The losing streak for Falmouth (10-14-2) grew to three in Bourne (13-10-3) on Wednesday in a 8-1 loss that could’ve gone the other way had the early stages of the contest unfolded a bit differently.

The matchup was a strong representation of what’s been the Achilees’ heel for the ‘Dores in the past week: untimely hitting.

The theme started to manifest itself in the top of the second, after a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt from Drew Terpins (Mount Mercy) put two runners in scoring position for Falmouth. Two popouts later, it was left empty handed.

With RISP, the ‘Dores went 0-for-11 in the contest and are three for their last 26 across their last three games. Runs have been difficult to come by, and its put the pressure on their lineup to find the crucial hit they need to get going.

“When you get into runners and second and third, you want to be a hero,” said assistant coach Mike Casaleggio after the game. “That's just the nature of the at- bat. You want to be the guy that drives in the runs…We just got to do a better job of looking for the baseball up [in the zone] and not trying to do too much.”

The Braves were bailed out of a rough spot in the top half of the inning and took advantage of the golden opportunity in the bottom half, propelling themselves in front with a two-run homer off the bat of Eliot Medlock (Quinnipiac), the first blemish on the statline of Kenyon Collins (Marshall). The all-star right-hander was able to weather the storm, only allowing one more run on four hits in a 3.2 inning start, striking out four.

Falmouth saw its only run cross the plate after on a wild pitch from Christian Lucarelli (Virginia) in the third, but continued to struggle with supporting quality work from its pitching staff. For six innings, Collins and Jack Durso (Miami) were able to hold the Bourne lead to two, but another homer from Andrew Costello (South Carolina) was the tip of the iceberg to a five-run seventh inning that put the game away for good.

“I should have went curveball,” said Durso, regretting the pitch he ended up going with in a 2-0 count to Costello. “Gave him a cookie fastball, and he was just sitting dead red. I think everybody in the stadium knew I was throwing a fastball there.”

Besides the outburst in the seventh, the Commodore staff pieced together another stellar outing that has a wide range of positives to reflect upon.

“They're resilient,” said Casaleggio, speaking on the success of the Falmouth arms. “There's ups and downs in baseball, but I think the one thing we can bank on in the last week and a half is these guys will [show] out and they've thrown the ball pretty well.”

Durso, who allowed two runs in his 2.2 innings of work, retired the first eight batters he faced and cruised behind an improved offspeed pitch at the start of his outing.

“My changeup was on, so it was easier to have a fourth pitch,” he said. “If I couldn't land a slider, couldn't land a curveball, I always had that changeup in the back pocket. Having that changeup there, something I'm actually working on, was huge to have another pitch that's going to the other side of the plate.”

While the ‘Dores see success on one end of the diamond, the other continues to foster frustration as the season drags into its later stages. That’s where the quality of a coaching staff gets exposed – the best let their players know that they’re not alone in the mental struggle.

“I think baseball is a really hard game and you get tested a lot,” said Casaleggio. “That's just the nature of the game. You got to get behind the guys when you can because it's just tough coming out here, trying to score runs and not executing with runners in scoring position. We can talk about that stuff all we want, but we, [the coaching staff], got to get behind the guys that make sure that they know that we're behind them and we care about them and we're going to work with them through all this stuff.”

What’s the first step in doing that? Casaleggio kept his ‘get back on track’ checklist simple.

“Just keep having fun, man. Have a good BP tomorrow. Not thinking about it too much. Forget about the past. Shake it, come back tomorrow ready to go.”

A great plan of attack for the ‘Dores in a get-right game against an East Division opponent in Harwich on Thursday. First pitch from Guv Fuller Field is set for 6:00 p.m.