What a difference a week made for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
On June 20, they lost to Wareham 9-0. They haven’t lost since, a stretch that came full circle Tuesday night with a 9-1 victory over those same Gatemen.
Hyannis now leads the West Division with a 9-4-1 record, knocking Wareham from the top spot for the first time all year.
The day after the lopsided loss, Hyannis tied Chatham. Then the win streak began, five in a row over Falmouth, Orleans twice, Harwich and now Wareham.
The latest victory figured to be a tough one to get as the Gatemen sent Ken Waldichuk (St. Mary’s) to the mound. After a great sophomore season, Waldichuk had allowed one run in his first two Cape League outings, but Hyannis got to him early and often.
Matthew Barefoot (Campbell) had a sac fly in the first inning and a two-run homer in the third. A two-run single by Eric Rivera (Florida International) in the fourth chased Waldichuk, and the Harbor Hawks kept piling on against the bullpen, getting three more runs in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Barefoot finished with three RBI, as did Pedro Pages (Florida International), who went 2-for-5 with a home run. Rivera had two RBI and Davis Wendzel (Baylor) had one. Five of Hyannis’ 12 hits went for extra bases.
Oddly enough, the Gatemen also finished with 12 hits but only two were of the extra-base variety and they left 10 runners on base. Nicholas MacDonald (Florida International) allowed one run in five innings for the win and three relievers combined on four scoreless innings.
Harwich 10, Cotuit 3
Garrett Stallings (Tennessee) continued to be the young season’s most consistent starter, and he had plenty of offense behind him as Harwich rolled past Cotuit. Stallings delivered his third six-inning start in three tries, this time allowing one earned run and striking out six with no walks. He has a 2.50 ERA and a league-best 21 strikeouts. The Mariner offense backed Stallings with a 14-hit attack. Chris Galland (Boston College) went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and four RBI. Aaron Schunk (Georgia) had three hits, while Tanner Morris (Virginia) and Logan Driscoll (George Mason) drove in two runs each. Harwich leads the East with an 8-6-1 record.
Falmouth 4, Chatham 2
Falmouth scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat Chatham in the longest game of the season so far. Maverick Handley (Stanford) played hero with a two-run homer that broke the deadlock. Chatham put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the 11th, but Carson Spiers (Clemson) escaped the jam to preserve the win. Cameron Cannon (Arizona) added an RBI for Falmouth, which scored two runs in the top of the ninth after being shut-out for eight innings. Chatham tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a home run by Kyle McCann (Georgia Tech). Georgia Tech teammate Tristin English also homered for Chatham. Greg Jones (UNC Wilmington) also had a big night, going 4-for-6.
Y-D 10, Orleans 4
The Red Sox raced out of the gate with six runs in the first inning and three more in the second and never looked back in a win over Orleans. Andrew Daschbach (Stanford) homered and drove in two, Nicholas Quintana (Arizona) had three hits and two RBI, and Noah Campbell (South Carolina) had three hits and one RBI. Alec Marsh (Arizona State) went four solid innings and Trenton Denholm (UC Irvine) earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
Bourne 10, Brewster 9
Bourne smashed four home runs and out-slugged Brewster. Jared Triolo (Houston), Ashton Bardzell (Hartford), Thaddeus Phillips (UConn) and Alika Williams (Arizona State) did the home run honors for the Braves, with Williams’ blast in the ninth proving to be the game-winning run. Tyler Fitzgerald (Louisville) added four hits and two runs scored and Spencer Brickhouse (East Carolina) had three RBI. Brewster got three hits from Conor Grammes (Xavier), including a home run in the bottom of the ninth that made it 10-9, but Trey Benton (East Carolina) stranded the tying run on second to preserve the win.
What to Watch
A night after a battle for first place in the West, the top two teams in the East will square off as Harwich hosts Y-D. The Mariners have a one-point edge on the Red Sox.