Anglers News« Back to 2026 News |
Chatham secures 6-4 lightning-shortened win over Falmouth
CHATHAM, Mass. — Seven games in, it has already been a tale of two summers for Chatham.
For the Anglers’ first four games, they struggled to score runs. There was a 5-1 Opening Day loss to Bourne, then a 8-2 loss to Cotuit and — after a strong six-run outing in a loss to Wareham — another anemic showing in a 4-1 defeat to Yarmouth-Dennis. Chatham was the Cape Cod Baseball League’s only winless team entering Game 5. Something had to change.
Fortunately for the A’s, it did. Chatham secured its first win of the summer in lopsided fashion Thursday, thrashing the Kettleers’ in a 17-2 road victory. Then, the A’s followed that up with their first home win, a 5-4 triumph over Brewster where the Anglers overcame a three-run deficit.
And, in case those results weren’t enough evidence already, Chatham (3-4, East) continued to prove it’s turned a leaf, securing a 6-4 victory over Falmouth (3-3-1, West) at Veterans Field Saturday for its third-straight win. The A’s plated at least five runs for the third-straight game, smacked eight hits on the day, and were buoyed by a three-hit performance from Gabe Fraser (Florida State/Transfer) and three RBIs from Kelvyn Paulino Jr. (Florida State/Transfer).
Early on, Chatham starter Colin Fisher (Arkansas) was shutting the Commodores down. Austin Mallee (Mount Union) and Ty Kaunas (Texas Tech) began the game with flyouts for Falmouth, and Jimmy Nugent (Louisville) struck out to close out a scoreless first inning for the A’s.
Aidan Keenan (Stanford) similarly shut down Chatham’s offense early on. Rett Johnson (NC State) grounded out to begin the bottom of the first. Then, Keenan punched out Bino Watters (LSU) and got Connor Shouse (Texas Tech) to ground out to keep the game scoreless.
Fisher answered with another scoreless frame. He didn’t strike out any Commodores in the second, but he induced two ground outs and retired the side with a foul pop out to A’s first baseman Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State).
But once the ball was back in Keenan’s mitt, Falmouth’s starter couldn’t keep Chatham off the board. The bottom of the second began with a groundball to Ben Slanker (Louisville), and the Commodores’ first baseman couldn’t corral it.
Hovater reached on the play, and a single from Fraser scored him not long after.
Chatham was suddenly up 1-0, and Paulino walked to load the bases. A’s right fielder Kaiden Dossa (Yale) struck out right after, but it seemed as if they had broken through on an extra-base hit by Johnson in the next at-bat.
But that double down the left field line — which would have put Chatham up 3-0 — was initially ruled fair, and then subsequently ruled foul after an umpire conference. A’s manager Dennis Cook went onto the field to plead his case to the umpires, but it was unsuccessful.
Johnson struck out five pitches later.
Falmouth had two baserunners reach in the top of the third, but that attempted rally yielded nothing of consequence. When Keenan came back out for his third inning of work, it seemed that second-inning scare helped him settle into the game. He got two Anglers to fly out, and punched out Hovater to end the frame.
That ended his outing on a high note. After Fisher tossed a fourth consecutive scoreless inning, Falmouth lefty Jack Bauer (Mississippi State) entered the game to relieve Keenan.
But Bauer, boasting a fastball that has reached 103 miles per hour, entered the game struggling to find his control. He began his outing by hitting Nolan Traeger (TCU/Transfer) and Neville, and gave up a single to Fraser that loaded the bases.
Then, Paulino came through with his first hit of the summer — a single into left — to plate Traeger and Neville, making it a 3-0 game before Bauer had even registered an out.
With runners on second and third, Watters hit a slow ground ball back up the middle to Bauer, whose throw to first went wide. As the ball careened away from its intended target, Paulino and Johnson crossed the plate to put Chatham up 5-0.
That lead wasn’t incredibly secure for much longer, though. A leadoff single and a Neville error put runners on first and second for the Commodores. Then, Fabio Peralta (Miami) singled into right to score Anthony Diaz (New Mexico), making it a 5-1 contest.
Fisher threw a wild pitch to Mallee soon after, which allowed Carl Schmidt (Cal) to score Falmouth’s second run. Then Mallee walked to put runners on the corners, and Kaunas’ subsequent double cut Chatham’s once-large lead down to just one.
But the Anglers pushed it back up to two in the bottom of the fifth, after Paulino singled to drive in Fraser. That made the game 6-4 in the A’s favor, and the Veterans Field rain forced the game to end prematurely after the frame.
That was just fine with the A’s. It gave them a win, brought them within one game of .500, and definitively proved that Chatham is turning the corner.
For the Anglers’ first four games, they struggled to score runs. There was a 5-1 Opening Day loss to Bourne, then a 8-2 loss to Cotuit and — after a strong six-run outing in a loss to Wareham — another anemic showing in a 4-1 defeat to Yarmouth-Dennis. Chatham was the Cape Cod Baseball League’s only winless team entering Game 5. Something had to change.
Fortunately for the A’s, it did. Chatham secured its first win of the summer in lopsided fashion Thursday, thrashing the Kettleers’ in a 17-2 road victory. Then, the A’s followed that up with their first home win, a 5-4 triumph over Brewster where the Anglers overcame a three-run deficit.
And, in case those results weren’t enough evidence already, Chatham (3-4, East) continued to prove it’s turned a leaf, securing a 6-4 victory over Falmouth (3-3-1, West) at Veterans Field Saturday for its third-straight win. The A’s plated at least five runs for the third-straight game, smacked eight hits on the day, and were buoyed by a three-hit performance from Gabe Fraser (Florida State/Transfer) and three RBIs from Kelvyn Paulino Jr. (Florida State/Transfer).
Early on, Chatham starter Colin Fisher (Arkansas) was shutting the Commodores down. Austin Mallee (Mount Union) and Ty Kaunas (Texas Tech) began the game with flyouts for Falmouth, and Jimmy Nugent (Louisville) struck out to close out a scoreless first inning for the A’s.
Aidan Keenan (Stanford) similarly shut down Chatham’s offense early on. Rett Johnson (NC State) grounded out to begin the bottom of the first. Then, Keenan punched out Bino Watters (LSU) and got Connor Shouse (Texas Tech) to ground out to keep the game scoreless.
Fisher answered with another scoreless frame. He didn’t strike out any Commodores in the second, but he induced two ground outs and retired the side with a foul pop out to A’s first baseman Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State).
But once the ball was back in Keenan’s mitt, Falmouth’s starter couldn’t keep Chatham off the board. The bottom of the second began with a groundball to Ben Slanker (Louisville), and the Commodores’ first baseman couldn’t corral it.
Hovater reached on the play, and a single from Fraser scored him not long after.
Chatham was suddenly up 1-0, and Paulino walked to load the bases. A’s right fielder Kaiden Dossa (Yale) struck out right after, but it seemed as if they had broken through on an extra-base hit by Johnson in the next at-bat.
But that double down the left field line — which would have put Chatham up 3-0 — was initially ruled fair, and then subsequently ruled foul after an umpire conference. A’s manager Dennis Cook went onto the field to plead his case to the umpires, but it was unsuccessful.
Johnson struck out five pitches later.
Falmouth had two baserunners reach in the top of the third, but that attempted rally yielded nothing of consequence. When Keenan came back out for his third inning of work, it seemed that second-inning scare helped him settle into the game. He got two Anglers to fly out, and punched out Hovater to end the frame.
That ended his outing on a high note. After Fisher tossed a fourth consecutive scoreless inning, Falmouth lefty Jack Bauer (Mississippi State) entered the game to relieve Keenan.
But Bauer, boasting a fastball that has reached 103 miles per hour, entered the game struggling to find his control. He began his outing by hitting Nolan Traeger (TCU/Transfer) and Neville, and gave up a single to Fraser that loaded the bases.
Then, Paulino came through with his first hit of the summer — a single into left — to plate Traeger and Neville, making it a 3-0 game before Bauer had even registered an out.
With runners on second and third, Watters hit a slow ground ball back up the middle to Bauer, whose throw to first went wide. As the ball careened away from its intended target, Paulino and Johnson crossed the plate to put Chatham up 5-0.
That lead wasn’t incredibly secure for much longer, though. A leadoff single and a Neville error put runners on first and second for the Commodores. Then, Fabio Peralta (Miami) singled into right to score Anthony Diaz (New Mexico), making it a 5-1 contest.
Fisher threw a wild pitch to Mallee soon after, which allowed Carl Schmidt (Cal) to score Falmouth’s second run. Then Mallee walked to put runners on the corners, and Kaunas’ subsequent double cut Chatham’s once-large lead down to just one.
But the Anglers pushed it back up to two in the bottom of the fifth, after Paulino singled to drive in Fraser. That made the game 6-4 in the A’s favor, and the Veterans Field rain forced the game to end prematurely after the frame.
That was just fine with the A’s. It gave them a win, brought them within one game of .500, and definitively proved that Chatham is turning the corner.
