Walk-off single lifts Y-D over Bourne on Opening Day

As the Bourne Braves led off their 30th season in the Cape Cod Baseball League, the organization appeared poised to open its milestone year with a memorable win.

Once trailing by as many as five runs, Bourne entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 9-8 lead over the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox after tacking on three runs in the half-inning prior, courtesy of a two-run blast by Spencer Brickhouse and an RBI double from Oscar Serratos (Georgia Tech).

However, Y-D had some late-game magic of its own.

Jim Govern (Eastern Illinois) tied the game with a RBI single before first baseman Matthew Dyer (Arizona) hit a chopper to third base that richocheted off the bag, allowing Govern to score the winning run.

Not Peek Performance

For Bourne, right-hander Zachary Peek (Winthrop) received the Opening Day nod. Despite an impressive display of speed, an inability to close out at-bats proved costly.

Peek gave up three hits while ahead in the count, struggling to finish hitters off.

“I went out, threw too many strikes. That’s the case sometimes, not enough 0-2, 1-2 put away pitches ” Peek said. “I just kind of gave it to them and they hit it.”

In 3+ innings, Peek allowed nine hits and five earned runs.

Defensive Miscues

While the Braves offense was firing on all cylinders, Y-D was able to take advantage of four errors committed by Bourne.

Between the fourth and seventh innings, Tyler Fitzgerald (Louisville), Alika Williams (Arizona State), Danny Oriente (Louisville) and Jared DiCesare (George Mason) were each charged with an error.

Given four additional opportunities, the Red Sox capitalized on Bourne’s mistakes, scoring three unearned runs that proved to be the difference in Tuesday’s game.

Player of the Game

Although eight Braves recorded hits in the season opener, the first recipient of this award for the 2018 season belongs to the player who delivered offensively in both early and late-inning at-bats.

On Tuesday, Spencer Brickhouse (East Carolina) recorded a team-high three runs batted in, including the Braves’s first run of the season as well as a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth inning.

Coming Up: Bourne concludes its brief road trip with a matchup against the Cotuit Kettleers at Lowell Park on Wednesday night.