Commodores Clinch Playoff Spot With Win Over First-Round Opponents

Behind a strong offensive showing and another outstanding start by Nathan Thornhill, the Commodores beat the Harbor Hawks, 6-1, on Tuesday afternoon.

The win, coupled with the simultaneous loss by the Cotuit Kettleers, locked up a playoff spot for Falmouth, putting them on course to play Hyannis again in the first round.

Tuesday's game was the first of a scheduled double header, and so lasted only seven innings. Thornhill took care of six of those, allowing one run on four hits and striking out five in the outing. DeAndre Smelter took over to start the seventh, and, after allowing two one-out base runners, locked down the game, and the playoff berth, by striking out the last two Hyannis batters of the game.

The Commodores led by the narrowest of margins for most of the game on the strength of Barrett Barnes' second-inning double, Jared King's followup single, and a wild pitch that allowed Barnes to score from third. But Falmouth exploded for five runs in the fifth, a rally which, as news that Cotuit was trailing late in its own contest with Brewster filtered through Guv Fuller Field, took on the character of a celebration.

The fifth didn't seem likely to become one of Falmouth's biggest innings of the season at first, as there were two outs before the Commodores got their first base runner of the frame, when a hustling Billy Ferriter beat out the throw on a ground ball to short for an infield hit. But Reid Redman walked, and Jeremy Baltz followed with a single that brought Ferriter home.

Kolt Browder came in from the Hyannis bullpen to replace starter Trey Masek, but catcher Kevin Plawecki let one of Browder's first pitches get by, allowing Redman to score and Baltz to move to second. Jake Rodriguez doubled to bring Baltz home, and scored himself on Barnes' single. Barnes, in turn, stole second, putting himself in position to score on King's single.

Another Hyannis pitcher, the third of the game and the inning, was required before the Harbor Hawks could quiet the Falmouth outburst. Zach Cooper went 1.1 scoreless innings to finish up the game, but it was too late, and Falmouth's own pitching was too strong for his offense to climb back into it.

At least four games with these same Hyannis Harbor Hawks follow for Falmouth, as the teams play two on Wednesday afternoon in Hyannis to finish up the regular season, then meet in the first round of the playoffs, beginning on Friday evening.