Falmouth Bats Prove To Be Too Much For Y-D Pitching

(Photos courtesy of Zach Foley)

By Kieran Wilson

On a cloudy evening at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox simply could not do enough on the mound or at the dish, falling to the Commodores by a final of 5-2. The offense was limited to just two runs on three hits, while Y-D pitching surrendered twelve hits, with seven of those going for extra bases.

Arizona’s Jackson Kent started for Y-D and worked through some trouble in the first inning of the ballgame. After he struck out the leadoff hitter, he allowed a bloop single and a walk to give Falmouth a shot at an early lead. But Kent struck out the Commodores’ cleanup and five-hole batters to strand both runners.

Kent had difficulties again in the second inning, after retiring the first two batters he faced. He walked the next three to load the bases for Falmouth’s hottest hitter, Travis Bazzana. Fortunately for Kent and the Red Sox, Bazzana lined out to third baseman, Zander Darby, to end the scoring threat.

Pitching dominated through the early innings, with only four combined hits for the two teams after four innings. Jackson Kent exited the game after pitching four scoreless innings and striking out six Commodores.

 Jason Doktorczyk entered the game in the fifth for the Red Sox. The first hitter he faced was Bazzana who was awarded a ground-rule double after a throwing error by Max Viera. Kyle DeBarge moved Bazzana to third with a sacrifice bunt, bringing Tyler MacGregor to the plate with one out.

In a play that is rarely seen, MacGregor swung at a third-pitch strike, but the ball got away from catcher Connor Dykstra. This allowed both Bazzana to score from third and MacGregor to reach first base even though he struck out.

The Commodores were not finished scoring in the inning after a Kade Snell double put runners on second and third with one out. Then, John Spikerman from Oklahoma laced a double down the left field line to put the Commodores up 3-0.

Falmouth’s Ryan McCarroll left the game after holding the Red Sox to just one hit and striking out six batters over five innings. Kade Woods came in to relieve him in the sixth, and with McCarroll out of the game, the Red Sox finally had a good scoring opportunity with runners on first and second with one out. But, Zander Darby hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

The Y-D offense only had two hits through the first six innings before they finally got on the board with a big swing from Brady Neal in the seventh. With Viera on first after a walk, Neal belted a pitch deep over the right field fence, bring Y-D to within one, at 3-2. That marks his second home run and his fifth and sixth RBIs in just four games.

But in the bottom of the seventh, with Doktorczyk still on the mound, back-to-back doubles to left field put the Commodores up 4-2.

Max Banks entered the game on the mound for the Red Sox in the eighth. He allowed a leadoff double, then got the next two Falmouth batters out, before MacGregor lined an RBI single to the outfield. That gave the Commodores another insurance run and made the score 5-2.

Manager Scott Pickler said, “We just missed a lot of spots [on pitches], we left some balls up and they took advantage. Every time we threw a ball up in the zone, they took advantage of it.”

He also mentioned that the Y-D offense hit too many ground balls and said, “Maybe we credit their pitchers and maybe we need to go back to work.”

Boston College’s Joey Ryan came into the game for Falmouth in the ninth inning looking to notch a save for the Commodores. The Red Sox went down quietly, with Darby flying out, and Viera and Will King both grounding out to end the game.

The 5-2 loss put an end to the Y-D’s three game winning streak, although they still sit in first place in the East, three points ahead of Harwich. Y-D will take on the Orleans Firebirds, who have lost three in a row, on July 10 at 6:30 PM at Eldredge Park.