The tight west division race in the Cape Cod Baseball League got a little less close last night as the two top teams in the division, Cotuit and Wareham, gained ground on the Falmouth Commodores, who lost a game and possession of third place. The Commodores dropped a tough 7-6 decision on the road at Hyannis, falling to 12-14-1 (25 points), in the process. It was the sixth one-run loss of the season for the Commodores. 

     The Mets leaped past Falmouth in the standings, improving to 12-12-2 (26 points). Cotuit (17-7-1, 35 points) and Wareham (15-14, 30 points), bettered their positioning for the division’s two playoff spots.

     Hyannis’ big blow came in the bottom of the seventh when third baseman Matt Mangini (North Carolina State) hit a bomb over the right field fence to break open a 5-4 game to make it 7-4. Those two runs, which came on Mangini’s first round-tripper of the season, proved huge because the Commodores would score two in the eighth, and leave the potential tying and winning runs on base.

     Falmouth began its near-comeback when Taylor Harbin (Clemson) connected for his second homer of the year to lead off the eighth. Then, after Ryan Anetsberger (Illinois State) was robbed of a hit by one of the best defensive plays in the league this season, turned in by a diving Ramon Corona (NC State), and Aja Barto (Tulane) lined out to the first baseman, the Commodores put together a rally. Jeremy Farrell (Virginia) lined a single to right, and then Brad Chalk (Clemson) slapped a hit to left to give Falmouth a pair of runners on base.

     Then up stepped Mitch Canham (Oregon State), who had his best game of the year. Canham reached base all five times he came to the plate, going 4-for-4 with a walk. In his final at-bat, Canham, who raised his average from .325 to .386, sliced a single to right that plated a run and then a fielding error allowed the runners to go to second and third.

     That brought up pinch-hitter Matt Nuzzo (Brown), who was hitting for the pitcher (Falmouth lost the DH when catcher Andrew Walker was injured in the fourth, forcing Canham out of the DH spot to catch). Nuzzo was able to put the ball in play, but hit an inning-ending groundout to second.

     Falmouth had led early on. After the Mets took a 2-1 lead in the second, the Commodores rallied for three in the third. Canham homered to lead the inning off, and then Harbin and Anetsberger collected RBI hits.
Hyannis got two back to tie it in the fourth on RBI hits by Mark McGonigle (Houston) and Corona. They then took the lead in the fifth on an RBI groundout by McGonigle.

     On Sunday, the Commodores rode an outstanding pitching performance by David Kopp (Clemson) to defeat the first-place Cotuit Kettleers by a 2-0 score. Kopp one-hit the Tigers over seven innings of work before Eddie Kunz (Oregon State) and Sam Demel (Texas Christian) finished things off for the Commodores, who are 3-0 against the first-place Kettleers this year and have not lost a game to Cotuit since the middle of last summer.

     Falmouth grabbed the only run it would ultimately need in the top of the first inning on a pair of two-out doubles off the bats of Andrew Walker (TCU) and Brett Wallace (Arizona State). Both hits went to center field. The other Falmouth run came in the top of the eighth, when a two-out fielding error by the Kettleers allowed Ryan Anetsberger (Illinois State) to score from third.

     On Saturday the Commodores lost a heartbreaker, 8-7, in 15 innings. The Commodores had led by as much as 6-2 in the fourth only to see the Brewster Whitecaps come back to take a 7-6 lead with two in the top of the eighth. Falmouth tied it up in the bottom of the frame, but would go on to lose when the Caps plated a run in the top of the 15th with a sac fly to right.

     Falmouth has tonight off. They host Harwich tomorrow at 7 PM and are at Orleans Thursday night.