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Chatham’s late comeback attempt falls short in 7-5 loss to Brewster
CHATHAM, Mass. — When the Anglers travelled to Stony Brook Field on June 29, the evening ended with an utter nightmare. Backed by a six-run second inning, Chatham entered the seventh with an 8-1 lead over Brewster, but faded late, allowed eight unanswered runs and lost to their division rival in walkoff fashion.
On Friday, in the two teams’ first meeting since that back-breaking loss, Chatham had a chance to avenge one of their toughest defeats of the year. And after the Whitecaps pounced for four runs in the second inning, the stage was set for the A’s to pull off a late comeback of their own.
While the Anglers trimmed a seven-run Brewster lead to two in the eighth inning, Chatham (10-10-2, East) fell 7-5 to the Whitecaps (14-7-1, East) at home Friday night. The Anglers mustered two hits through the first seven innings, but ignited for five runs on four hits in the eighth. It still wasn’t enough to complete the comeback, though, and Brewster escaped with a narrow win.
“We put ourselves in a position to win the game, and when you're down 7-0, if we can do that, then I'm happy,” A’s manager Dennis Cook said. “They competed.”
For the second straight night, Chatham opted for a bullpen arm to get things started. This time, though, it didn’t go as smoothly as Jack Gleason’s (Mississippi State) four-inning, two-run outing on Thursday.
Christian Chatterton (Auburn), in his first start of the summer, allowed four runs through two innings. His trouble began in the second, when a two-out infield single from Cash Strayer (Florida) scored Terrence Kiel II (Texas A&M) for the game’s first run.
Jay Abernathy (Oklahoma) then got his revenge after his first-inning strikeout, lining a single into right to plate Michael Torres (Miami) and Strayer. Laskofski followed it with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners, and Abernathy then came home on a wild pitch. Chatterton eventually got out of the inning by forcing Jacob Lee (VCU) to pop out, but not before Brewster built a 4-0 lead.
When Chatham took the field again in the top of the third, it did so with Justice de Jong (Auburn) on the mound. He provided some stability, retiring the side in both the third and fourth.
The Angler offense didn’t record a hit until the bottom of the fourth, when Johnson flared a soft liner into center for a one-out single. But Chatham couldn’t push him into scoring position, as a lineout and a strikeout killed any hope of momentum.
“I didn't think we did a good job of hitting the fastball tonight at all, early in the game, especially,” Cook said.
”I thought we were overmatched. We swung in a lot of bad pitches. We gotta get better at that.”
On the other end, Lee wasn’t overmatched, though. With a runner aboard, he crushed a two-run homer over the scoreboard in left in the fifth. That blast, his league-leading fifth home run of the year, put Brewster up 6-0.
De Jong responded well with a shutout sixth, but the A’s couldn’t log another hit off of Brewster starter Tate DeRias (Baylor), and didn’t tally another hit until DeRias was eventually relieved by Zach Kmatz (Oregon State) in the sixth. Of course, it was Bino Watters (LSU) who broke the ice for the A’s, extending his hit streak to 11 games with a double into the right-center field gap.
Junior Lauaki (Georgia) then reached on a throwing error before Ty Peeples (Florida State) walked, giving Chatham a prime opportunity to get back into the ballgame. But Johnson and Cameron Pruitt (Lipscomb) struck out looking before Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State) grounded out to kill the rally.
“Those are the things that win and lose games,” Cook said of the failed rally.
Indeed, it was a crucial missed chance. And it was made worse when Chatham allowed another run the next inning.
While Leo Odom (Ole Miss) didn’t concede an earned run in his three-inning relief outing for Chatham, a wayward throw down to second in the top of the eighth skipped into center field and allowed Kiel to put Brewster up 7-0.
It was then that the Anglers’ bats finally woke up.
Lauaki walked before Peeples doubled, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Chatham got its first run on a Johnson sacrifice fly, added one off an RBI single from Pruitt — his first knock for the A’s — and tacked on one more off an RBI base hit from Hovater.
With Hovater on first, back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Chatham. Rob Rispoli (UConn) blooped a single into left to make it a 7-4 game, and a Watters sac fly brought the A’s within two. But Lauaki was gunned out at first on a line drive that was deflected at third, ending the rally.
Ultimately, the five runs weren’t enough to push Chatham over the line. The Anglers put a leadoff runner on in the ninth, but couldn’t get him past first base.
So, despite Chatham’s best efforts late, revenge will have to wait another week.
On Friday, in the two teams’ first meeting since that back-breaking loss, Chatham had a chance to avenge one of their toughest defeats of the year. And after the Whitecaps pounced for four runs in the second inning, the stage was set for the A’s to pull off a late comeback of their own.
While the Anglers trimmed a seven-run Brewster lead to two in the eighth inning, Chatham (10-10-2, East) fell 7-5 to the Whitecaps (14-7-1, East) at home Friday night. The Anglers mustered two hits through the first seven innings, but ignited for five runs on four hits in the eighth. It still wasn’t enough to complete the comeback, though, and Brewster escaped with a narrow win.
“We put ourselves in a position to win the game, and when you're down 7-0, if we can do that, then I'm happy,” A’s manager Dennis Cook said. “They competed.”
For the second straight night, Chatham opted for a bullpen arm to get things started. This time, though, it didn’t go as smoothly as Jack Gleason’s (Mississippi State) four-inning, two-run outing on Thursday.
Christian Chatterton (Auburn), in his first start of the summer, allowed four runs through two innings. His trouble began in the second, when a two-out infield single from Cash Strayer (Florida) scored Terrence Kiel II (Texas A&M) for the game’s first run.
Jay Abernathy (Oklahoma) then got his revenge after his first-inning strikeout, lining a single into right to plate Michael Torres (Miami) and Strayer. Laskofski followed it with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners, and Abernathy then came home on a wild pitch. Chatterton eventually got out of the inning by forcing Jacob Lee (VCU) to pop out, but not before Brewster built a 4-0 lead.
When Chatham took the field again in the top of the third, it did so with Justice de Jong (Auburn) on the mound. He provided some stability, retiring the side in both the third and fourth.
The Angler offense didn’t record a hit until the bottom of the fourth, when Johnson flared a soft liner into center for a one-out single. But Chatham couldn’t push him into scoring position, as a lineout and a strikeout killed any hope of momentum.
“I didn't think we did a good job of hitting the fastball tonight at all, early in the game, especially,” Cook said.
”I thought we were overmatched. We swung in a lot of bad pitches. We gotta get better at that.”
On the other end, Lee wasn’t overmatched, though. With a runner aboard, he crushed a two-run homer over the scoreboard in left in the fifth. That blast, his league-leading fifth home run of the year, put Brewster up 6-0.
De Jong responded well with a shutout sixth, but the A’s couldn’t log another hit off of Brewster starter Tate DeRias (Baylor), and didn’t tally another hit until DeRias was eventually relieved by Zach Kmatz (Oregon State) in the sixth. Of course, it was Bino Watters (LSU) who broke the ice for the A’s, extending his hit streak to 11 games with a double into the right-center field gap.
Junior Lauaki (Georgia) then reached on a throwing error before Ty Peeples (Florida State) walked, giving Chatham a prime opportunity to get back into the ballgame. But Johnson and Cameron Pruitt (Lipscomb) struck out looking before Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State) grounded out to kill the rally.
“Those are the things that win and lose games,” Cook said of the failed rally.
Indeed, it was a crucial missed chance. And it was made worse when Chatham allowed another run the next inning.
While Leo Odom (Ole Miss) didn’t concede an earned run in his three-inning relief outing for Chatham, a wayward throw down to second in the top of the eighth skipped into center field and allowed Kiel to put Brewster up 7-0.
It was then that the Anglers’ bats finally woke up.
Lauaki walked before Peeples doubled, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Chatham got its first run on a Johnson sacrifice fly, added one off an RBI single from Pruitt — his first knock for the A’s — and tacked on one more off an RBI base hit from Hovater.
With Hovater on first, back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Chatham. Rob Rispoli (UConn) blooped a single into left to make it a 7-4 game, and a Watters sac fly brought the A’s within two. But Lauaki was gunned out at first on a line drive that was deflected at third, ending the rally.
Ultimately, the five runs weren’t enough to push Chatham over the line. The Anglers put a leadoff runner on in the ninth, but couldn’t get him past first base.
So, despite Chatham’s best efforts late, revenge will have to wait another week.
