Commodores Club Gatemen, Take Over Second Place in West

The Commodores scored 15 runs off Wareham pitching Tuesday night, almost double their previous high, on the way to the victory and sole possession of second place in the Western Division.

The heart of the order did most of the damage, though by the end of the game every Commodore hitter had reached base safely at least once. The third- and fourth-place hitters, first baseman Jack Marder and designated hitter Jeremy Baltz, each collected four hits. Second baseman Jake Rodriguez, hitting fifth, capitalized by batting in four runs on two hits. The ninth-place hitter, shortstop Eric Garcia, was 3-4 with a walk and four RBI.

Falmouth got started early, loading the bases in the top of the first before plating two on an RBI fielder's choice by Rodriguez and a single to left by third baseman Max White. Both teams were quiet for a the next few innings, until Wareham took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on two singles, two doubles, and a hit by pitch.

The Commodores quickly recaptured the lead, then went on to make the game into a laugher, in the top of the fifth. With two men on, Wareham center fielder C.T. Bradford got caught in between on a ball hit by Rodriguez, who chased in both runners and galloped around to score himself when Bradford's ill-advised dive allowed the ball to roll all the way to the wall.

Quickly loading the bases against Wareham reliever Daniel Feehan, Falmouth continued the attack with three straight RBI singles. Feehan failed to retire a single batter, and David Fischer took over for the Gatemen, finally putting and end to an inning in which 13 men went to the plate, and seven came home to score.

Falmouth wasn't done yet, tacking on one run in each of the next three innings, including a solo home run by Garcia in the eight. After the Gatemen proved they were still in the game mentally, if not on the scoreboard, by scoring three of their own in the bottom of the eight, the Commodores answered with three more in the top of the ninth, bringing the score to 15-6, where it would stay.

With the win, by far the best offensive showing for a team which has struggled to score runs at times, Falmouth moves past Wareham and the Bourne Braves in the standings, at least temporarily breaking the logjam which has held between the three teams in recent days. The Commodores will carry the hot bats home to Guv Fuller Field on Wednesday night, where they'll look to put more distance between themselves and the Braves. Falmouth could go a long way toward securing its position in the standings in the next three games, all against either Bourne or Wareham.