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Gatemen Tie 3-3 In a Back and Forth Battle With Harwich


By Barrett Hodgson

The Harwich Mariners visited Spillane field on Wednesday night July 7th to take on the Wareham Gatemen. The back and forth contest ended in a 3-3 tie. 

Harwich struck first in the top half of the 1st inning. After two fast outs, Brock Wilken (Wake Forest) delivered a double on a ball in which the centerfielder and right fielder collided. The next batter walked, putting runners on 1st and 2nd before Jordan Beck (Tennessee) singled to right to load the bases. Chris Newell (Virginia) kept the line moving and slapped an RBI single between 1st and 2nd base to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. 

The Mariners struck again in the 3rd behind a monster home run. Wilken stepped up and absolutely smoked a 2-2 fastball for a solo shot. The ball cleared the left field bullpen to give the visiting Mariners a 2-0 lead. 

The Gatemen bats finally got on the board in the bottom of the 5th. Angelo DiSpigna (Mercer) doubled to left for the Gatemen’s first hit of the night. He advanced to 3rd on a Tres Gonzalez (Georgia Tech) single to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Harwich went to the bullpen and brought in lefty Dalton Smith (Georgia Tech) to face lefty Jim Jarvis (Alabama). Jarvis drew a walk and on the 4th ball of the at bat DiSpigna scored on a wild pitch on heads up baserunning, cutting the Harwich lead in half 2-1. 

After a 30 minute delay for lightning, the Gatemen came back and took the lead in the bottom of the 7th. Gonzalez started things off with a beautiful bunt single that just died in the grass. Tommy Troy (Stanford) then stepped up and blasted a go ahead 2-run home run into the left field bleachers giving Wareham a 3-2 lead. 

In the top of the 9th the Mariners tied things up at three a piece. The Harwich shortstop Zack Prajzner (Notre Dame) reached on a base hit. A fielder’s choice by pinch hitter Ben Malgeri (Northeastern) swapped runners on 1st with two outs. Malgeri then stole 2nd to put himself in scoring position for Hal Hughes (Rice). Hughes put a ball in play and reached on a throwing error by the 3rd baseman which also scored Malgeri from 2nd.

The Gatemen pitching was great all night, only allowing two runs. Spencer Miles (Missouri) went four innings and gave up the two earned but also had five punchouts. Hunter Schilperoort (Pacific) went three innings giving up one unearned run. 

The Gatemen will look to get back in the win column Friday night at Veteran’s field against the Chatham Anglers.