Will King has monster night, blows YD past Wareham, 12-2

By Ben Strober

The bottom of the seventh became a foggy scene at Red Wilson Field. The skies became dark, but it didn’t indicate how YD and Will King played.

Already 10-2, Brady Neal knocked in a pair of runs to put the Red Sox up double digits for the first time. 

Neal’s blow wasn’t necessarily a knockout blow given the score, but it promoted a second meeting between the umpires about the foggy conditions.

Ultimately, the umpires called it quits, handing Yarmouth-Dennis an easy 12-2 win over Wareham.

“They’re loosening up at the plate,” field manager Scott Pickler said. “It’s been good to see.”

The win capped off a three-game homestand for YD, which resulted in three-straight wins following a dud in Cotuit. A comeback victory over Bourne Friday sent Yarmouth-Dennis into Saturday’s game feeling good.

“[Pinson] did a great job keeping them in check early, then we started to swing the bat,” Pickler said.

King posted a mammoth four RBI performance and reached base in all five of his at-bats.

“I did a good job shortening up with two strikes and swinging at the right pitches,” King said.

The monster day with the bats, coupled with another strong five-innings from Smith Pinson’s second-straight win kept the first-place Red Sox rolling.

 Pinson took longer than usual to set in fully. He allowed two one-out baserunners before calmly fanning the next two Gatemen.

Wareham starter Nolan Hughes couldn’t command the zone in the second and walked three straight to start the frame. 

Hughes struck out the next two and nearly pulled a perfect escape, but his fourth walk of the inning brought in YD’s first run.

King upped his RBI total to 14 on the next pitch with his two-out, two-run single.

“My confidence at the plate has been consistent throughout the spring into the summer,” King said. “Neither success nor failure is going to change how I feel. I can only learn from previous at-bats.”

The Red Sox swung it well with two outs, especially with runners in scoring position.

“We got some key hits in key situations,” Pickler said. “King kind of broke this one open a little bit with his single.

Hughes’ lackluster control put him in another bases-loaded jam in the third. However, he revived himself by inducing a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.

With run support at his back, Pinson started cooking on the hill. Through four scoreless frames, his strikeout total quickly reached seven.

The game continued to get away from Wareham in the bottom of the fourth when Hunter Hines annihilated his ninth homer of the year to center for a three-run jack.

Wareham finally got to Pinson in the fifth and added a run back on a Garen Caulfield single and Grant Hussey fielder’s choice.

Still, the Red Sox held a 6-2 lead. Pinson’s night concluded after the fifth as another solid outing featuring the seven K’s. Pinson’s 24 strikeouts are the second most in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

“Pinson had his pitches working for him and controlled the zone,” Pickler said.

Gatemen reliever Thomas Kane loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh. This made it easy for King to notch his third and fourth RBIs of the day with a two-out single. Another Gatemen error made it 9-2.

“We got a lot of hits with two outs today,” Pickler said.

King finished the day an incredible 3 for 3, with two walks. King came in with an impressive .323 average and only raised it to an even more astonishing .361.

“He’s been great,” Pickler said. “If he goes, he goes. We’ll figure it out.”

Like some of his teammates, King’s future in baseball may change drastically in the next couple of days due to the MLB Draft. 

“This summer has been a blast. This whole experience has been awesome,” King said. “Getting drafted would mean the world to me. It’s been my goal for as long as I can remember.”

As it normally does, the fog rolled into South Yarmouth heavily, prompting an umpires meeting that ended in the decision to keep playing.

Following the short delay, Neal grounded a two-RBI single to put the Red Sox up double digits and officially end the game.

The Red Sox head back on the road on Sunday to take on Falmouth.