Zak Blair knocked in two with a pinch-hit double in Tuesday?s 10-9 loss to Hyannis in the regular season finale.
By: Corey Burns
The final game of the regular season meant nothing for both teams at Red Wilson Field. The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox had already clinched second place in the East while the Hyannis Harbor Hawks already lost their playoff chances prior to this game.
For a game that meant literally did not mean anything for the standings, both teams put on quite a show with plenty of explosives, exciting the crowd on several occasions. The Red Sox let this one get away in the ninth, when Hyannis put three runs, to take the 10-9 advantage and eventually the win.
Spenser Linney got the start on the mound for the Red Sox. He entered with a 0-0 record and 8.64 earned run average. He struggled early and often, including the Harbor Hawks first two run in the first on a two-run homerun by Brad Zebedis.
Linney would get a no decision after pitching 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs of five out, and recording six strikeouts.
The Red Sox came right back in the home half of the first. Morgan Mickan and Danny Diekgroger knocked out solo shots off Hyannis starter, Peter Miller, tying the game at two after one.
Hyannis took the lead 3-2 after top half of the second. A leadoff walk came back to haunt Linney after a single and a wild pitch scored the run.
Y-D tied the ballgame after seeing their first pitch of the second inning. Sean McHugh sent the ball over the fence to tie the game at three. The Red Sox had three runs on three hits, all solo homeruns.
Hyannis takes the lead for the third time in the third. Leadoff batter, Brad Zebedis, sent the fifth homerun of the game giving the Harbor Hawks the 4-3 advantage.
Hyannis created some separation in the fourth. After the eighth and ninth batters reached on an error and a walk, Brandon Trinkwon hit a 3 run homerun, 7-3 Hyannis.
In the bottom of the fourth, a walk and a bunt single put men of first and second. Matt McGovern hit an RBI single, leaving men still on first and second. Morgan Mickan hits a two run double, cutting the lead to 7-6. The Harbor Hawks stopped the bleeding after back-to-back fly outs stranded Mickan at second.
The Red Sox got things going again in the sixth. McHugh led off with a single, followed by a Josh Tobias walk. McGovern grounded into a fielder?s choice leaving men on the corners with one out. Morgan Mickan hit a deep sac fly to center to drive in McHugh, tying the game at seven through six innings.
After a scoreless top of the seventh for Hyannis, the Red Sox looked to have fun with two outs in the bottom, after a walk and a single. Zak Blair pinch-hit for McHugh, and doubled into center on the first pitch, driving in two Red Sox runs. Tobias tried to keep it going by hitting a single, but Blair was thrown out at home.
Jose Lopez came in to pitch the top of the ninth for the Red Sox with a 9-7 lead. He got the first batter to ground out. He blew the save when he walked Brandon Trinkwon, and Pat Fortunato hit a two-run homerun to tie the game at nine. Three consecutive singles gave Hyannis the 10-9 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
The Red Sox could not come back in the bottom of the ninth. Lopez got the blown save and the loss for Yarmouth-Dennis and Gage Smith earned the win for the Harbor Hawks.
By the end of the game, the Red Sox tallied up 13 hits. They didn?t earn the victory, but with those hits, the season total came to 458 hits as a team. That was just five hits short of the Cape League record of 463 set back in 1982.
The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox first playoff game happens Thursday evening at Red Wilson field when they host the Chatham Anglers, first pitch at 4pm.
