The Y-D Red Sox fell to the Bourne Braves in Tuesday evening’s game 3-2 at Red Wilson Field. The game remained close, with Y-D holding on to a one-run lead until a powerful offensive inning and strong closing pitching from Bourne shut down Y-D’s comeback effort.
Ramsey David of Southeastern University took the mound in the first and set the tone for Y-D early in the game. The right-hander threw for four innings and collected five strikeouts — two of them in the second to bring Y-D to a 1-2-3 inning. David and Y-D’s defense held the Braves scoreless through the fifth.
Y-D got on the board first with a sacrifice fly from Oklahoma’s Easton Carmichael, which sent UCLA’s Phoenix Call home to put the Red Sox up after the first inning. South Carolina’s Ethan Petry and Arkansas’ Wehiwa Aloy each hit a single in the first to add to the team’s offensive power. Call also had an impressive at-bat in the first, battling at the plate for 11 pitches before getting on base with a walk.
On the mound for the Braves were Beau Bryans and Cameron Padgett. The two pitchers threw for a combined eight innings and had eight strikeouts on Y-D. Bryans, Padgett, and the Braves defense limited Y-D’s offense to two hits through the five innings.
For Y-D, Westmont's Bryan Peck and Stanford's Toran O’Harran came in to pitch relief for the Sox mid-game and kept the strikes coming, combining for four strikeouts. However, in the sixth, Bourne’s bats came alive as left-fielder Ethan Conrad hit a home run over the right-center field fence to tie the game up at 1-1.
The Braves continued to put the pressure on with singles from designated hitter Braden Holcomb and third baseman Blake Barthol. Holcomb then stole home on a wild pitch to give Bourne a one-run lead to finish the sixth. A single from Conrad and an RBI single from pinch hitter Garrett Michel put the Braves up further, 3-1, late in the game.
Aiden Moffett, a new Texas Longhorn, closed on the mound for the Sox and collected two strikeouts in the eighth and ninth innings. He also picked off a runner stealing third base and prevented the Braves from getting more hits.
Y-D generated a bit of an offensive comeback with singles to the outfield from UCLA’s Cameron Kim and recent Alabama transfer Brady Neal in the seventh. Aloy then crushed a home run over the left-center field fence in the ninth to bring Y-D one run away from tying the game. Neal also notched his second single of the day in the ninth to follow Aloy’s home run.
However, the hits were not enough to put the team ahead in the end. J.D. Thompson closed the game for Bourne on the mound in the ninth with two strikeouts, cutting Y-D’s offensive comeback short.
Now 10-4, the Y-D Red Sox will look to bounce back with another home game at Red Wilson Field. They will take on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks (8-4) at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Photo by Sophie Solarino
