BOURNE, Mass. — Jon LeGrande (St. John’s) pinch-ran for Logan Hughes (Texas Tech) following his single in the bottom of the ninth, with Kuhio Aloy (Arkansas) representing the tying run at the plate.
Trailing 2-0, Aloy drilled one to the left and silenced the crowd at Doran Park, only moments later to have a sigh of despair echo through the ballpark as he just missed a home run to left field.
He struck out swinging, as did Kade Lewis (Wake Forest) in the next at-bat, resulting in a 2-0 loss for Bourne to the Harwich Mariners on Sunday, and its fourth straight loss headed into the day off.
Despite the defeat for the Braves, the pitching bounced back resoundingly, getting off to a much more efficient start compared to the early blowup innings in recent losses. The lone run given up by Zack Konstantinovsky (Rutgers) was unearned, and Joe Colucci pitched a shutout over 3 2/3 innings during his outing in relief.
The story for Bourne in losses has been the bats coming too late, but in this one it was a matter of the bats not coming alive at all, as the Braves were no-hit through five innings of play.
The scoring started for Harwich in the second, as Jake Koonin (Princeton) took first base following a nine-pitch walk. He then took second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Marsh (Liberty). The lead became 1-0, as an RBI sacrifice fly by Kyle Wolff scored Koonin.
An opportunity came across for the Mariners in the fifth, as Tre Broussard (Auburn) made his way to third after a single off the glove of Lewis and a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Bristol Carter (Auburn). A walk from Maddox Molony (Oregon) loaded the bases, but a double play got Colucci out of the jam, resulting in him banging his chest on the way to the dugout.
Bourne tried to cash in during the seventh, as a Lewis double had him in scoring position. He reached third after a sacrifice fly from Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) but didn’t end up scoring after a Campbell Smithwick (Oklahoma State) strikeout.
Harwich extended its lead in the ninth, as Dee Kennedy pinch-hit and slammed a shot to left-center field for a solo home run, putting the game out of reach for Bourne despite it being just a 2-0 contest.
Bourne Braves Player of the Game
Colucci was efficient in relief, letting his defense do the work, tossing 3 2/3 innings and giving up zero runs.
Key moment
The first five innings of play had the Braves hitless, mitigating their opportunities to cash in offensively.
A look ahead
The Braves (4-8-1, 9 points) will return to action Tuesday following an off-day to visit the Falmouth Commodores (6-7, 12 points). Bourne lost to Falmouth, 5-3, on Wednesday.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m from Guv Fuller Field.
Keep up to date with the Braves
Sign up for our newsletter here to keep up with all things Bourne Braves during the summer!
