Offense Pushes Y-D Past Falmouth to End Losing Skid

(Photos Courtesy of Zach Foley)

By Kieran Wilson

The last time Y-D played Falmouth, Ryan McCarroll completely shut them down, giving up only one hit, no runs, and striking out six over five innings. But on Sunday at “Red” Wilson Field, the Red Sox offense looked very different against McCarroll. They chased him from the game in the fifth inning, after scoring five runs off of six hits, and the Red Sox would go on to win the game.

Field manager, Scott Pickler said the offense had a “way better approach. We faced that same guy a week ago and nobody did anything. They changed their approach and it paid off.”

Jackson Kent started the game for Y-D and he allowed a leadoff single to Oklahoma Sooner, John Spikerman. The speedy Spikerman stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. A weak grounder to second by Travis Bazzana scored Spikerman and gave Falmouth a quick 1-0 lead.

The Red Sox tied it up in the second after McCarroll walked Brady Day and Zander Darby to start the inning. Paxton Kling’s sacrifice bunt moved both runners over, and Dub Gleed was hit by a pitch to load the bases. In his first at-bat of the season, newcomer, Manny Garza, reached on a fielder’s choice to score Day and tie the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox put together a string of singles to put themselves on top. Darby led off the inning with a single, and with two outs, Ryan Stafford hit the second single of the inning to put Darby in scoring position. Casey Cook hit another single to the outfield that just barely scored Darby after the catcher dropped the right fielder’s throw. Gonzaga’s Enzo Apodaca lined a pitch to right field for the Red Sox’s fourth single of the inning to drove in Stafford from second, giving Y-D a 3-1 lead.

Spikerman started Falmouth’s fifth inning with a single and an attempted a steal of second. But an errant throw to second by Y-D catcher, Ryan Stafford, allowed Spikerman to advance to third with no outs. Kyle DeBarge laced a double into right field to score Spikerman and cut into the Y-D lead, 3-2.

Brady Day earned a one-out walk in the home half of the fifth inning to bring Zander Darby to the plate. To this point, Darby already had a walk, a single, and a run scored, and he smashed a ball deep into the trees in center field for a home run, extending the Y-D lead to 5-2. 

Jackson Kent finished with five innings pitched, three hits, two runs, and two strikeouts; he would also go on to earn the win. Blake Aita came on to relieve him in the sixth, and he gave up a single to Gavin Kilen to start the inning. Kilen advanced to second on a sacrifice fly and to third on a groundout. Then Spikerman stepped to the plate with Kilen at third, and already two hits on the day. He hit a deep fly ball to left center that just barely snuck over the fence bringing Falmouth closer, at 5-4.

After scoring in the fourth and fifth, the Y-D offense manufactured another run in the sixth. After back-to-back walks by Casey Cook and Enzo Apodaca and a Paxton Kling sacrifice bunt, Hunter Hines batted with runners on second and third. He just missed a home run by about 10 feet, but his sacrifice fly was deep enough to score Cook from third and give Y-D a 6-4 lead.

Later in the eighth inning, Enzo Apodaca smacked a double into right field  and moved over to third on a fielder’s choice. Hines smacked a single into left field that drove home Apodaca, giving Hines his second RBI of the night and Y-D a 7-4 lead.

That would end the scoring in the game though, as Leighton Finley shut down the Commodores in the ninth to earn the save and finish with three scoreless innings pitched and four strikeouts. The win should give Y-D confidence moving forward, after they ended a short, three game losing streak. Their record moves to 16-12-1 and they maintain a four point lead over Harwich for first place in the East. Coincidentally, Y-D’s next game will come on Monday at Harwich, as the Red Sox hope to put more distance between themselves and the Mariners.