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Anglers fall to Hyannis 6-2, extend losing streak to 5
HYANNIS, Mass. — Dennis Cook isn’t sure what else he can do. At this point, he’s said all there is to say.
“We can't go hit for them, or we can't pitch for them. They gotta figure it out,” Cook said of his team, standing on the McKeon Park grass after Wednesday’s game. “They got track records as college players. They need to live up to their billing.”
Cook’s reflecting on the past week, and boy, has it been a tough one. Wednesday’s defeat extended Chatham’s skid to a season-high five games. Across that span, Cook’s team has put together 16 runs and allowed 28. Three of the losses have come by two runs or fewer. In the two most recent defeats, the A’s allowed five or more runs in one inning and never recovered.
The Anglers have tried just about everything, from new lineups to new pitchers to new players entirely. But they just can’t seem to break out of the slump.
It persisted Wednesday as Chatham (10-14-2, East) lost to Hyannis (12-14, West) 6-2. The Anglers struggled to get the bats going again on Wednesday, mustering six hits and failing to score a run after the first inning. They also struggled to close the game when they turned to the bullpen, conceding five runs in the eighth inning. It led to the A’s fifth consecutive loss, now a season-long losing streak.
“It's hard to win when you score two runs in the first inning, and you can't do nothing but put a goose egg up for the next eight,” Cook said postgame. “It puts a lot of pressure on the pitching, and a lot of pressure on the defense.”
The aforementioned two runs came on one swing. Jamie Palmese (Kansas) — debuting as a leadoff hitter after Rob Rispoli’s (UConn) departure — led off the game with a single, and Junior Lauaki (Georgia) scored him by crushing a breaking ball deep into the trees beyond the left field fence a few pitches later. That blast, Lauaki’s second in his past three games, put Chatham up 2-0.
Initially, that looked like plenty to support A’s starter Jack Gleason (Mississippi State). He walked a batter, but recorded a strikeout, flyout and groundout to escape the frame unscathed.
Gleason didn’t allow a run until the third, when he conceded a one-out triple to Charlie Bates (Stanford). Bates came home to score on a pop out to Lauaki in foul territory, as Lauaki’s throw home was blocked by a protective net in front of the A’s bullpen.
While Hyannis strung together four straight innings with a hit, Chatham’s bats couldn’t offer much. The gloves kept the A’s in it. Palmese made a swift diving snag in right field in the bottom of the fifth, then doubled off Taylor Kirk (UCLA) at first, who’d taken off assuming Liam Barrett’s (UCSB) line drive would fall in right. It helped Gleason end his outing with five one-run innings.
The Anglers were still living off the narrow one-run lead. Palmese walked to lead off the sixth, then Bino Watters (LSU) was robbed of a single by a diving JC Davis (Rice) at second base. Palmese advanced to second on the play — becoming the first Angler to reach scoring position since the first inning — but Cole Johnson (Georgia) grounded out to strand him.
Kade Bing (Houston) took over for Gleason in the bottom of the sixth and immediately struck out Jax Gimenez (Oregon), then induced a pop out and a ground out to get out of the inning.
The Chatham offense came close to rewarding him in the top of the seventh. Ty Peeples (Florida State) led it off with a single into right — Chatham’s first hit since the third inning. He advanced to second on a pickoff throwing error, but Kaiden Dossa (Yale) flew out to left and Cam Pruitt (Missouri) grounded out to short to end the inning.
Kirk gave Hyannis a chance to tie the game by lacing a two-out triple the following frame, but Bing got Barrett to ground out to end the inning unscathed. Chatham did nearly the same thing in the top of the eighth, as Watters knocked a two-out double, but Lauaki couldn’t drive him in and grounded out to short.
In the bottom of the eighth, though, Hyannis cashed in. Davis led off the frame with a walk before Bates doubled into the left-center gap, plating the tying run. Gimenez then provided the fatal blow, blasting a two-run shot over the right-center field wall to put Hyannis up 4-2. Bing and Leo Odom (Ole Miss) mustered two outs, but walked two batters to load the bases. Kirk added salt to the wound with a two-run single into left to give Hyannis a four-run lead.
“We gotta stop walking leadoff hitters,” Cook said. “I think two or three of those runs that scored were walks. That can't happen in a one run ballgame.”
For the second night in a row, one inning doomed the A’s. On Tuesday, Yarmouth-Dennis scored seven in the fourth inning. Aside from that frame, the Red Sox didn’t score a run and had just two hits. On Wednesday — excluding the eighth inning — Hyannis had one run on five hits.
All of a sudden, Chatham had three outs to dig out of a four-run deficit. Peeples and Tyler Howe (North Carolina) walked to give the slightest glimmer of hope, but it went out quickly. Pruitt cut through a breaking ball with two outs, punctuating another late faint from the A’s.
So, the slump continues.
“We can't go hit for them, or we can't pitch for them. They gotta figure it out,” Cook said of his team, standing on the McKeon Park grass after Wednesday’s game. “They got track records as college players. They need to live up to their billing.”
Cook’s reflecting on the past week, and boy, has it been a tough one. Wednesday’s defeat extended Chatham’s skid to a season-high five games. Across that span, Cook’s team has put together 16 runs and allowed 28. Three of the losses have come by two runs or fewer. In the two most recent defeats, the A’s allowed five or more runs in one inning and never recovered.
The Anglers have tried just about everything, from new lineups to new pitchers to new players entirely. But they just can’t seem to break out of the slump.
It persisted Wednesday as Chatham (10-14-2, East) lost to Hyannis (12-14, West) 6-2. The Anglers struggled to get the bats going again on Wednesday, mustering six hits and failing to score a run after the first inning. They also struggled to close the game when they turned to the bullpen, conceding five runs in the eighth inning. It led to the A’s fifth consecutive loss, now a season-long losing streak.
“It's hard to win when you score two runs in the first inning, and you can't do nothing but put a goose egg up for the next eight,” Cook said postgame. “It puts a lot of pressure on the pitching, and a lot of pressure on the defense.”
The aforementioned two runs came on one swing. Jamie Palmese (Kansas) — debuting as a leadoff hitter after Rob Rispoli’s (UConn) departure — led off the game with a single, and Junior Lauaki (Georgia) scored him by crushing a breaking ball deep into the trees beyond the left field fence a few pitches later. That blast, Lauaki’s second in his past three games, put Chatham up 2-0.
Initially, that looked like plenty to support A’s starter Jack Gleason (Mississippi State). He walked a batter, but recorded a strikeout, flyout and groundout to escape the frame unscathed.
Gleason didn’t allow a run until the third, when he conceded a one-out triple to Charlie Bates (Stanford). Bates came home to score on a pop out to Lauaki in foul territory, as Lauaki’s throw home was blocked by a protective net in front of the A’s bullpen.
While Hyannis strung together four straight innings with a hit, Chatham’s bats couldn’t offer much. The gloves kept the A’s in it. Palmese made a swift diving snag in right field in the bottom of the fifth, then doubled off Taylor Kirk (UCLA) at first, who’d taken off assuming Liam Barrett’s (UCSB) line drive would fall in right. It helped Gleason end his outing with five one-run innings.
The Anglers were still living off the narrow one-run lead. Palmese walked to lead off the sixth, then Bino Watters (LSU) was robbed of a single by a diving JC Davis (Rice) at second base. Palmese advanced to second on the play — becoming the first Angler to reach scoring position since the first inning — but Cole Johnson (Georgia) grounded out to strand him.
Kade Bing (Houston) took over for Gleason in the bottom of the sixth and immediately struck out Jax Gimenez (Oregon), then induced a pop out and a ground out to get out of the inning.
The Chatham offense came close to rewarding him in the top of the seventh. Ty Peeples (Florida State) led it off with a single into right — Chatham’s first hit since the third inning. He advanced to second on a pickoff throwing error, but Kaiden Dossa (Yale) flew out to left and Cam Pruitt (Missouri) grounded out to short to end the inning.
Kirk gave Hyannis a chance to tie the game by lacing a two-out triple the following frame, but Bing got Barrett to ground out to end the inning unscathed. Chatham did nearly the same thing in the top of the eighth, as Watters knocked a two-out double, but Lauaki couldn’t drive him in and grounded out to short.
In the bottom of the eighth, though, Hyannis cashed in. Davis led off the frame with a walk before Bates doubled into the left-center gap, plating the tying run. Gimenez then provided the fatal blow, blasting a two-run shot over the right-center field wall to put Hyannis up 4-2. Bing and Leo Odom (Ole Miss) mustered two outs, but walked two batters to load the bases. Kirk added salt to the wound with a two-run single into left to give Hyannis a four-run lead.
“We gotta stop walking leadoff hitters,” Cook said. “I think two or three of those runs that scored were walks. That can't happen in a one run ballgame.”
For the second night in a row, one inning doomed the A’s. On Tuesday, Yarmouth-Dennis scored seven in the fourth inning. Aside from that frame, the Red Sox didn’t score a run and had just two hits. On Wednesday — excluding the eighth inning — Hyannis had one run on five hits.
All of a sudden, Chatham had three outs to dig out of a four-run deficit. Peeples and Tyler Howe (North Carolina) walked to give the slightest glimmer of hope, but it went out quickly. Pruitt cut through a breaking ball with two outs, punctuating another late faint from the A’s.
So, the slump continues.
