Agnos’ two-RBI triple prevents back-to-back losses as Bourne ties in Orleans

By: Nick Galle 

During batting practice before Bourne’s game against Orleans, Zach Agnos said his biceps were feeling sore from a workout, but noted that he was still feeling great. If his biceps were in fact sore, you wouldn’t be able to tell judging by his performance Tuesday night under a pinkened sunset at Eldridge Park.

The ECU Pirate went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-RBI triple that gave the Braves their first lead of the night in the top of the fourth inning. The Firebirds would bring across another run in the bottom of the fifth, and neither squad would be able to pull ahead for the remainder of the game, resulting in Bourne’s third tie of the summer.

“Been taking a lot of pride in my BP lately because I didn’t start off how I wanted to,” Agnos said. “I’ve talked to a lot of the guys who are swinging well. I’ve talked to Dalton a lot, he told me some crazy stuff and it’s actually kind of working now. It’s just showing up, just having intent behind everything I do.”

After a relief appearance on June 28, Jake Bennett got his second start of the season and went three innings, allowed two hits, one run, walked one and struck out three. Peter Van Loon came on in relief and went 2 2/3 innings before Ken Turner, Xavier Lovett and Eric Adler combined to throw 3 1/3 scoreless innings to prevent two losses in just as many nights for the Bravos.

“The most important thing you got to do is throw strikes,” Turner said. “You got to have confidence in your team behind you to make the plays. That’s all I wanted to do when I went in there is throw strikes and let my teammates behind me do the work if needed.”

Adler had his most dominant performance to date, as the Wake Forest product struck out the side on just 13 pitches, 10 of which were strikes.

“Last outing I was kind of tight, which led to a walk and then a few mislocated pitches,” Adler said. “Tonight I just tried to focus on staying loose, getting my arm where it needs to be … and just staying through the zone.”

Field manager Harvey Shapiro switched up the order quite a bit, giving both Joe Lampe and Christian Knapczyk the night off. Agnos was one of three Braves who recorded multiple hits, as Braylen Wimmer went 2-for-4 with one run scored and Nick Goodwin went 2-for-4 with two singles. Cayden Wallace added a base hit with one run scored, and Peter Burns went 1-for-3 with a walk.

The Braves will be back at Doran Park tomorrow at 6 p.m. for their third meeting with Falmouth. Bourne is 2-0 against the Commodores and has outscored them 19-11 this season.

Cover photo via: Joe Sullivan