BOURNE, Mass. — For the first time since the Fourth of July, the Braves didn’t have a Friday night matchup against Wareham at Spillane Field.
Coming off of a 4-2 loss to Brewster on Tuesday, Bourne returned to Doran Park on Wednesday to face the red-hot Gatemen, who have arguably been the best team in the entire Cape Cod Baseball League over the last two weeks.
In a matchup between first-place Wareham, which has already clinched a playoff spot, and the second-place Braves, it was Bourne who escaped the West Division showdown in a 7-3 victory.
It was Wareham that struck first in its first licks at the plate, starting with a double from Chris McHugh (NC State). Following a walk from Caden McDonald (Florida), Chase Krewson netted an RBI infield single to score McHugh to give his team an early 1-0 lead.
The second inning had the Gatemen tack on another thanks to the help of a pair of doubles. Drew Rogers (Georgia Tech) tallied the first two-base knock, then scored shortly after on an RBI from Brayden Randle (Ole Miss).
Bourne added its first score in the bottom of the frame, as Jason Torres (Alabama) cruised to second on a double. He turned on the jets and booked it home on an RBI single from Mark Quatrani (Notre Dame), cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Wareham then brought its lead back to a pair of runs in third, starting with McHugh reaching second after a walk and a wild pitch from Folger Boaz (North Carolina). After McDonald reached from an error by Ryan Cooney (Oregon) at shortstop, the pair advanced on another wild pitch from Boaz. An RBI sacrifice fly from Colby Turner (Michigan) knocked in McHugh, giving the Gatemen a 3-1 advantage.
Once again the Braves cut it to a run, starting with a Torres single for his second hit of the day in the fourth. Quatrani followed it up with a walk, then a ball put in play by Cooney resulted in a fielding error by Christopher Ramirez (Cal Baptist) at shortstop, scoring Torres to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Then Bourne knotted it up, as Kade Lewis (Wake Forest) found himself on third after a single, wild pitch from Shea Wendt (Creighton) and a passed ball allowed from Rogers. After Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) walked, an RBI single from Cal Sefcik tied the contest up at 3-3.
After trailing throughout the contest, Bourne took its first lead in the eighth, starting with Drew Wyers (Mississippi State) getting hit by a pitch, who advanced to second after a wild pitch from Tommy Skelding (Kentucky). An RBI double from Quatrani scored Wyers to give the Braves the lead. Quatrani touched home plate immediately after on an RBI single from Cooney.
The scoring didn't stop there, as runners would be on second and third after Jon LeGrande (St. John's) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Gavin Kelly (West Virginia) continued his hot performance from the day before, ripping a two-run single to score Cooney and LeGrande to give Bourne the 7-3 lead.
Packey Bradley-Cooney (Alabama) closed it out for Bourne in the ninth, giving his team the 7-3 victory.
Bourne Braves Player of the Game
Jack Brown (Louisville) came in in the fifth inning out of the bullpen and was dominant, tossing four shutout frames with four strikeouts.
Key moment
The four runs that the Braves tacked on in the eighth ended up being the difference-maker, giving them their first lead of the game that they held for the lone half-frame that followed in order to emerge victorious.
A look ahead
Bourne (17-17-2, 36 points) will hit the road on Thursday to face Hyannis (14-18-4, 32 points) at McKeon Park. The last time the two teams met the Harbor Hawks won, 12-0.
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
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