The Harwich Mariners allowed the Bourne Braves to force a Game 3 in the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series on Sunday night, dropping Game 2 of the series, 7-1. Bourne’s offense got to work after a stagnant Game 1 while their pitching staff cruised through the Mariners lineup to send the series back to Doran Park.
Down 4-1 in the top of the eighth inning and with the game already teetering on edge, Bourne slammed the coffin door shut with a three-run outburst. After Chris Stanfield struck out to start the inning, a single and a walk put two runners on with one out as Tristan Bissetta came to the plate.
Bissetta hit a towering fly ball to left field that on most nights would be an easy fly out for Harwich left fielder Aiden Robbins (Seton Hall), but with a slight fog setting in over Whitehouse Field and the ball traveling above the floodlights, Robbins lost the ball and let it fall. Bissetta was credited with a double while a run came in to score, making it 5-1.
If that run didn’t slam the door shut for the Braves, a two-run single from Bourne leadoff hitter Ethan Conrad certainly did. The Mariners couldn’t muster any offense in the eighth and ninth innings, allowing Bourne to easily finish the win off.
The Braves got a single run in each of the first four innings, slowly but surely making a Harwich win less and less likely before the game even reached the fifth inning.
Harwich looked like it was going to make a run to take the lead back in their half of the fourth, getting two runners on base for team MVP Cam Maldonado (Northeastern). Maldonado hit a soft ground ball up the middle that Bourne shortstop Marek Houston fielded, but the speedy Maldonado was able to beat it out with a headfirst slide into first base. The Bourne infield got caught by surprise when the equally speedy Danny Dickinson (LSU) rounded third and sped home, beating the throw from first base by a hair.
That was the only run the Mariners squeaked across Sunday night, as Aden Hill (Maryland) grounded out to end the inning, and the Braves bullpen did its job to a T.
The Mariners will have a chance to stop Bourne from winning its third straight championship on Monday night when they head back to Doran Park for Game 3. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
