Bourne's offense eventually found a groove with their starter holding it down on the bump. To start the sixth, Meggers and first baseman David Lewis (Virginia Tech) singled consecutively before second baseman Blake Barthol (Coastal Carolina) was plucked by righty Aidan Hunter (Charleston), juicing the bases.
The reliever was then pulled by Cotuit field manager Mike Roberts for right-hander Tyler O’Neill (Bucknell), who started game two on Wednesday, throwing 47 pitches through two innings. Bourne took advantage of his short rest immediately.
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson (Arizona State) tied the game with a deep sacrifice fly into right field, and O’Neill spiked a pitch into the dirt, allowing Meggers to score. Outfielder Chris Stanfield (LSU) then grounded straight to Thach at first, but an errant throw home helped Barthol cross the dish, giving the Braves a newfound 5-3 lead.
“We went down and we didn’t panic,” Landers said. “We just knew that they were out of pitching, and just stay the course and we’d be okay. And we did.”
From the seventh inning on, Bourne turned to its lights-out bullpen that allowed the second-fewest earned runs in the league during the regular season. Lefty Kyle LaCalameto (Houston) fanned three and only allowed two hits in two scoreless frames, setting the table for righty Packy Bradley-Cooney (Alabama) to close out the game.
Bradley-Cooney did just that, facing the minimum in a 12-pitch ninth and keeping the Braves’ hopes at a three-peat alive and well.
“It’s awesome,” Ariola said. “The guys here, everyone plays for one another. We’re going to bring this home for Bourne, it’s going to be great.”
A Look Ahead
Bourne now only has one team — the scorching Harwich Mariners — standing between them and their third straight title. However, it won’t be easy, as their opponent has been playing its best baseball during the postseason.
After a tumultuous start to July that saw them go 2-17 in their first 19 contests, the Mariners rattled off wins in six of their last eight to fight their way to the third seed in the East Division. The Mariners then marched into Veterans Field and used late-game heroics to stun the two-seeded Chatham Anglers, but their most impressive feat was still yet to come.
Facing the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, winners of the CCBL’s regular-season title, in the best-of-three East Championship Series, Harwich took game one on the road, 10-2, and clinched its spot in the title series in front of their home crowd with a 5-1 game two victory.
While Harwich is a higher seed than Bourne, the Braves finished the regular season with eight more wins, giving them home-field advantage in the series. Game one will be on Saturday at Doran Park with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. Both team’s starting pitchers are to be determined.
Notes
Braves General Manager Darin Weeks is the first GM in the modern era to reach four straight CCBL Championships… Conrad extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a 1-for-5 showing at the plate on Friday… Houston’s on-base streak is now at 19 games, as he drew two walks and recorded a hit against Cotuit… Lewis has eight hits in his first seven games on the Cape, contributing a double and three RBI… Harwich (2.33) and Bourne (2.57) rank No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in ERA during the postseason.
