Sports
Commodores Can't Handle Hyannis, Drop Back from Pack
Falmouth lost ground in the Western Division with a loss to the first-place Hyannis Harbor Hawks on Tuesday, a day which also saw the departure of one of the team's best hitters, Jack Marder.
Unable to muster much offense against the first-place Harbor Hawks, The Commodores dropped their second game in a row, and their seventh in the last 10, at Guv Fuller Field on Tuesday night, falling farther back from the third-place Wareham Gatemen in the Western Division.
Both starters were solid through four innings, getting briefly into, then quickly out of, a few patches of trouble. But Hyannis finally got to Falmouth's Kent Emanuel in the fifth, when Justin Gonzalez reached second on a ground rule double, and Zach Vincej knocked him in with an RBI single.
Falmouth was unable to answer in its half of the inning, and Hyannis widened its lead with two more runs in the next. Singles by Joey Rickard and Kevin Plawecki, and a double by John Frost, spelled the end for Emanuel. Falmouth reliever Nate Koneski took over, issuing a walk before inducing a groundout to end the inning. Koneski pitched two more scoreless innings, keeping Falmouth within reach before handing the ball to Taylor Sandefur, who was similarly effective in the ninth.
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Falmouth fought back in the bottom of the sixth, an inning which seemed to promise more than the single run the Commodores eventually scored. Eric Garcia reached on an infield single to begin the inning, then went first to third on a single to left by Barrett Barnes. Barnes was caught stealing during the next at bat, though, so there was only one man on when Jake Rodriguez singled to right, bringing in Garcia. Jeremy Baltz and Max White both flied out to end the inning, and finish the scoring for the game.
Falmouth staged a late rally in the ninth, putting the tying runs on first and second with one out. But Hyannis' Nick Wittgren collected his fifth save of the year by striking out Jared King and getting Shane Rowland to tap out weakly to the catcher.
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Before the game, the Commodores got the good news/bad news from Jack Marder, one of their best overall hitters and team leader in RBI. Marder will be joining the single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, the organization which drafted him in the 16th round of this year's Major League Baseball draft, beginning his professional career, and leaving a team which has struggled to score runs for much of the season without one of its most productive members.
Falmouth will look to get back on track on Wednesday evening in Cotuit against the last-place Kettleers, who could force the Commodores into the basement with them with a win.
