HARWICH, Mass. — All good things must come to an end. The 2026 Bourne Braves found that out the hard way.
To end another exceptional season in Bourne, the Braves fell 4-2 to the Harwich Mariners at Whitehouse Field in Game 3 of the 2026 Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series.
Right from the jump, it was clear that Tuesday wouldn’t be Bourne’s night. In the first two innings of the game, the Braves got the leadoff man on base. In each frame, that was followed with a ground-ball double play. They were able to pick up a run in the second, though, thanks to a Justin Osterhouse (Alabama) RBI single, but couldn’t plate any more.
Meanwhile, Harwich got the start they needed. The Mariners had five hits through the first three innings, leading to a run in each of the first and third frames.
The Mariners' big break, however, came in the sixth inning. With a 2-1 lead heading in, Harwich tacked on a couple of crucial insurance runs. After getting runners on base early, Tucker Stockman (Southern Miss) and Paul Jones II (Maryland) both found holes in the defense for RBI base hits. Going into the final three innings, the Braves faced a 4-1 deficit.
At that point, the Braves showed fight but just couldn’t get the job done. In the seventh, CF Matt Bolton (Binghamton) led off with a double to right field, and three straight walks by the Mariners forced in Bourne’s second run of the night. Still with the bases loaded, the inning ended on a swinging strikeout by 2B Rustan Rigdon (Vanderbilt).
In the eighth, it was more of the same. A two-out rally put runners on first and second, but once again a strikeout ended the threat.
Down to their final three outs in the ninth, the Braves fought until the very end. Singles by 3B Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) and SS Ryker Waite (Vanderbilt) gave Bourne a chance to bring the winning run to the plate, but RF Luke Costello (South Carolina) flew out to end the season.
“We had grit and didn’t quit,” said Field Manager Scott Landers about his team’s late-game comeback attempt. “We just fell short tonight… I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
One of the Braves’ leaders in the clubhouse, Ryker Waite, echoed his coach’s sentiment postgame.
“We had a bunch of chemistry as a team, and proved it in these playoffs,” said Waite. “It was awesome to play with these guys. I’m so grateful for it.”
BOURNEBRAVES.ORG PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Matt Bolton is the final Player of the Game this summer. The Braves’ centerfielder had two hits in the final three innings of Tuesday’s loss, giving his best effort to try and help the team. Bolton, one of the few players to spend the entire year in Bourne, had an up-and-down season, but finished the summer strong.
