It was too late. For the second time in three games, it was too late. After stumbling through eight innings the Anglers tried to combat their inefficacy with a ninth-rally. It plated three runs, but that wasn’t enough. 

“I don’t think we’re frustrated with scoring runs in the ninth inning, it’s always good to score runs,” left fielder Ty Moore (UCLA) said. “But we want to be able to get them throughout the game because that will give us a better chance to win. The late rally doesn’t hurt but it has to come sooner.”

The Anglers (12-13-1) scored eight runs in the ninth innings before losing to Harwich by five runs on Tuesday. It was more of the same on Friday at Veterans Field, as Chatham hosted first-place Bourne (17-9) and lost 7-4 despite a late surge. The Braves are 2-0 against the Anglers on the season, who have now lost four straight. Chatham was able to collect 12 hits — that were, unlike its runs, sprinkled throughout the game — but committed four errors that gave Bourne chances it capitalized on. 

Robert Baldwin (Yale) was 3-for-4 and stretched a mini hitting streak to three games. 

Box Score:

Game Tracker

Zac Gallen (North Carolina) made his fourth start of the season for Chatham and received the loss, scattering three runs on four hits in five innings of work. Josh Rogers started and earned the win for the Braves with a stingy 6.2 innings in which he gave up one run on 10 hits. 

“I mean we had four errors tonight and probably had four other plays we could have made that we didn’t,” said catcher Robert Baldwin (Yale) as he looked at the scoreboard after the game. “They just took advantage of that and we have to do better. They didn’t give us those chances.”

Rogers, who is a teammate of Anglers’ reliever Zack Burdi (Louisville), stranded the bases loaded in the first and settled in from there. An Angler reached scoring position in the first, second, third and sixth innings, but he was able to work out of jams almost as quickly as he worked into them, and kept the hosts at an arm’s length while his offense built a lead. 

The only blemish on his performance was Baldwin, who finished 3-for-4 to bump his season average to .314. He has now hit safely in his last three appearances, and is 7-for-12 in with two doubles and two runs scored in those games. 

“Robert’s been good for us,” Chatham manager John Schiffner said. “He’s seeing the ball well and having good at-bats.”

Gallen was sharp for four innings but ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. The Braves utilized two walks, a double and an error to bring home the game’s first three runs, which was later bolstered by a three-run eighth. 

And as both Moore and Baldwin articulated after the game, Chatham wasn’t sharp enough to keep itself in the game. Walks by Mitchell Gunsolus (Gonzaga) and Kal Simmons (Kennesaw State), and singles by Moore and A.J. Murray (Georgia Tech) manufactured the three-run ninth, but the Anglers couldn’t claw all the way back. 

“I think we lost sight of our goal tonight,” Moore said. “We lost focus of what we wanted to do and accomplish and we have to regroup and figure out how we can get it back together.”

Up next

Chatham heads to Bourne on Saturday for the backend of a home-and-home series. Max Tishman (Wake Forest) is expected to start for the Anglers and Travis Bergen for the Braves. Broadcast coverage of the Anglers and Braves begins at 5:40 p.m. with the Anglers Extra Pregame Show. Watch and listen on TRZ Teamline or listen by phone 1-800-846-4700, code 3481. Visit Broadcast Central for more information. 

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