HARWICH, Mass. — Thanks to a big win over the Harwich Mariners and a loss by the Wareham Gatemen, the 2026 Bourne Braves will officially have an opportunity to defend their title come August.
The Braves clinched their eighth-straight playoff berth on Wednesday night, defeating the Mariners 9-3. The victory put the Braves back in the win column, and extended Harwich’s losing streak to six games.
Both teams came out of the gate quickly in Friday’s matchup. Just one day after scoring one run over nine innings, the Braves started the first inning with back-to-back doubles from SS Blake Schaaf (Wake Forest) and CF Rustan Rigdon (Vanderbilt) to score a run. RF Luke Costello (South Carolina) singled to make it three straight hits to start the game for the Braves, but Rigdon was thrown out trying to score. Bourne finished the top of the first with a 1-0 lead.
“We had a good first inning,” said Field Manager Scott Landers after the game. “We only scored one off of the first three hits, but the left fielder made a good play [to throw Rigdon out].”
Bourne’s lead, however, was short-lived. The Mariners moved a leadoff runner around the bases without getting a hit, scoring their first run on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Smolinski (Kansas State).
Harwich would go hitless through the first four innings, unable to figure out Braves’ starting pitcher Brandon Shannon (Louisville). In possibly his best outing of the summer, Shannon delivered a season-high five innings pitched with only one hit allowed. The righty reeled in his control, allowing two walks, and struck out five to become Bourne’s strikeout leader this summer.
In the fifth and still hitless, the Mariners manufactured a second run to take the lead. After Harwich’s Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe (Kent State) drew a two-out walk, the Mariners’ center fielder stole second and moved to third on an awry throw. Still in the same at-bat, Rienstra-Kiracofe beat the throw home on a wild pitch to give Harwich a 2-1 lead.
No team would score again until the top of the eighth. Still down 2-1, the Braves were running out of time to make a comeback. Bourne started their eighth-inning rally with back-to-back walks, and a base hit by Blake Schaaf loaded the bases. To tie the game, Luke Costello drove a ground ball into left field to score one and keep the bases loaded. In the next at-bat, the Braves took the lead on a passed ball. Now with their first lead since the top of the first, the Bravos piled on. Six more runs would cross the plate in the frame, capped by a two-RBI single from Schaaf, his second hit of the inning and fourth of the night. When the Mariners finally got their third out, Bourne held a 9-2 lead.
“This is why I think this team is built for the playoffs,” said Blake Schaaf about the late-inning comeback. “We play the best when it matters the most. All of our wins in close games have come down to the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.”
“I feel like we always have a little magic going into the last couple innings,” said Luke Costello after the game. “I love the fight that we have in this team. We love to go into the late innings down a couple runs, no matter what the score is, and come out on top.”
In the Mariners’ last at-bats in the bottom of the ninth, one run came around to score, but they couldn’t put any more of a dent in the Braves’ lead. In the end, Bourne left Whitehouse field with a 9-3 win.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Braves have officially become the first team in the West Division to clinch a playoff berth. Bourne will now have its eyes set on securing the top spot in the division. At the moment, the Bravos have a five-point lead over Falmouth for the top spot with only eight more games to play. The magic number for Bourne to clinch the top seed is six wins.
BOURNEBRAVES.ORG PLAYER OF THE GAME
Luke Costello is tonight’s Player of the Game. The Braves’ right fielder had his first multi-hit game on Friday since taking a week off earlier this month for the MLB Draft. Costello’s second hit of the night came early in the Braves’ eighth-inning rally, delivering a run home to tie the game at two.
“I feel like I’ve been a little tense in there; not being aggressive early, just kind of waiting and getting into bad counts as a hitter,” said Costello. “I think today I was a lot more aggressive, seeing the ball better, and just being as loose as possible. I was trying to get the head [of the bat] out and be on time.”
NEXT UP
The Braves return home on Saturday, facing Hyannis for the second time this week. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET.
