ERROR COST RED SOX THE GAME IN MEANINGLESS MATCHUP
The YD Red Sox (19-21-4) faced the Harwich Mariners (24-19-1) for the second straight day but wound up with a different result. Another win against a merciless Mariners team would have been just the kick start the Red Sox wanted to turn up the jets for a playoff run. Instead, a Chris Taylor throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning, on what would have been an inning ending double play, allowed the winning run to cross the plate for Harwich, tearing to shreds the excitement riveting YD Nation.
Not all is lost, however. Coach Pickler will have some problem solving to do in arranging the lineup to perfection for Friday’s match up against the Orleans Firebirds in the first round of the Cape League playoffs. Taylor had received the night off on Wednesday, likely to rest up for the postseason, but came in to pinch hit for Bennett Pickar in the top of the eighth and went in defensively at shortstop. Despite Taylor’s solid bat at the top of the order, one cannot help but notice his team-leading nine errors at the shortstop position and the risk of a costly error like fans saw last night in Harwich.
There are just so many good hitters in the YD lineup that finding a place to put them all in the field seems more difficult than brain surgery. Matt Reynolds proved himself as a concrete defensive replacement for Taylor at shortstop, and with his strong bat (2-4, BB last night) he is a player Pickler will definitely want in the lineup. Taylor could move to second or third base but that takes a spot away from Matt Wessinger or Tyler Hanover at second and Piscotty’s location at third. Piscotty could move to the outfield to join James Ramsey and Cody Keefer, leaving Connor Harrell as a back up. Mason Katz fits well at first base with Anthony Melchionda as an adequate replacement, Brian Johnson can play the DH role, and Derrick Chung will sit behind home plate. Coach Pickler will have to play around with the positioning in the infield, making sure each player is comfortable where he is.
Wednesday night’s game versus Harwich started off near perfect for YD. They found themselves out to a 5-0 lead after one and a half innings against Mariners starting pitcher Jake Davies who had only thrown four innings all season. Two runs came in the first inning off a couple singles by Cody Keefer and Stephen Piscotty that moved Matt Reynolds, who had walked, all the way around the diamond. A Brian Johnson ground out allowed Keefer to score from third for the second run.
A five-hit second inning translated into three runs for the Red Sox. With two outs in the inning, Matt Reynolds doubled over the left fielders head and was driven in by a single by Cody Keefer. Stephen Piscotty (4-5, 2 RBI) blasted the first pitch of his at-bat over the left field fence for a two-run home run (his 3rd of the year) to extend the Red Sox lead to 5-0. The home run brought Piscotty’s RBI total to 20 and a share of the team lead with Matt Reynolds.
The lead was short lived as the Mariners tagged starter Zack Weiss for four runs in the bottom of the second inning and added on another against reliever Joe Rogers in the third to tie the score at five. Weiss walked the first three batters of the inning in the second to load the bases with no outs. A double by catcher Luke Voit and a deep single by Austin Wilson brought in a quick four runs for Harwich to cut the YD lead to 5-4. A sacrifice fly by Mike Garza in the third brought in the tying run.
Harwich took the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a leadoff double by Jake Davies who was looking to erase his poor pitching performance. After the next two batters were retired, a Garza single drove in Davies from third and a Voit single put runners on the corners. During the next at-bat, Voit purposefully got caught in a run down that allowed Garza to steal home and give Harwich the 7-5 lead.
Back-to-back singles by Piscotty and Mason Katz in the top of the seventh placed runners on the corners with no outs. A one out Tyler Hanover sacrifice fly drove in Piscotty from third to cut the Mariners lead to one run, 7-6. YD made more noise went it counted in the top of the ninth inning. Piscotty knocked a double to left center for his fourth hit of the game to lead off the inning. Katz unselfishly sac bunted Piscotty to third and Johnson drove him in with a single to tie the score, 7-7.
The Red Sox continued to threaten in the inning as Matt Wessinger pinch ran for Johnson and stole second, but the next two batters were retired.
Nothing went right for the Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth inning. A questionable call by Coach Pickler to relieve Kyle Hansen, who had thrown a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strike outs, with Stephen Piscotty led to a lead off single by Ronnie Richardson and a walk to Darnell Sweeney to put two runners on with no outs. After Davies was retired, John Wooten grounded the ball to Taylor at short who stepped on second and threw it high over Katz’s head at first allowing Richardson to score the winning run for Harwich.
The Red Sox will look to put the final game of the regular season behind them as they face off against the Orleans Firebirds on Friday to begin the first round of the playoffs. First pitch is at 7 PM in Orleans.
--Ben Stepansky
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