Defensive lapse helps Bourne edge Brewster

By: Zach Pekale

Errors have plagued the Bourne Braves in a number of losses this summer but on Saturday they were on the receiving end of a costly defensive mistake.

In the bottom of the fifth, Brewster outfielder Hunter Bishop (Arizona State) overran a fly ball from college teammate Lyle Lin, allowing two runs to score that extended the Braves lead in a 5-1 win over the Whitecaps.

As part of a 2-for-4 performance at the plate, Lin provided three runs batted in to pace the Braves’ attack.

Supplementing the offense was Anthony Prato (Connecticut), who went 3-for-4 with one walk and two runs scored to extend his stretch of reaching base to seven games.

“I just tried to get on. I know guys like [Jared] Triolo, [Spencer] Brickhouse and Lyle will all hit me in,” Prato said. “We’re getting our pitches. The last few days we’ve been fouling them off or rolling them over and tonight we found grass.”

While the Braves’ bats capitalized to score five runs on eight hits, Brewster wasn’t as effective. Despite having one fewer hit than Bourne, the Whitecaps left nine runners on base, largely due to the fact that Bourne’s pitching recovered well after conceding hits.

Braves’ starter Trey Benton (East Carolina) had his longest outing of the summer, allowing four hits and two walks in 4.1 scoreless innings.

He was relieved in the top of the fifth by Mike Ruff (Florida Atlantic) with two on and one out. Ruff escaped the jam in three pitches by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, later earning the win.

“I was pounding low in the zone, my fastball had some life to it. Didn’t have my breaking ball as much tonight but my changeup was working good and I was keeping them off balance with the fastball-changeup combo,” Benton said.

With the win, Bourne remains in striking distance of the final playoff spot in its division. The Braves currently trail Cotuit by two points heading into the season’s final 10 games with three scheduled meetings remaining against the Kettleers.

Coming Up: The Braves are off for the 2018 CCBL All-Star Game and return to action on Tuesday at home against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox