Bourne’s Offense Quiet in Late Innings in 6-4 Loss to Orleans

The Bourne Braves may be the reigning champions, but the hits just haven’t come the way they’d like them to yet.

They seemed poised for a breakout, scoring four runs in the first five innings on Monday at Eldredge Park. But those four runs were all they got, as a messy third inning cost them in a 6-4 loss to the Orleans Firebirds, despite hitting two home runs and getting a great performance from reliever Matthew McShane. The loss wrapped up a winless road trip to the open the season.

“We made one costly mistake in their six-run inning, and it cost us four runs,” Braves manager Scott Landers said. “Like I told them, whoever makes less mistakes is going to win. And we didn’t do that today.”

Each starting pitcher threw a quick first inning, with six balls put in play on short counts. Bourne starter Matthew Marchal induced a trio of groundouts in his opening frame.

The Braves’ offense struck in the top of the second after back-to-back singles by Cameron Foster and Kavi Caster, two powerful hitters from opposite sides of the plate. Brett Callahan brought Foster home with an RBI fielder’s choice. That’s all the Braves got, though, as Hugh Pinkney hit into an inning-ending double play.

They tacked on two more in the third, putting up their first crooked number of the summer. Jackson Castillo — Bourne’s third different leadoff hitter in three games — smacked a long ball for his first hit and homer of the season. Two batters later, first baseman Garrett Michel hit a solo bomb of his own, making it a 3-0 Braves lead.

“I think [Michel]’s getting acclimated to wood,” Landers said. “He can hit the ball to all fields. He’s very good going the opposite field, which is not really common for a young hitter like him. I feel good when he’s in the box.”

Bourne’s advantage got slashed and buried in the bottom of the third. Three of the first four batters singled, putting Marchal in an immediate hole. With the Braves still in a 3-1 lead, second baseman Kodey Shojinaga couldn’t handle a ground ball, as he committed an error that allowed a run to score. Orleans tied it on a sacrifice fly, then took a 6-3 lead on a monster three-run homer by Johnny Olmstead.

Marchal had spotted his pitches well and gotten Firebirds hitters off balance in the first two innings, but he got burned hard in the six-run frame. Shojinaga’s error proved costly as well, making four of the runs unearned.

“The third inning got away from him a little bit — got away from us a little bit,” Landers said. “He let up the three-run homer after the error. It happens. But overall, I thought he pitched pretty good. He minimized pitches for the most part. He was alright. You just can’t have crooked numbers, especially after we put up a crooked number.”

Marchal bounced back in the fourth, though he nearly gave up a two-run homer that barely stayed in the park for left fielder Callahan to catch. He didn’t collect any walks or strikeouts in his four-inning performance.

The Braves got one back in the fifth, as the home run hitters from earlier stayed hot. Castillo drew a walk, followed by Shojinaga’s first hit of the night and an RBI single from Michel. But with two in scoring position, Foster lined out to third base and Caster struck out. The Braves cut the lead to 6-4 but left the tying runs on second and third.

Reliever Derek Clark settled in for Orleans, quieting a Bourne offense that showed signs of life in the first half of the game. He retired seven in a row at one point, with Shojinaga’s second hit breaking that streak. Shojinaga has already been on base eight times in the season’s first three games. The rest of the Braves couldn’t follow suit, though, as Clark wound up throwing four scoreless innings.

“He’s a good pro prospect,” Landers said of Clark. “He did it for Harvard all year. He competed. He was a weekend guy for them. He’s got good stuff.”

McShane held steady on Bourne’s side, throwing 3 1/3 dominant innings of his own. He allowed just one hit and struck out four. It was the second straight night the Braves have gotten a strong effort out of the bullpen, following Henry Weycker’s success Sunday night.

“He threw strikes and kept them off balance,” Landers said. “He had some struggles this year coming back from injury. He’s a freshman All-American, and I was really, really happy with what he did. He competed and didn’t hurt himself. He put guys away when he had to.”

With neither team doing much in the late innings, the game sped by. It clocked in at just two over hours, with the Braves unable to find any kind of late-inning response.

Bourne drops to 0-2-1 on the young season. The team will return to Doran Park on Tuesday for the first time in 2023, taking on the Cotuit Kettleers in the home opener at 6 p.m.

“Let’s get back to the home crowd for the first time and see what happens,” Landers said. “We gotta go. I know it’s early, but we have to get going.”