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Bourne cashes in on Chatham’s pitching woes, wins 4-1

The first four innings of Wednesday’s contest against Chatham were ugly for both teams. After Bourne and Chatham combined for just one hit in the first four innings, the Anglers finally ended the scoreless stalemate in the top of the fifth with a two-out single from Jorge Arenas. 

Leading up to this game, Bourne averaged under three runs per game. With just one hit through four innings, it seemed like Bourne might once again be held scoreless. 

Then Chatham’s pitching slipped. 

After a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, Chatham reliever Dane Acker’s command disappeared. He allowed two hits, one walk and a run in the fifth, dissipating the Anglers’ advantage. 

An inning later, Bourne struck again. 

And pitching woes from Chatham were once again the cause. Jake MacKenzie drove a ball into right field and legged out a triple. Moments later, he crossed the plate on a wild pitch. 

With the bases empty and two outs, the Braves only added to this 2-1 lead. This threat started when Cade Beloso reached on a single.

Wednesday marked Beloso’s first day on Bourne’s active roster. Manager Harvey Shapiro said he’s excited to have another productive bat in Beloso, who batted .279 for LSU this spring.

“He’s a good middle of the order guy,” Shapiro said. “He’s going to be a good hitter for us.”

After Beloso’s knock only led to more baserunners. When Chatham finally recorded the third out, the Braves extended the lead to 4-1 — their highest run total since the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. 

But, according to Shapiro, this was more a product of dismal pitching than quality plate appearances. 

“Their pitchers helped us,” Shapiro said. “We were kind of not great, but we took advantage of their mistakes.”

For the Braves, Harrison Rutkowski had another strong outing. In five innings, Rutkowski allowed just one earned run on two hits. 

Though he did not earn a decision Wednesday, Rutkowski’s performance kept his ERA at a prestigious 1.80. This is a vast improvement from his 2018 campaign in Bourne, when he went 0-2 with a 5.90 ERA. 

But his struggles in 2018 helped prepare him for his merit a year later. 

“I knew what to expect when I got here,” Rutkowski said. “I had expectations when I came up here, and those expectations help you know how everything goes. Just a lot of confidence having already played here.”

In relief, Karl Johnson and Tyler Brosius earned the save and win, respectively. That duo, along with Kieran Shaw, allowed just one hit and zero earned runs. 

“Any time you get guys like that to come and fill up the zone will help,” Rutkowski said. “Karl, Kieran and Tyler really did the job.”

Because of Wednesday’s win over Chatham and Falmouth’s loss to Hyannis, Bourne now sits at third in the West Division with 10 points. After the Braves head to Fenway Park for workouts on Thursday, they will host Brewster Friday evening.