Harwich Wins Cape League Title

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How Sweet It Is!

Harwich Mariners Win First Cape Cod Baseball League Championship In 21 Years

HARWICH — The Harwich Mariners sure know how to finish with a flurry.

In his only at-bat of the series, pinch-hitter Mark Fleury singled in two runs in the bottom of the ninth, and Harwich came away with a 2-1 win over Cotuit and its first Cape Cod Baseball League championship in 21 years before 6,133 fans at Whitehouse Field Thursday night.

The 2-0 series sweep of the Kettleers completed a terrific turnaround for the Mariners, who went from worst to first following their slump-ridden 14-28-2 season a year ago.

Harwich Field Manager Steve Englert hoists the CCBL championship trophy. ERIC ADLER PHOTO

“It’s just great, a great feeling,” Harwich Field Manager Steve Englert said. “I’m happy for the team, I’m happy for the town, and I’m happy for all the people here. The team deserved it, they grinded it out all year, they never gave up.”

There was a point only a few weeks ago when Harwich lost six straight games and nearly blew its wildcard lead in the East Division.

But the Mariners – a perfect 4-0 in the post-season – were magical down the stretch run, ending the year on an eight-game winning streak that included a CCBL playoff record 18-inning victory over Orleans in the previous game at Whitehouse Field.

Maybe most remarkable is the fact that only one of the team’s players – Chase Leavitt – was alive the last time the Mariners were crowned CCBL champs. Cape League Commissioner Paul Galop announced that piece of trivia to the crowd as he handed over the long overdue hardware.

Diamond Dandies. The 2008 Harwich Mariners celebrate the team’s first Cape Cod Baseball League championship after defeating Cotuit 2-1 at Whitehouse Field Thursday night. A perfect 4-0 in the post-season, Harwich ends the year on an eight-game winning streak. ERIC ADLER PHOTO.

An emotional Englert hoisted the Arnold MyCock trophy and carried into a crush of Mariners who held, kissed and posed for photos with the prize they began searching for eight weeks and 47 games ago.

Playing six and often seven games a week, the Cape League can take a toll on players and coaches, but the Mariners chose to embrace their everyday workload, adopting an Ice Cube lyric, “I’m on the grind, baby, all the time, baby,” as their signature slogan for the season.

“This team came out to play everyday and even played when they were hurt,” said Englert. “We lost a lot of big time players (UNC star Dustin Ackley and team MVP DJ LeMahieu, to name two), but the guys didn’t care. They still came out fighting everyday.”

Harwich’s refuse-to-lose attitude was never more evident than in the final frame.

Joe Sanders triggered the club with a leadoff triple in the ninth that dropped in and ducked past sliding right fielder Evan Crawford. Brian Kemp was hit by reliever Drew Storen’s pitch, and Leavitt drew a walk off a payoff pitch to load the bases.

That’s when Englert inserted Fleury, who made the most of his short but sweet stint in the CCBL championship series.

“I was upset I wasn’t in the starting lineup, but when it came to be my turn, I was ready,” said Fleury. “I got lucky, I got a piece of it.”

Englert’s decision to have Fleury hit for Alex Hilliard (who was hitless but put the ball in play in each of his three at-bats) proved to be the coaching move of the year, and maybe the best of his six-year tenure with the team.

“Mark is a good fastball hitting guy, and I was just hoping he’d elevate something to tie the game,” said Englert. “But he went overboard and I’m glad he did.”

It should come as no surprise that Fleury came up clutch considering the North Carolina sophomore hit a two-run home run in the eighth that lifted the East to an 8-6 win over the West in the CCBL All-Star game three weeks ago.

“I like being in the spotlight during the pressure moments and when it comes down to it, I feel like I can succeed,” said Fleury, the CCBL series co-MVP along with Jason Stidham, who drove in seven runs in the series opener the day before. “After Joe hit that triple, everyone in the dugout breathed a sigh of relief. We felt at that point we can do this.”

Harwich gave no indication they could prior to that.

They struggled against Cotuit righty Nick Hernandez (who struck out six over eight innings) and squandered two-out base hits in the second and third. All told, they stranded seven runners through the first eight innings.

Cotuit, which left eight on base, was almost equally ineffective against Harwich ace Chris Manno, who struck out nine and allowed five hits over six-and-two thirds. But the Kettleers snapped the scoreless tie in the seventh.

Dallas Poulk was hit by a pitch, reached second on a fielder’s choice and took third on an overthrow while sliding into second. Poulk then scored on Robert Stack’s sacrifice fly.

After Harwich went down in order in the seventh and eighth, it seemed like the series would shift back to Cotuit for a third and final game. But Sanders’ leadoff triple in the ninth – his first three-bagger of the year – was just the spark the Mariners needed.

“I was just looking to get on base, I was just trying to start something for the team, because the guys hitting behind me were having a good night,” said Sanders. “We’ve had so many victories in the ninth this year that it’s suiting to end the year with a win like this, and it’s awesome.”

Moments later, Harwich (28-20) made history. As the team formed a pig pile in the infield, a throng of fans – many, like the Mariners, weren’t alive for the team’s last title, much less their last playoff appearance in 1997 – swarmed the field and joined in on the crazed coronation.

“This is great for Harwich, I’m excited for the whole town,” said Fleury. “It’s extremely sweet.”

Especially so for Englert, whose job was rumored to be in jeopardy after his five previous teams failed to produce a winning record.

“I’m so glad for (team president) Mary Henderson and (team secretary) Peg Rose and the town,” said Englert, with a million-dollar smile and a $10 cigar. “I’m taking that trophy down to the beach tomorrow and celebrating with a cooler of beer.”

The CCBL title was Harwich’s third overall, and their second championship series win over Cotuit, whom they bested three-games-to-two for their first title win of the modera era in 1983. That was a special team, as is the current one.

“What I’ll remember most about the season is the relationships I’ve formed with these guys,” said DH Andrew Giobbi, hugging teammate Billy Bullock, who added, “I’ll talk to these guys for the rest of my life.”

It’s taken 21 years, but the Mariners ship has finally come in.

Well-Rested Mariners Runaway With Game One Win Over Cotuit
by Eric Adler

COTUIT — Never underestimate what a little rest can do for a team, especially the Harwich Mariners.

Following a two-day break after their 18-inning affair against Orleans, Harwich’s rejuvenated nine scored early and often en route to an 11-2 win over Cotuit in the opening game of the Cape Cod Baseball League championship series at Lowell Field last Wednesday.

“The rest we got was huge,” Harwich Manager Steve Englert said. “Guys were cramping up after the 18 inning game, so those two days off really, really helped us.”

Eight of Harwich’s nine hitters had at least one hit, as the Mariners slugged three runs in the second, five in the third and never looked back to move within one win of their first CCBL championship since 1987.

“That was a big win and it was nice to get on the board early and put some pressure on them,” Englert said.

Number nine hitter Jason Stidham paced Harwich’s 16-hit parade with a 3-for-3, seven RBI afternoon, and was the game’s surprise star considering the Florida State second baseman hit .155 with only eight RBIs in the team’s previous 46 games.

“The guys in front of me were hitting the ball well today and it gave me an opportunity to drive them in,” said Stidham. “I sat back on the ball, saw it well and it was probably the best day I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Stidham singled in a pair of runs in the second, tripled home two more in the third, singled in another two in the fifth, and just for good measure, sealed Harwich’s scoring with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

“He’s a sneaky number nine hitter, probably the sneakiest nine-hole guy in the country,” Englert said. “He didn’t have a great summer swinging the bat, but he’s had a lot of quality at-bats even though he hasn’t had a lot to show for it. He’s barreled up a lot of balls, and I’m glad it paid off for him finally.”

Shaver Hansen, Tommy Medica, Joe Sanders and Alex Hilliard each had two hits and Chase Leavitt had three while scoring four runs.

The Mariners’ double-digit total was something of a shock given they went 25 consecutive innings without a run in their 2-0 series sweep over Orleans, scoring four runs in the first inning of game one and one run in the 18th in game two.

“That’s the way this is down here, you never know what’s going to happen,” said Englert.

That’s why he ordered Hansen, who singled and moved over two bags to start the contest, to steal home. But Seth Blair’s pitch made it to the plate in time for Joe Lewis to apply the tag on an action-packed, inning-ending play.

“We were trying to get the lead early, especially in a big game like this,” said Englert.

The failed plan was a distant memory after Sanders scored on a passed ball for Harwich’s first run and Stidham’s first single brought home two more in the second.

The Mariners bats were even better in the third, as Belt, Brian Kemp and Leavitt each drove in a run before Stidham teed off again on Blair (who gave up 13 hits and 10 runs in five-and-a-third) with a two-run shot to make it 8-0.

Game over.

“They played great, blew us out and gave us a taste of humble pie,” Cotuit Field Manager Mike Roberts said. “We helped them a little bit, but they won it, they were better than us by far and I congratulate them.”

Slightly overshadowed by the Mariners offensive outburst was the near peerless performance by Michael Morrison, who struck out five and held the Kettleers scoreless through the first six innings.

Morrison, who worked his way into the starting rotation after coming out of the bullpen at the start of the summer, gave up six hits on two runs, both of which came on Robert Stock’s insignificant two-run shot in the seventh.

“Morrison had a great outing, and he’s done that all year for us,” Englert said. “The last four times out he’s been outstanding.”

Following his lead, Josh Eidell struck out the side in order in the eighth. And for all his prowess at the plate, Stidham was just as good in the field, particularly in the sixth when he assisted all three outs.

8/21/08