Braves Lose 3-0 in Lightning-Shortened Affair With Harwich

The Bourne Braves’ offense, which has been struggling so mightily, didn’t even get the chance to play nine innings on Wednesday.

The Braves failed to collect a run in 5 1/3 innings, and a lightning delay struck out any chance of them ending their scoreless streak. They fell 3-0 in a short contest at Whitehouse Field, falling to 0-4-1 on the young season. They have not scored a run in their last 18 1/3 innings.

They drew a two-out walk in each of the first two innings and came up empty. Pete Ciuffreda stole second base in the second inning, but Harwich starter Andrew Armstrong ended the frame with his fourth strikeout.

Bourne center fielder Andrew Patrick made a fantastic play on the first batter Bourne right-hander Logan Evans faced, sprinting and diving to his right to make the catch. Evans himself also made a nice snag on a hard liner in the first inning.

He went on to retire the first eight thanks to some snaggy defense, only giving up the game’s first hit with two outs in the third. The Braves recorded their first hit on a single by Cameron Foster with two outs in the fourth, but Armstrong sat down Kavi Caster for his sixth strikeout.

After Bourne’s defense helped Evans keep runners off the board in the first three innings, their luck ran out in the fourth. Harwich opened the frame with four straight singles, three of which were hit softly. Evans recorded back-to-back strikeouts and nearly escaped to limit the damage, but he surrendered a two-run single on a 3-2 count. Harwich took a 3-0 lead, which felt enormous given how difficult runs have been to come by for Bourne.

In the fifth, Hugh Pinkney recorded his first hit of the season, a lucky popup to left field after he hit into an unlucky out in his first at-bat. But Armstrong ended the inning and his outing with his seventh strikeout.

With one out in the top of the sixth, the game entered an abrupt lightning delay despite the rain being mostly nonexistent. It was announced as a 50-minute delay. More than 50 minutes passed, and the players and staff continued waiting around for a potential restart while a plethora of lightning bolts continued to light up the gray Harwich sky. Finally, roughly an hour into the delay, rain began sprinkling over the field and quickly escalated into a downpour. That officially confirmed the cancellation after the long wait, and everyone drove home in the rain.

Because it was already an official game, Bourne took home the loss.

The Braves will get a much-needed off day Thursday before looking to regroup on Friday at 6 p.m. in Hyannis.