BOURNE, Mass. — On June 28, 2023 — just over a year ago to date — the Bourne Braves traveled to Chatham to take on the Anglers needing a spark to turn their season around.
It wasn’t as dire of a situation as this year’s Braves squad, which entered Saturday’s contest against Chatham with a 3-8-1 record. But it wasn’t a favorable one nonetheless. Bourne came into that contest at Veterans Field with a 6-8-1 mark, but a dominant 8-2 victory that evening proved the beginning of a special run.
Through the next 29 games of the season, they went 17-12 before becoming the last team standing in the Cape Cod Baseball League, taking home their second consecutive title.
That’s not to say that the Braves’ (4-8-1) 10-3 victory over Chatham (5-8) means history will repeat itself in 2024, though it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
“We did it the whole game,” field manager Scott Landers said. “We were good offensively, grinded at-bats, we got timely hits. We ran the bases really well, we put pressure on them. Defensively, we played really well.”
Chatham hurled the first punch on Saturday with its first three batters of the game reaching base, two via walks. A sacrifice fly from infielder Aiva Arquette (Washington) drove in outfielder Austin Overn (USC) from third for the evening’s first run. Bourne struck back in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs, but the Anglers’ offense kept swinging when it returned to the field, adding two more to make it a 3-2 game.
However, the Braves had yet another response in their back pocket in the third.
Infielder Jack Penney (Notre Dame) singled, outfielder Chris Stanfield (LSU) walked, and outfielder Ethan Conrad (Wake Forest) knocked a single into right to quickly load the bases. Bourne’s duo of Virginia Tech Hokies — infielders Garrett Michel and Clay Grady — drove in three combined runs via a sacrifice fly and two-RBI single, respectively. In the blink of an eye, the Braves were back in front, 5-3.
“I think [we’re taking] more quality reps over quantity,” Conrad said. “We’re all just being more consistent, more focused in the cages, and we just know what to do when we get in the box now, so it’s been good.”
Southpaw Tucker Novotny entered Saturday quite comfortable with pitching at Doran Park, as he allowed three hits, no runs and struck out nine in two road appearances at Bourne as a member of the Cotuit Kettleers in 2023.
Now in a Braves uniform and getting the start against Chatham, Novotny wasn’t as dominant, surrendering 10 baserunners and three earned runs, but still pitched well enough to keep Bourne’s deficit surmountable.
“[Novotny] didn’t have his good stuff, but he honestly held us where he needed to hold us,” Landers said. “Got us out of some jams.”
The Braves received some insurance runs in the sixth and seventh. Penney slammed a grounder resulting in an error, enabling infielder Nick Roselli (Binghamton) to cross the dish from third. An inning later, infielder Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) slammed a double that reached the wall in left-center field, and the speedy Conrad scored from first.
Holcomb soon came around to score, narrowly avoiding a tag at the plate, thanks to a groundout from Michel. An error on Arquette at second in the eighth inning brought in two more runs that put the finishing touches on a 10-3 win.
Pivotal sequence
Bourne fell behind early on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Braves' offense from turning it on in the bottom of the first.
Penney led off the inning with a single into left field, and after Stanfield struck out looking, Conrad roped a single into right field. Conrad then stole second, allowing Penney to steal home and tie the game at one.
Holcomb followed up Conrad’s contributions with a single of his own — one of his two knocks on the night — that drove in the outfielder from second to give Bourne the lead. Chatham pulled ahead 3-2 an inning later, but the Braves’ offensive outburst in the first set the tone for the rest of the game.
Hitter of the Game — Ethan Conrad
While there are many strong hitting performances to highlight on Saturday, none were more impressive than that of Conrad. The New York native reached base five times against Chatham, going 4-for-4 with a walk and RBI while scoring three runs himself.
He’s made strong contact in most of his five games this summer, and on Saturday, everything was falling for him. Conrad picked up two more singles throughout the night — in the fifth and eighth — with a walk drawn in the seventh and three stolen bases.
“I think I was being really selective, picking good pitches to hit,” Conrad said. “When I got the one in the zone, I just stayed on the barrel and found holes, so it was good.”
Pitcher of the Game — Tyler Fay
When reliever Tyler Fay (Alabama) entered the game in the fourth, he had one job: eat innings and keep Bourne’s 5-3 lead intact. He did that and then some.
In five innings of work, the righty was only responsible for four baserunners and struck out five, with 38 of his 54 pitches landing inside the zone. He rarely ran into any jams, but when he did, he easily escaped them. Perhaps the most difficult situation he found himself in was during the sixth when infielder Kyle Lodise (Augusta) slapped a leadoff single into center field.
After inducing two straight outs, Overn picked up a single to put runners on first and second. However, Fay forced infielder Jett Johnston (Texas A&M) into a groundout, which stranded the runners and kept Chatham’s run total at three.
“He filled the zone,” Landers said. “He went five innings and was [at] 53 pitches. That’s huge. He used all his pitches and kind of pitched to contact, and didn’t get into too many big counts.”
A look ahead
Bourne’s victory over Chatham is massive for their position in the Cape Cod West Division, as they are now a game-and-a-half ahead of the last-place Falmouth Commodores, who were defeated, 7-5, by the surging Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
Bourne will travel 40 miles down the Cape to visit the Orleans Firebirds, the fifth-ranked team in the Cape Cod East Division. Landers’ squad opened its season at Doran Park against the Firebirds on June 15, a game won handedly, 9-4.
Righty Nolan Sparks will likely get the ball on the mound for the Bravos for his second start of the summer. Sparks last pitched on June 23 at Yarmouth-Dennis — where he fanned six and surrendered two runs in 4 2/3 innings — and owns a 2.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 10 strikeouts across two appearances.
Bourne’s opponent will likely be left-hander Jayden Voelker (Northern Essex CC), the 2024 NJCAA Division III Player of the Year. In 51 innings this season, he accumulated a 2.29 ERA, 77 strikeouts and struck out five in three no-hit frames out of the bullpen on Tuesday against the Wareham Gatemen.
First pitch at Eldredge Park is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Notes
The families of left-handed pitcher Zane Adams (Alabama), Michel, right-handed pitcher Ben Bybee (Arkansas) and outfielder Isaiah Jackson (Arizona State) were at Doran Park on Saturday… Bourne won its fourth game of the season before a crowd of 1,215 fans... With a pair of singles on Saturday, Penney extended his hitting streak to six games… Conrad has now recorded hits in all five of his games as a Brave and has 10 hits in five games… Stanfield has also logged knocks in back-to-back games… Holcomb is tied for the third-most hits on the Cape with 14… Bourne has drawn the second-most walks in the league with 62… The Braves have also stolen the second-most bases on the Cape with 26.
