Last time over the bridge on June 18 at Spillane Field against Wareham, Y-D’s Jake Souders reached base in all six plate appearances: two hit by pitches, two walks and two singles. This time around on Wednesday, the Mississippi State slugger knew that although he couldn't replicate the on-base prowess, he could still leave his mark. So instead of taking it one base at a time, he touched all four — twice.

Souders blasted two home runs, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Y-D’s 5-3 victory over Wareham. It was just his second start back after missing nearly two weeks, and Souders couldn’t have been happier to be mashing baseballs again for the Red Sox, now 17-2-1.

“It’s awesome to be back out here. I feel super blessed. When you take time off, you take it for granted,” Souders said. “The opportunity to play every day, being able to come back and be able to play the game I love for such a great team and coaching staff, man, it's unbelievable. Such a fun experience. I’m glad I’m healthy again.”

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Souders launched an 0-2 pitch high over the left-field fence, scoring himself and Lucas Franco (Texas Christian) to give Y-D a 2-0 lead. The Gatemen answered immediately in the bottom half, as Tony Lira smoked a two-run double to tie the game.

Y-D starting pitcher Zach Russell (Mississippi State) was relieved after four innings, allowing two runs while striking out three. Although it wasn’t Russell’s sharpest outing of the summer, it marked his first Cape League start, and he still owns a 1.98 ERA through 13 2/3 innings.

Tied 2-2 with runners on the corners and no outs in the seventh inning, Phoenix Call (UCLA) stepped to the plate. In past situations, Call has been given the bunt sign, but this time he had the green light, and it paid off. Looking for an off-speed pitch, Call lined a hanging 1-1 backdoor slider into right field, scoring Brock Ketelsen (Stanford) to put Y-D back in front. Kevin Takeuchi added another run on a fielder’s choice, extending the lead to 4-2.

“I was honestly sitting on the slider. I knew he was gonna throw me an off-speed pitch,” Call said. “With runners in scoring position, I was just trying to put the ball in play, and I took it the other way.”

Wareham trimmed the deficit to one in the bottom of the seventh, but unfortunately for the Gatemen, they had to face Souders one more time.

Leading off the eighth inning, Souders crushed another home run to left field, and there was little doubt it would stay inside the park. Both of his home runs came with two strikes, and he now owns a .829 OPS in two-strike situations.

“I have the same approach in every at-bat I take. I just like pushing things up in the zone, being on top of the fastball, which allows me to see some pitches a little bit longer,” Souders said. “I was just hunting something up, trying to battle with two strikes, and saw that changeup hop a little bit. It was a little low in the zone, but I saw it well enough to where I was able to get a good barrel on it.”

The insurance run was much appreciated by Y-D’s bullpen, which combined for five innings of one-run ball from Ty Brooks (Indiana State), Noah Franco (Texas Christian) and Andrew Wright (Cal State Fullerton).

In the eighth inning with one out, Wareham’s Kade Elam sent a foul pop-up toward the Gatemen dugout. Y-D catcher Mateo Serna (Alabama) lost track of the ball, but Wright never did. The left-hander sprinted toward foul territory and slid to make an ice-cream-cone catch for easily the most athletic defensive play a Y-D pitcher has made through 20 games.

Wright has been a lights-out closer for Y-D all summer, throwing 12 innings without allowing a run while posting a 0.67 WHIP. He even pitched in back-to-back games a week ago, something no other Y-D pitcher has done this summer.

“I’m ready to go at all times,” Wright said. “Being the closer for Cal State Fullerton, I always had to be ready, and it’s helped me out here a ton.”

Wright closed out another Y-D victory, finishing off the Red Sox’s second win in Wareham this summer. Y-D returns to action against Brewster at 5 p.m. Thursday at Red Wilson Field.