Braves Rally Twice to Walk Off the Commodores

By: Jacob Janower

By this point of the season, it appears that comebacks are firmly a part of the Bourne Braves identity. On Sunday, the Braves had two for the price of one.

For the fourth consecutive game, they were able to rally back from a deficit late in the game and, after they blew the lead, walked off their West Division foe, the Falmouth Commodores (17-17-1), claiming a 8-7 victory.

Andrew Fregia (Sam Houston State) came into pinch-run and advanced to third on a stolen base and an error. With Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) at the plate and two outs in the ninth inning, Fregia scored on a wild pitch to give the Braves (18-16) the win.

“I just wanted to get to second base,” Fregia said. “Once I got to third, I was thinking anything to skips out to third, I was like anything to skips outside the dirt I’m going to score. I had all the faith in the world in Scott but once I saw the ball kick past the dirt, I knew I had a better shot at it.”

The Braves looked like they had the win locked up when they scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning off of the Commodores bullpen to rally back from a four-run deficit. Lyle Lin (Arizona State) delivered a two-out, two-run single to gave them the lead.

“It was a fastball, so I told myself to take a deep breath and hit the ball hard, and I hit it pretty well,” Lin said.

Falmouth had tied the game in the top of the ninth after scoring two runs off of Chad Luensmann (Nebraska). All-Star starter Alec Bohm (Wichita State) tied the game with a double.

The effort from P.J. Poulin (Connecticut), who came in relief of Luensmann, can’t go unnoticed. He struck out two straight hitters in a tie game in the ninth inning with a runner on second base.

After a quiet start to the game from both sides, the Braves got on the board first against Cole Sands (Florida State), Falmouth’s starting pitcher. Jameson Hannah (Dallas Baptist) and Tyler Fitzgerald (Louisville) walked and singled to start the bottom of the third. Grant Williams (Kennesaw State) proceeded to drive Hannah home with single.

The seventh inning rally all started when Richie Palacios (Towson) doubled and advanced to third base on an error in right field. Hannah cut the deficit to three with a RBI single before Grant Witherspoon’s (Tulane) bases loaded walk and a wild pitch brought home two more runs for the Braves, leading to Lin’s big two-run single.

“I just told myself ‘hit the ball hard,’ Lin said. “It happened and I’m pretty happy about it.”

It’s been quite the turnaround at the plate for the Sun Devil, who has collected 12 hits and six runs batted in during his seven-game hitting streak, which dates back to last Saturday.

Commodores Offense Poses Threat in Middle Innings

Eli Kraus (Kent State)- who was coming off his last outing against the Commodores in which he pitched 4 and 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run- faced the minimum amount of hitters through the first three innings. He struck out two and was aided by a second inning double play.

The second time around the lineup, Falmouth’s offense took over. They had the bases loaded during both the fourth and fifth innings and ended up bringing home two runs in each of those frames. The first four hitters reached in the fourth inning, but a Kraus did get a double play to limit the damage.

Bohm came through with the biggest blow in the fifth, a two-run single into left field to double their run total.

In the end, Kraus was charged with four earned runs in five innings, the worst stat line of his four starts. However, his ERA still sits at 3.10, one of the better marks among Braves’ starters.

The Commodores would add another tally off of four hits against reliever Ryan Simpler (East Tennessee State), who came in to pitch in the sixth.

Stat That Mattered

Up until their five-run eruption, the Braves had been retired in order in five of the first six innings.

Brave of the Game

Although Lin had the big hit, Hannah had the strongest overall day at the plate, reaching base in three of his four plate appearances, driving in a run and scoring two runs.

He has raised his batting average from .159 on July 1 to .224.

Coming Up: The Braves will have another off-day on Monday as they will work out for scouts at Fenway Park. Tuesday will be the conclusion of the home-and-home with the Commodores at Guv Fuller Field. It will mark the final of the six games between the teams as the Braves attempt to make it five consecutive comebacks.

“I just think we are all relentless,” Fregia said. “No matter what the score is, I think we are never out of fight. We just keep coming and coming and coming.”