Harwich Edges Chatham To Advance To East Division Final

CHATHAM – Another chapter was added to the Chatham-Harwich rivalry on Tuesday night.

In a game that featured 21 hits and five lead changes, it was third-seeded Harwich that came out on top with a 7-5 victory over second-seeded Chatham in a single-elimination East Divisional Round matchup at Veterans Field.

Despite entering the ninth with a 5-4 deficit, the Mariners rallied for three runs to take advantage before Boston native Kevin Zarnoch, a righty from UMass Lowell, secured the win with a perfect 1-2-3 frame to end the game.

“That’s playoff baseball right there,” Harwich manager Steve Englert said. “Like Ali-Frazier coming back and forth. They took the lead and we ended up scrapping some in the ninth. I love this team — they are so resilient and they are grinders. They just keep going.”

Harwich advances to play Yarmouth-Dennis in the best-of-three East championship series after the Red Sox defeated Orleans earlier in the day. The Mariners and Red Sox will meet for Game 1 at Y-D on Wednesday (time TBA) before playing at Harwich for Game 2 on Thursday. A winner-takes-all Game 3 will be played Thursday if necessary.

The winner will advance to the championship against the Bourne-Cotuit winner from the West final.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Chatham, which was playing in its first postseason game since 2019. The Anglers overcame a two-run deficit in the fourth and a one-run deficit in the fifth before taking a 5-4 lead following an RBI single by Chayton Krauss with two outs in the ninth.

Krauss’ hit came moments after a questionable safe call at first base on what would’ve been a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Despite a plea from Englert, the call stood and the Anglers made the most of it moments later.

Englert said it sparked his players. Cam Maldonado (Northeastern) led off the ninth with a triple before Aiden Robbins (Seton Hall), Wilson Weber (Oregon State) and Daniel Dickinson (LSU) each recorded RBI singles to help the team take the lead.

“That was a huge leadoff hit for [Maldonado],” Englert said. “He’s turning into an alpha male now. He’s had a huge summer and hopefully he’ll continue.”

Interim Chatham manager Eric Beattie said he was proud of the way the Anglers battled.

“It was two teams that really wanted to win,” Beattie said. “One had to win and one had to lose, unfortunately they had a couple breaks go their way and they hit well with runners in scoring position.

“I love this team. Those guys have been battling all year and they battled tonight.”

Now the Mariners turn their attention to the Red Sox, who cruised into the playoffs as the top seed after sitting atop the East standings for most of the summer.

“Top team in the league,” Englert said. “It’s going to be a dogfight, I hope.”