Commodores Win Wild One to Wrap Up Regular Season

Perhaps worn out by the first game of the day's season-ending double header, or maybe already thinking about their upcoming playoff series, the Falmouth Commodores played seven strange, sloppy, but ultimately successful innings to collect a win in their last contest of the regular season in Hyannis on Wednesday.

With nothing at stake but momentum going into their first-round playoff matchup, Falmouth and Hyannis battled back and forth all night before Commodores mainstay Barrett Barnes finally decided the game with a suitably dramatic home run.

Falmouth wasted no time in opening the scoring in the top of the first, as leadoff man Billy Ferriter doubled and Jared King drove him home with a single. The Commodores added another run in the second, this time on a Max White leadoff single, an error by Hyannis second baseman Zach Vincej that allowed Shane Rowland to reach first and pushed White to second, a single by RJ Santigate to load the bases, and a fielder's choice grounder by Eric Garcia that finally brought White in.

The Commodores continued the attack in the third with a leadoff single by Reid Redman and, two outs later, back-to-back RBI doubles by White and Spencer Kieboom.

Just when Falmouth seemed about to run away with the season's last game, the Harbor Hawks answered in the bottom of the third with three runs of their own. Justin Gonzalez reached first on a dropped third strike to begin the inning, and scored two batters later on a ringing triple by Joey Rickard. Rickard scored on a two-out wild pitch during the at bat of Kevin Plawecki, who followed with a double, then scored on an error by shortstop Garcia, shrinking Falmouth's lead to just one run, 4-3.

Refusing to be caught, Falmouth tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth, a rally made possible when more sloppy defense allowed the fourth straight Commodores leadoff hitter, this time RJ Santigate, to reach safely. Garcia quickly doubled to plate Santigate and scored himself on Ferriter's second double of the game.

But it still wasn't safe to relax, as the Harbor Hawks matched the Commodores with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, the first on a monster home run by Adam Walker. After a quick groundout by Vincej, Gonzalez reached first on a dropped third strike for the second time in as many innings, stole second, and scored on a single by Rickard.

The score held at 6-5 for an inning and a half, but no one watching expected it to end that way. Hyannis finally drew even in the bottom of the sixth, as still more shoddy defense, in the form of back-to-back errors by third baseman Santigate and catcher Rowland, put Walker on first, then Jamodrick McGruder, who came in to run for him, on third. McGruder eventually scored on a wild pitch.

But the Commodores reclaimed the momentum, and the lead, in the top of the seventh. Hyannis reliever Matthew Flemer walked King to lead off the inning, and Barnes crushed the second pitch he saw for a two run homer, finally giving Falmouth a lead that would stand up.

Hyannis brought the winning run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, when Falmouth's Ryan Moore hit Plawecki with a pitch and walked Dan Gulbransen. But Moore came back to strike out John Frost, and secure Falmouth's final victory of the regular season.

The Commodores and Harbor Hawks continue their head-to-head marathon on Friday night at 7:00 in Hyannis, when they begin their best-of-three playoff series.