CHATHAM, Mass. — The crowd that was once thousands had trickled down to a few hundred at best, but everyone in attendance at Veterans Field watched with bated breath as Isaiah Lane (San Diego) came up to bat for the Anglers in the bottom of the 10th against Harwich.

Chase Fralick (Auburn) had led the frame off with a perfectly-executed bunt single, moving Daniel Jackson (Georgia) — the automatic runner — 90 feet away from home plate with zero outs. But after Roman Martin (UCLA) popped out to first, Reed Stallman (Mississippi State) grounded into a fielder’s choice, with Jackson getting gunned down at home by Mariners shortstop Tanner Marsh. All of a sudden, there were two outs, two runners on, and Lane represented Chatham’s last chance at breaking the 2-2 deadlock.

Three pitches in, Lane had worked the count to 2-1 against Mariners’ righty Josh Donegan, giving himself a puncher’s chance at stealing a walk-off win for the A’s.

Then came a fourth offering, spiked directly in the dirt. As the pitch careened past Harwich catcher Matt Conte, all Lane could do was toss his bat and walk out of the box as Fralick scampered home, just seconds away from having a Gatorade cooler emptied upon his head.

Energized by one of the liveliest crowds of the summer, Chatham (17-20-3, East) defeated Harwich (21-16-3, East) 3-2 in 10 innings on Sunday, putting together an inspired effort as they desperately tried to end the summer on a high note. Throughout the night, the A’s made plenty of hustle plays — on both defense and offense — to keep the game competitive, and six Angler hurlers combined to strike out 12 Mariners while allowing just six hits.

“It always feels good to win,” Cook said. “But I would have felt good because the kids played hard.”

No matter what the Anglers did, their season was coming to an end on Sunday. Heading into their 40th game of the season against Harwich, the A’s were out of playoff contention.

But if you took a look around Veterans Field, you couldn’t tell it was the last gasp of Chatham’s season. As the sun set over the center field fence, thousands of Anglers fans piled into the stadium, crowding into bleachers and sprawling out atop blankets strewn across the hills directly beyond the outfield.

Prior to first pitch, they erupted in raucous applause as the winners of Chatham’s individual team awards were announced. They continued to roar when Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) — one of the four winners of the 2025 Ed Lyons Coach’s Award — led off the game with a single. And the cheers only intensified when Fralick drove him in with another knock, as Veterans Field roared with life one last time before the book closed on its summer.

“That just shows their character,” Cook said of his team. “They could have mailed it in when we were eliminated, and they didn’t do it.”


Those efforts gave JJ Glasscock (West Virginia) an early cushion, who was making his sixth appearance — and second start — of the summer.

It hadn’t been a good season for Glasscock. The Mountaineer righty entered the Cape coming off a collegiate year where he notched a disappointing 7.50 earned run average. Entering Sunday, he had conceded 17 runs — all earned — across 12.2 innings in Chatham, good for a ghastly 12.08 ERA. He desperately needed to end the season on a high. The A’s did as well.

Glasscock certainly upheld his end of the bargain. He held the Mariners to just two runs across five innings. His only flaw was the free pass: he conceded six of them on the day. In large part thanks to those command issues, Harwich established an early 2-1 lead, forcing Chatham to find an immediate response in the third inning.

Jackson led off the frame with a walk, and he stole second soon after to move into scoring position. A groundout by Martin pushed him ahead another 90 feet, putting him on the precipice of knotting the game.

When Stallman tapped a soft grounder to second base in the following at-bat, he ran with every ounce of effort in his body, determined to beat out the infield single and give Jackson every chance to score.

His efforts paid off. Harwich second baseman Michael Elko sailed a throw above first baseman Kyle Wolff, reigniting the cheers of the Chatham faithful as Jackson scored the A’s second run.

“I’m proud that they showed that fight tonight, and they continued to compete,” Cook said.

After that fateful third inning, the teams were locked in a Mexican standoff. Mariners' arms Bryan Matuschat and Adam Arther held the A’s scoreless, while the Anglers used a cabal of five relievers to prevent Harwich from breaking the deadlock.

The fourth, Cam Johnson (Oklahoma), loaded the bases for Harwich with two outs in the top of the eighth, having walked three consecutive Mariners. But after going down 2-0 to Niko Brini, he threw three consecutive strikes to end the inning by punching Brini out.

Afterwards, Johnson jubilantly skipped off the mound, having completed yet another self-inflicted tightrope act to close his summer.

He was replaced in the ninth by Leam Powell (Keystone), who also defied death in his outing. After Harwich loaded the bases with zero outs, Jake Koonin followed with what could’ve been a sacrifice fly, but Freeman’s arm in center prevented Ryan Gerety from advancing beyond third. The Mariners wouldn’t see another batter reach in the frame.

When the bottom of the ninth rolled around, Veterans Field sounded just as loud as it had all night. With Jackson up at the plate with two on and two out, the bleachers bellowed with the stomps of A’s fans, and shrieking whistles pierced the air.

Chatham wouldn’t find the run it needed then. But just an inning later, the A’s finally broke the deadlock with Fralick trotting across home plate.

Cook would be the first to tell you that his debut managerial season in Chatham didn’t go exactly how he had planned it. He was not shy when it came to displaying his frustrations with regards to the rampant turnover throughout the Cape League, a factor that doomed the A’s playoff push toward the season’s end.

“It’s such a transient league,” Cook said. “I don’t like that. I want kids to stay here all summer, so we can help them get better.”

But he was never one to define the season by the standings. On Sunday, Cook watched as the Anglers scratched tooth and nail to try and end the summer with a win, hustling at every opportunity they had. They played loose, and it started to feel like the game he was waiting to see his team play each and every time they stepped onto the diamond.

For now, as his first season helming the A’s drew to a close, he was satisfied enough with that.

“The goal is to get the kids to play hard and be competitive, and then we live with the results, win or lose,” Cook said. “So I would have been proud of them, no matter what.”