The Bourne Braves were Cape Cod Baseball League champions in 2022. The squad brought home the hardware again in 2023.
2024 had the Braves pushing for the three-peat, but for the first time since 2021, a new team came out victorious, as the Braves fell to the Harwich Mariners 4-3 in Game 3 of the Championship Series.
“I would think most people don’t want us here, but expect us to be here,” field manager Scott Landers said following the defeat to the Mariners. “We did what we were supposed to do. We just fell a game short.”
Landers said people might not want the Braves to be in the Championship Series game, but it's becoming a hard task to eliminate them from postseason contention. It’s been four straight summers that the Braves have made it to the last dance, having also won the Championship Series a total of nine times all-time.
In 2021, the Braves lost to the Brewster Whitecaps; the following two seasons resulted in championships. After falling to the bunch from Harwich to end last summer, it leaves the question as to whether Landers can bring his crew back to the promised land.
The field manager returns for his fourth campaign as the bench boss, with his first three resulting in championship game appearances. The head coach brings a wealth of experience to the ballpark, having been the head coach/strength and conditioning coordinator at SUNY Oswego since 2011.
Landers is accompanied by five assistants, including veteran Kevin Curtin and newcomers Jeff Limoncelli, Ed Blankmeyer, Anthony Barone, and Alex Conrad.
Curtin, the pitching coach at Tufts University, will manage the arms in the bullpen for his fourth season. He joined the staff the same season as Landers, and was part of the 2022 and 2023 championship-winning teams, including managing the 2023 batch of pitchers who led the league in team ERA with 3.04.
Limoncelli will join the Braves’ staff for his first season, having been a key figure in upstate New York high school baseball. He’s notched over 400 wins in his career, that’s lasted over four decades, including guiding Horseheads High School to nine NYSPHSAA Section 4 championships.
Blankemeyer will also be spending his first season with Bourne as a hitting coach, with his last summer gig being for the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League in 2022. He’s the all-time winningest coach at St. John’s and has led the Red Storm to five Big East tournament championships.
Barone’s first season with the Braves will have him as an assistant as well as the camp coordinator. He’s a graduate student-athlete at SUNY Oswego, playing under Landers as a catcher, where he’s posted a .264 batting average with 51 hits and 33 RBIs in his five-year career.
Conrad will round out the first-year staffers and will join his SUNY Oswego teammate Barone as an assistant coach, working with the pitchers. The second graduate student-athlete for the Braves is a southpaw who has a 4.64 ERA and 91 strikeouts in his four seasons.
The Braves boast a roster of 40 players, including four returners in second baseman Cam Kozeal (Arkansas), pitchers Chase Meyer (West Virginia), Zach Konstantiovsky (Rutgers), and utility man Brayden Holcomb (Vanderbilt). The roster is made up of 24 pitchers, 11 infielders, six outfielders, and two catchers — with a few players projected to play multiple positions.
Eight conferences create the makeup of the roster, including the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Sun Belt, West Coast Conference, and America East. The roster has several colleges with multiple players suiting up for the Braves including Arkansas (4), Rutgers (3), Wake Forest (3), Vanderbilt (3), West Virginia (2), Texas Tech (2), North Carolina (2), Louisville (2), St. John’s (2), Texas Tech (2), and Florida State (2).
Notable bats to watch for the Braves are infielder Kade Lewis (Wake Forest), first baseman Ty Doucette (Rutgers), shortstop Ryan Cooney (Oregon), and Kuhio Aloy (Arkansas).
Lewis transferred to the Demon Deacons in 2025 after earning the Big East Freshman of the Year award in 2024 for Butler. In 60 games for Wake Forest, he hit .376 with 11 home runs, 59 RBI, 18 doubles, and 46 runs scored while slashing .482/.602/1.084.
Doucette finished 2024 with a .321 batting average for the Scarlet Knights, and in 57 games in 2025, he’s once again hitting over .300 with a .350 batting average. That goes with 13 home runs, 54 RBI, 10 doubles, and 57 runs scored while slashing .431/.557/.988.
Cooney has stepped up in the Ducks’ lineup in 2025, making massive strides from his freshman campaign the year prior. In 57 games, Cooney has started in every single one and has notched a .335 batting average, six homers, 49 RBI, 12 doubles, 61 hits, 45 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases.
Aloy transferred to Arkansas in 2025 after spending his freshman season at BYU. In 57 games for the Razorbacks, Aloy hit .330 with 13 home runs, 70 RBI, 15 doubles, and 52 runs scored while slashing .415/.565/.980.
Arms to keep tabs on are Cole Gibler (Arkansas), Chase Meyer (West Virginia), and John Abraham (Florida State).
Gibler made 18 appearances for Arkansas this season, earning a 3-1 record over 27.2 innings with a 3.25 ERA and .210 opposing batting average. He's given up 10 runs, walked 10, and struck out 53.
Meyer returns to Bourne after a strong season in a Braves uniform. For the Mountaineers in 2025, Meyer went 9-2 with a 3.94 ERA across 22 appearances (three starts). He recorded 63 strikeouts while issuing 38 walks, and held opposing batters to a .192 average.
Abraham, also returning to Bourne this summer, went 4-1 for the Seminoles with a 4.64 ERA in 22 appearances (one start). He recorded 42 strikeouts in 33 innings while holding opposing batters to a .252 average.
It’s never an easy task to make a championship appearance, but the Braves have made the Championship Series over the last three years. Yet, last season it didn’t end the way the squad wanted to with a loss to Harwich, but the Braves will be out for revenge this upcoming year as they fight for their third championship in four years, starting with their 2025 opener at 5:30 p.m. on June 14, against none other than Harwich.
