Commodores Sail Past Hyannis, Into Second Round

Falmouth outplayed the Division Champion Harbor Hawks in every phase of the game on Tuesday night to take the first-round playoff series, and earn a chance to play the Wareham Gatemen for the Western Division pennant.

Two straight days of rain postponements and a steady drizzle throughout Tuesday's game weren't enough to cool the Commodores' bats, which have heated up at just the right time after being lukewarm for much of the regular season.

After compiling a combined 10 runs in the series' first two games and scoring first in each, Falmouth continued the pattern in game three, jumping out to a two-run lead in the top of the first on the way to the eventual 5-2 win.

Reid Redman started the rally with a one-out single, and went to third when Jeremy Baltz followed with another single, which Baltz tried unsuccessfully to stretch into a double. With two down, Jake Rodriguez delivered an RBI single, and scored all the way from first on a Barrett Barnes double.

The Commodores added another run in the second, when Eric Garcia's two-out walk was followed by consecutive singles from Billy Ferriter and the the highly productive Redman. After inducing a groundout to short by Baltz to end the inning, Hyannis starter Dean McArdle would last just one more third of an inning before another Barnes double chased him in the top of the third.

Meanwhile, Falmouth starter Joe Bircher held on into the fifth, surrendering two runs on six hits and striking out six. Bircher left with Falmouth leading by the slimmest of margins, and with the tying and go-ahead runs on second and first with two outs in the fifth. With the game officially a battle of the bullpens, Falmouth soon asserted its superiority in that regard, beginning with Nathan Thornhill's strikeout of Kevin Plawecki to end the threat in the Hyannis fifth.

Harbor Hawks head coach Chad Gassman took exception to the umpire's called strike three, which appeared to be slightly high, and was tossed from the game after about 30 seconds of vehement argument. Gassman left the field pumping his fist at the crowd, attempting to fire up the Harbor Hawks and their supporters, and swing the momentum to their side.

But such histrionics were no match for Thornhill's dominating performance, which demonstrated the wisdom of Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy's decision to use him out of the bullpen, rather than as a starter, in which role Thornhill has also pitched extremely well this season. Now serving as the ace long-man, Thornhill provided one of the most important performances of the game, and of the series, shutting the door in the Harbor Hawks' faces and keeping it shut through the eighth. In his 3.1 innings of work, Thornhill gave up two hits, no walks, and struck out six.

Falmouth added two insurance runs in the seventh, and once again Barnes was right in the middle of things. After driving in Jake Rodriguez with his third double of the night, and going to third on the throw home, Barnes scored on a passed ball to bring the score to what would become the final, 5-2 in favor of Falmouth.

All-star closer John Simms finally got a chance to pitch in the playoffs, taking over for Thornhill to begin the ninth. In 18.2 innings of work over the course of the season, Simms struck out 29, collected eight saves, and surrendered not one earned run. Simms pitched to pattern on Tuesday, striking out two and giving up one hit, a harmless two-out single, on the way to a playoff save which put Falmouth into the next round.

The Commodores will head to Wareham to begin their best-of-three second-round series on Wednesday night. The Gatemen, who finished off their first-round opponents, the Bourne Braves, in two games, have been waiting in the wings since Saturday.