. Both Falmouth and Harwich have bullpens that can turn the lights out quickly.
If I had known Blake Hauser would pitch like he did, I would have put a lot of money on it.
After John Wooten (East Carolina) gave Harwich a 5-4 lead with a solo home run in the sixth inning, Hauser (VCU) came out of the bullpen and absolutely slammed the door. He went the final three innings, allowed one hit and struck out five as Harwich held on for the 5-4 victory.
For the first time in a few years, my work schedule actually cooperated with the championship schedule, so I was able to make the trip down to Harwich. I was treated to a great back-and-forth game in front of an enormous crowd.
And Hauser stole the show.
His stuff was just nasty. You know the oohs and aahs a pitcher gets when he makes a hitter look particularly silly? Hauser got those seven or eight times. I can’t believe he actually gave up a hit. Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State) somehow got his bat on a ball in the seventh and looped a double down the left-field line.
Hauser didn’t allow another hit, and needed just 19 pitches to get through the next two innings. You could see Hauser building on his own momentum, getting the ball back quickly and firing again. He was feeling it. Twenty-six of the 35 pitches he threw were strikes.
Chris Overman (NC State) started warming up for the ninth, but it was clearly a just-in-case situation. It was Hauser’s game.
And there would be no just in case.
In the ninth, Hauser struck out Eric Garcia (Missouri), one of Falmouth’s hottest postseason bats. After a groundout, he fell behind 1-0 on Reid Redman (Texas Tech), another hot hitter, before getting three consecutive swinging strikes to end the game.
It was quite a show, and it secured a 1-0 series lead for the Mariners.
Before Hauser came in, the game was a see-saw. Redman and Max White (Oklahoma) hit solo home runs in the first and second innings to stake Falmouth to a lead, but Harwich came back with two in the second. Harwich took a one-run lead in the third before the teams started trading runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Finally, with the score knotted at 4-4 in the sixth, Wooten smashed a 1-1 pitch deep over the fence in left-center to give Harwich the lead.
That was the only run Falmouth reliever Nate Koneski (Holy Cross) was charged with. He was impressive in four innings of work. For Harwich, Eddie Butler (Radford) was also strong out of the pen. He replaced starter Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern) in the second inning and ended up allowing two runs in 4.1 innings of work.
But the night belonged to Hauser. Harwich’s bullpen has been strong all year, but that was also due in large part to the presence of Carter Capps (Mt. Olive), one of the best arms on the Cape. Capps signed a pro contract earlier this week, so he’s gone.
Hauser made sure Mariner fans didn’t miss him.
With the 1-0 lead in the series, Harwich will travel to Falmouth for an 8 p.m. game on Saturday night.
Notes
Thanks for the story; I felt like I was there at the game. After coming home from our Cape vacation it’s great to be able to follow the CCL playoffs. – Jerry P
Hey – great website! I’ve been reading it all season ever since I discovered it right before Opening Day. Anyway, I was at the game last night and I think it was the best one I’ve been to all year – back and forth, 3 home runs, a great play by Harwich/LSU SS Austin Nola, a sublime bull-pen performance by both teams, and the game was over in 2 1/2 hours. Throw in the beautiful weather and it was everything there is to love about Cape baseball wrapped up in one night. And the Falmouth hoodlums even showed up! I’d never seen (or rather, heard) them at a road game before. Which is good – it really reinforced the importance of the game. I ended up sitting on the hill beyond the CF fence – where were you?
Thanks, Kevin. It was a great game Friday, best I’ve seen in a while. I ended up finding a spot in the bleachers and stayed put there. I didn’t want to lose it.