Wareham walks off Harwich

Wareham, Mass. 一 You couldn’t write a better script than what took place at Spillane Field Saturday night.

Wareham hosted First Responders Night, one of its biggest promotional events of the summer, and began the night with a helicopter flying onto center field. The Gatemen served pregame meals to over 250 first responders, and children were able to enjoy a “Touch a Truck” event. Officers were commended at home plate for their efforts and invited to throw out ceremonial first pitches.

Both first responders and fans packed out the ballpark over 90 minutes before the 6:00 first pitch. Pregame infield/outfield warmups and batting practice sessions had a crowd for the first time this summer. The promotional event and the beautiful 73-degree weekend night combined to bring out a full-force Gatemen crowd. It didn’t feel like a mid-June cross-divisional bout, moreso a playoff game.

That event heightened Saturday’s game against the 5-1 Mariners. Fans began to fill in over an hour before first pitch, playing with the dogs from various first responders and digging into the Gatemen’s catered food truck. A small “USA” chant even broke out after the national anthem.

“It (First Responders Night) is awesome. I mean, it's fun to see everyone out here,” Catcher Levi Clark (Tennessee), a returner from last summer, said. “The kids have a fun time, and it's great to represent them tonight. It's awesome what they do for us.”

The ballpark felt truly alive for the first time this season, and the Gatemen matched the energy.

The early stages of the game looked similar to Wareham’s other battles this summer: runners on base, but no end result. Harwich led for over seven innings after its two-run opening frame, and Wareham’s back was against the wall in the eighth. But the Gatemen’s top of the lineup proved their positioning with Coen Niclai (Arizona) hitting a sacrifice lineout to score Clark and bring them within two. It wasn’t much, but it created belief that Wareham could score on a Harwich squad which had the Cape League’s third-lowest ERA.

Andrew Koshy (Maryland) came in for the ninth inning and tossed Wareham’s fourth straight scoreless frame. He notched three consecutive groundouts and earned a standing ovation from 

the packed-out bleachers down the first base line. He successfully filled the shoes of the prior three Gatemen relievers who allowed just one run and struck out three batters. 

“(Tonight’s pitching) fantastic. Kitchings came up in a big spot there,  gave us some solid innings there, let us crawl back into it and kind of build momentum,” Gatemen manager Ryan Smyth said. “For once it felt like momentum was on our side there, and I'm happy our guys got a taste of what that feels like, because hopefully it'll spring us forward.”

But as Wareham fans have seen in previous contests this summer, strong arms are just half of the battle. That fight at the plate became a battle of desperation from the Gatemen’s offense to send this packed-out crowd home happy, 

It began with Nate Novitske’s (Arizona) team-high fourth walk of the summer to reach base and provide a glimpse of a late-game rally. Smyth chose Dylan Dubovik (Miami), one of Wareham’s base-hit leaders, as a pinch hitter with a man on and no outs. Not only did Dubovik advance the runner, he singled. 

The bases were juiced and the score was knotted at four after Foster Apple’s (Transfer Portal) walk, Tony Lira’s (Arizona) single, and Clark reaching base after being hit by a pitch. 

With two outs and three men on, Niclai stepped up to the plate for his 15th at-bat as a Gatemen. All of Spillane Field rose to their feet in anticipation: would he end the ballgame, or would First Responders Night require extra innings?

It wouldn’t.

Niclai towered a grand-slam home run over the 400-foot center field wall. It passed over the center fielder’s outstretched glove, a fitting reminder of just how hard it is to secure Cape League wins. 

“We didn't make it easy down in the first, that's kind of been our MO, but it's good to see the guys fight back again,” Smyth said. “A lot of traffic tonight, didn't cash in early, but cashed in when it really mattered.”

The homer was the exclamation point of a week’s worth of work. Wareham tallied its season-high in hits, earned walks, and advanced runners. The final swing was the payoff.

“I was screaming at it (the home run) to go, and stretch, and everything else,” Smyth said. The center fielder made a nice play on it and fooled everyone for a little bit, but the wind normally kicks out that way. He hit it to the right spot and couldn't be happier for him.”

The Gatemen knocked off a Mariners team that rode into Spillane Field on a five-game win streak. Wareham earned the Gatorade bath and the jubilation. But similar to its losses this season, tomorrow brings a new day and a new challenge. 

“Winning and losing out here is contagious. You can get on a really hot streak real quick, and it can go south,” Smyth said. “I don't care how we start, as long as we keep continuing to play better and better baseball each time we're out. Out here it's how you finish, right? So hopefully this is the start of something here, and we get it rolling, and we go from there.”

The script was written. The result? A summer-defining win.

Jack Knight is the Wareham Gatemen’s beat writer and a rising sophomore at Syracuse University