Written by Kathleen Szmit
 
 Hyannis has come out swinging at the start of their 2008 season, opening with wins against Chatham and Falmouth this week.

Under the watchful eyes of new field manager Rick Robinson the Mets kicked off the season with a road game to Chatham, earning a 4-3 victory on opening day.

For much of the game play was tight, with each team putting forth solid effort. Chatham started the scoring with two runs in the first but Hyannis responded by sending two across the plate in the fifth. 

Chatham again took a one-run lead in the sixth, with the Mets tying things up with a run of their own in the seventh to make it 3-3. 

Then came Stetson’s Casey Frawley in the ninth. Fresh off of his bat-breaking exhibition against Team Cape Cod last week, Frawley clocked a two-on, two-out single to center to bring in the winning run for Hyannis.

After rain resulted in the postponing of Hyannis’ game against Y-D on Sunday, the Mets were back in action on Monday for their home opener against Falmouth.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a classic pitcher’s duel. Andrew Carraway took the mound for Hyannis, making quick work of the first three Falmouth batters in what became a 1-0 shutout for Hyannis’ second win of the season.

In the game, which remained scoreless until Frawley walked in the lone run, Carraway only gave up four hits while fanning seven in 5.1 innings before being relieved by Ashur Tolliver in the sixth. Tolliver gave up three hits with no runs, striking out three in 2.2 innings.

Vanderbilt’s Russ Brewer earned his second save for Hyannis when he closed the game and preserved the win.

Although Hyannis wasn’t able to score more than one run, their bats were solid. Along with the run-scoring walk, Frawley also doubled in the third. 

Teammate Steve Daniels smacked a pretty triple in the fifth, and John Hinson, Luke Murton and Stephen Ashcraft also contributed hits.

On Tuesday night Hyannis traveled to Brewster for a close-but-not-quite game against the Whitecaps at Stony Brook Field.

A two-run homer by the Whitecaps’ Nate Lape kicked off the scoring for Brewster, who added another run through a walk in the second, ultimately taking a 3-0 lead by the end of the inning on an RBI single from Jim Klocke.

In the bottom of the seventh the Whitecaps bolstered their lead when Ryan Wheeler and Lape each slammed balls over the fence in back-to-back homers, much to the dismay of Hyannis’ boys. 

Refusing to bow out quietly, Hyannis rallied in the eighth when Ashcraft tapped a base hit, followed by a single from teammate Daniels. 

The boys in blue found their way onto the scoreboard when Murton hit a sweet double to bring in Ashcraft and Daniels. Chris Dominguez then brought in Michael Glantz on a hard groundout, and Ben Paulson also had an RBI for Hyannis, who was unable to bring in more runs after that.
The Chatham A’s came to Hyannis on Wednesday seeking to avenge their opening day loss and found success, but not without a fight.

A three-run homer from Chatham’s Devin Lohman put the A’s into a solid lead, but Hyannis narrowed things with two runs in the second when Curt Casali and Joey Gonzalez crossed the plate on singles from Austin Adams and Ashcraft.

A sacrifice fly from Frawley in the seventh brought in Ashcraft again, allowing Hyannis to bring their deficit to within two, but that was the end of Hyannis’ scoring.

Nonetheless, relief pitcher Drew Muren had an outstanding performance, giving up just one hit while fanning eight batters in four scoreless innings. 

Hyannis stands at 2-2 so far this season and faces Orleans at home at McKeon Park tonight at 7 p.m.