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Situational hitting sparks Chatham’s season-high 11 runs in win over Wareham
CHATHAM, Mass. — On Sunday, Ashton Larson (LSU/transfer) could’ve been the hero. The Anglers were down 9-7 to Falmouth in the top of the ninth, with two runners on and one out on the board. It was a back-and-forth affair at Guv Fuller Field, and in his return to the A’s, Larson walked up to the plate as the game-winning run.
Facing Commodores reliever Kaden Humphrey, he slapped a hard-hit ground ball on the fourth pitch he saw. It found the mitt of Falmouth first baseman Kent Schmidt, who tossed the ball to second for a game-ending double play.
In his return to Veterans Field, Chatham’s 2024 Thurman Munson Most Outstanding Player Award winner came up to the plate, facing an almost identical situation in the top of the second against Wareham. There were two runners on, just one out and Larson was coming up with a chance for redemption.
This time, he didn’t let the opportunity slip away. Getting off to a good jump, Jake Hanley (Indiana) bolted for second, pulling Gatemen second baseman Colby Turner out of position. Larson’s ground ball found a newly-vacated gap in Wareham’s defense, and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) had all the time he needed to jog across the plate for Chatham’s second run.
“I try not to go too up and down with any at bat, especially out here,” Larson said. “I can’t control what I can’t control.”
Larson’s intelligently-placed single was just the tip of the iceberg for the Anglers (5-6-3, East), who plated a season-high 11 runs in their 11-6 home win over the Gatemen (6-8, West) Tuesday. In Chatham’s second win over Wareham this season, the A’s tallied a season-high 12 hits, erupted for six runs in the third inning and chased Gatemen starter Logan Baisley from the game before he could reach the fourth.
“I think guys are just getting more comfortable in their skin,” Anglers manager Dennis Cook said about Chatham’s situational hitting.
Ethan Mendoza rounds third base amid Chatham's 11-6 victory over Wareham. Mendoza took three walks in the A's highest-scoring game of the season thus far, keeping the basepaths flowing. Photograph by Ella Tovey
For Chatham, righty Gabe Davis (Oklahoma State) was handed the ball, tasked with shutting down Wareham in his first start of the season. Davis — who started five games for the Anglers in 2023 — had already made his return to Veterans Field earlier this season, tossing four shutout frames as a reliever in the Anglers’ 7-7 tie against Harwich on June 24.
But on Tuesday, he made a smooth adjustment to life in the rotation, working through two scoreless innings with ease.
“He got a lot of outs, which is what we’re asking him to do,” Cook said. “(He) competed hard and threw strikes.”
The Anglers' bats rewarded his efforts immediately, with Chase Fralick (Auburn) leading off the top of the second by grounding a single into center for Chatham’s first hit of the day. Freeman followed by smacking a deep fly ball into left, and Wareham left fielder Easton Breyfogle lost the ball in the sky as it curled back into fair territory for a double.
Hanley didn’t even have to lift a finger to plate Chatham’s first run. Two pitches into his at bat, Baisley lost control of a breaking ball, spiking it in the dirt and allowing Fralick to scamper home from third. Hanley subsequently walked to bring up Larson, who came through with his aforementioned single to make it 2-0 Chatham.
“I try not to do too much with runners on,” Larson said. “I’m just trying to execute on a good pitch to hit.”
Baisley eventually got out of the inning. But unfortunately for him, it wasn’t before Henry Ford (Tennessee) pounced on him, lacing a double into left to hand the A’s a rapid 3-0 advantage.
After a scoreless third inning from Davis, things didn’t get much easier for Baisley. His command struggles persisted, as he conceded a five-pitch leadoff walk to Ethan Mendoza (Texas). A subsequent Fralick ground ball could’ve been a welcoming sight for Wareham’s starter, but a throwing error by Turner allowed everyone to reach safely on the fielder’s choice.
By then, Baisley’s day was done. With Freeman due up for a second time, he was promptly pulled for Gatemen righty Jordan Stephens.
Yet for Wareham, the change was like tossing water onto a grease fire.
Freeman slapped a ground ball single into right, driving in Mendoza for Chatham’s fourth run of the game. Two batters later, Hanley lined a one-out single into center, loading the bases for Larson in his second plate appearance of the game.
With the consistency of a mailman, Larson delivered again, dropping a fly ball between Turner and Hayden Yost in center to plate Fralick. Isaiah Lane (San Diego) followed by lacing a double into left, driving in Freeman and Hanley to give Chatham an overwhelming seven-run lead. By the time Ford smacked a two-run single into right, the game was done and dusted.
“(Ford) got home at three in the morning last night from that All-Star game, he still wanted to be in the lineup,” Cook said. “He’s a baseball player, and I respect that and I love that.”
Davis had plenty of room for error, which meant his walks to Yost and Levi Clark to open the fourth were unfathomably inconsequential. Yost and Clark ultimately scored on singles from Chris McHugh and Andrew Cain, cutting Chatham’s lead to a still-colossal seven runs.
Facing Mason Peters (Dallas Baptist) in the following frame, Krewson scored a third run on a groundout by Rose. And in the sixth, Clark unloaded on an offering from Peters, sending a solo homer over the right field fence. But even that barely registered as a blip on the radar.
When Ford tacked on two more runs to Chatham’s advantage with a seventh-inning double into left, the outcome was already written in stone.
At that point, tying the game was essentially a Herculean task for the Gatemen, no matter how many rallies they strung together.
Facing Commodores reliever Kaden Humphrey, he slapped a hard-hit ground ball on the fourth pitch he saw. It found the mitt of Falmouth first baseman Kent Schmidt, who tossed the ball to second for a game-ending double play.
In his return to Veterans Field, Chatham’s 2024 Thurman Munson Most Outstanding Player Award winner came up to the plate, facing an almost identical situation in the top of the second against Wareham. There were two runners on, just one out and Larson was coming up with a chance for redemption.
This time, he didn’t let the opportunity slip away. Getting off to a good jump, Jake Hanley (Indiana) bolted for second, pulling Gatemen second baseman Colby Turner out of position. Larson’s ground ball found a newly-vacated gap in Wareham’s defense, and Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) had all the time he needed to jog across the plate for Chatham’s second run.
“I try not to go too up and down with any at bat, especially out here,” Larson said. “I can’t control what I can’t control.”
Larson’s intelligently-placed single was just the tip of the iceberg for the Anglers (5-6-3, East), who plated a season-high 11 runs in their 11-6 home win over the Gatemen (6-8, West) Tuesday. In Chatham’s second win over Wareham this season, the A’s tallied a season-high 12 hits, erupted for six runs in the third inning and chased Gatemen starter Logan Baisley from the game before he could reach the fourth.
“I think guys are just getting more comfortable in their skin,” Anglers manager Dennis Cook said about Chatham’s situational hitting.
Ethan Mendoza rounds third base amid Chatham's 11-6 victory over Wareham. Mendoza took three walks in the A's highest-scoring game of the season thus far, keeping the basepaths flowing. Photograph by Ella Tovey
For Chatham, righty Gabe Davis (Oklahoma State) was handed the ball, tasked with shutting down Wareham in his first start of the season. Davis — who started five games for the Anglers in 2023 — had already made his return to Veterans Field earlier this season, tossing four shutout frames as a reliever in the Anglers’ 7-7 tie against Harwich on June 24.
But on Tuesday, he made a smooth adjustment to life in the rotation, working through two scoreless innings with ease.
“He got a lot of outs, which is what we’re asking him to do,” Cook said. “(He) competed hard and threw strikes.”
The Anglers' bats rewarded his efforts immediately, with Chase Fralick (Auburn) leading off the top of the second by grounding a single into center for Chatham’s first hit of the day. Freeman followed by smacking a deep fly ball into left, and Wareham left fielder Easton Breyfogle lost the ball in the sky as it curled back into fair territory for a double.
Hanley didn’t even have to lift a finger to plate Chatham’s first run. Two pitches into his at bat, Baisley lost control of a breaking ball, spiking it in the dirt and allowing Fralick to scamper home from third. Hanley subsequently walked to bring up Larson, who came through with his aforementioned single to make it 2-0 Chatham.
“I try not to do too much with runners on,” Larson said. “I’m just trying to execute on a good pitch to hit.”
Baisley eventually got out of the inning. But unfortunately for him, it wasn’t before Henry Ford (Tennessee) pounced on him, lacing a double into left to hand the A’s a rapid 3-0 advantage.
After a scoreless third inning from Davis, things didn’t get much easier for Baisley. His command struggles persisted, as he conceded a five-pitch leadoff walk to Ethan Mendoza (Texas). A subsequent Fralick ground ball could’ve been a welcoming sight for Wareham’s starter, but a throwing error by Turner allowed everyone to reach safely on the fielder’s choice.
By then, Baisley’s day was done. With Freeman due up for a second time, he was promptly pulled for Gatemen righty Jordan Stephens.
Yet for Wareham, the change was like tossing water onto a grease fire.
Freeman slapped a ground ball single into right, driving in Mendoza for Chatham’s fourth run of the game. Two batters later, Hanley lined a one-out single into center, loading the bases for Larson in his second plate appearance of the game.
With the consistency of a mailman, Larson delivered again, dropping a fly ball between Turner and Hayden Yost in center to plate Fralick. Isaiah Lane (San Diego) followed by lacing a double into left, driving in Freeman and Hanley to give Chatham an overwhelming seven-run lead. By the time Ford smacked a two-run single into right, the game was done and dusted.
“(Ford) got home at three in the morning last night from that All-Star game, he still wanted to be in the lineup,” Cook said. “He’s a baseball player, and I respect that and I love that.”
Davis had plenty of room for error, which meant his walks to Yost and Levi Clark to open the fourth were unfathomably inconsequential. Yost and Clark ultimately scored on singles from Chris McHugh and Andrew Cain, cutting Chatham’s lead to a still-colossal seven runs.
Facing Mason Peters (Dallas Baptist) in the following frame, Krewson scored a third run on a groundout by Rose. And in the sixth, Clark unloaded on an offering from Peters, sending a solo homer over the right field fence. But even that barely registered as a blip on the radar.
When Ford tacked on two more runs to Chatham’s advantage with a seventh-inning double into left, the outcome was already written in stone.
At that point, tying the game was essentially a Herculean task for the Gatemen, no matter how many rallies they strung together.
