Big hits from Grammes power Brewster past Bourne

Big hits from Grammes power Brewster past Bourne

By: Zach Pekale

One adjustment that the nation’s top collegiate baseball players make upon arriving to the Cape Cod Baseball League is using a wooden bat.

On Saturday, Brewster’s Conor Grammes (Xavier) acclimated quickly, sending a 2-1 pitch from Bourne’s Harrison Rutkowski (Rutgers) into the trees in left field.

Fueled by a two-run shot and an RBI double from Grammes, the Brewster Whitecaps (2-2) defeated the Bourne Braves 6-1.

In four innings, Rutkowski gave up five hits and struck out five while allowing all three of his earned runs to Grammes.

Inconsistent Bats

Despite Bourne producing seven hits over the course of Saturday’s game, the offense only managed to generate one run.

Brewster’s Jacob Hennessy (Clemson) gave up one run courtesy of a Jared Triolo (Houston) home run but otherwise kept the Braves at bay, conceding six hits in five innings to earn the win.

For Bourne, its five through eight hitters were a combined 1-for-13 with five strikeouts and were unable to muster up any offensive production.

In spite of the offensive struggles, the Braves remained aggressive in their plate approach.

“I think Coach Shapiro is pretty happy with us offensively, you know especially early, hitting a lot of balls hard. We had like three or four hard hit balls on the day,” said catcher Cooper Johnson (Mississippi). “Just need to keep hitting the ball hard.”

Player of the Game

An inability to string hits together kept Bourne off of the scoreboard for most of the afternoon.

However, Triolo prevented the shutout with a blast that cleared the left field fence. The home run was his first of the 2018 season and doubled as his first hit of the year.

Coming Up: The Braves return to Doran Park for a doubleheader with the Chatham Anglers.