Hyannis Tops Bourne For First Time in 2017

By: Jacob Janower

For the first time in 2017, the Bourne Braves are skidding.

The Braves (7-6) have now been on the losing side of four of their last five games after a 5-3 defeat to the Hyannis Harbor Hawks (6-7-1). They have scored only five runs in their last 21 innings.

Starting pitcher Kyle Marman (Florida Atlantic) had a tough go of it in his first start and third appearance of the season and the offense did not help his case much, as the Braves fell to 4-3 at home and 3-2 within the West Division.

Third Inning Blues

For the second consecutive game, third inning struggles did the Braves in. After Chatham’s three run third inning propelled them to a blowout on Tuesday, the Harbor Hawks scored four runs off of Marman in the third to set the ground work for their win.

The inning included a barrage of singles, four to be exact, as well as two walks off of Marman, who just prior had worked a harmless two innings.

Marman was unable to extend his outing past the third, finishing the night having allowed six hits, five strikeouts, and four runs, but he didn’t receive a ton of help from his defense, as an error by Jameson Hannah (Dallas Baptist) opened the floodgates in the inning.

Offensive Struggles Continue

Hyannis’ first three pitchers, Nick Swan (Florida Atlantic) and Chase Haney (Florida State), Davis Vainer (Alabama), breezed through the Braves’ lineup during the night.

Swan allowed just one unearned run over 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up three singles. The only run scored off of him by the Braves came on a sacrifice fly from Grant Williams (Kennesaw State), the fourth run that the second baseman has driven in this season.

Haney, who was making his first appearance of the summer, retired seven of the eight hitters that he faced. The Braves were fooled all night by his uncharacteristic, submarine-esque delivery.

Vainer threw two scoreless innings before the Braves offense mounted a short rally over Christian Tripp (New Mexico) in the ninth. Lyle Lin (Arizona State) brought home a run with a groundout and pinch hitter Richie Palacios (Towson) followed him with an infield single to bring the Braves to within two runs.

The tough day by the offense can be best summed up by the fact that the Braves went 14 straight batters without recording a hit, which lasted from the third to the seventh inning.

Stat That Mattered

Up until the ninth inning, Williams’ sac fly was the Braves only at-bat with runners in scoring position. They finished the night have gone 1-for-2 in the stat category after a pair of chances against Tripp.

Brave of the Game

Luis Alvarado (Nebraska) came in handy out of the bullpen, throwing four scoreless innings in relief of Marman. Alvarado fanned four and allowed just three baserunners.

Wednesday was the second outing of the season for the Cornhusker, who has now tossed six innings without giving up a run in his second summer with the Braves.

Coming Up: The Braves will play in their second and final scheduled doubleheader of the season tomorrow, this time at home against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. The first game is set for 4 p.m. and game two will be 30-45 minutes after its conclusion. Brian Eichhorn (Georgia Southern) and Zach Mort (George Mason) are the probable pitchers for the Braves.