Bravos add another comeback W, beat Ketts 7-3 for back-to-back wins
By Mac Friday
(Photo: Braden Reed/Bourne Braves)
Through the first few weeks of the season, the Bourne Braves had very few comeback wins, surging from behind to knock off opponents. Their defining win was a walk-off against the Harwich Mariners in the bottom of the ninth, but even then “comeback kids” would not be an appropriate way to describe the Braves.
However, after back-to-back games where they trailed by three or more runs and fought back to win, the name has certainly found some meaning. First, they turned a 7-1 deficit behind the Hyannis Harbor Hawks into an 18-10 drubbing on Saturday. Sunday delivered another come-from-behind win, this time a 7-3 victory over West Division rival Cotuit after trailing 3-0 in the fifth.
“Another great win over the stretch last night and tonight with two teams that were ahead of us in the division,” Braves manager Scott Landers said. “The big thing tonight was that our pitching was pretty good and got through some jams. We came back, took the momentum back and never looked back.”
Starter Cade Boxrucker set the tone, tossing four scoreless innings of baseball despite back-to-back frames with two outs and the bases loaded.
“They definitely started to catch up to my fastball a little bit more in the last two innings,” Boxrucker said. “I had to focus on hitting my spots more and slowing myself down.”
Cotuit struck later in the fifth against the newest Braves reliever, Southeastern product Robb Adams. The 2022 NAIA Pitcher of the Year came out looking a little wild and gave up a pair of leadoff walks to the first two Kettleers he faced. After grabbing the first out of the fifth via strikeout, Adams allowed a three-run shot to left field by designated hitter Carter Trice. Cotuit had the lead.
After just two baserunners via walk and error through the first four innings, the Braves bats whirred to life in the fifth. Center fielder Carson Roccaforte hit a single that stretched into a double on an errant throw. Catcher Tomas Frick reached on an error as well. Then, perhaps the hottest bat in the Braves lineup, Bryce Eblin, singled up the middle to score a run. Next came a 98-mph double off the base of the left-field wall to score two. Left fielder Evan Sleight reached on a single, then right fielder Carson Jones hit his second extra-base knock in two days, a two-run triple to right field.
“Honestly I think we are becoming more comfortable and seeing the ball better,” Eblin, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run, said. “We are kind of getting hot and we have been finding hits through hard contact, soft contact. We are all hitting the ball and doing it really well as a team.”
The Bravos would add another run in the seventh off an RBI double by Chris Brito and another in the eighth on another RBI single from Shaw.
Adams began to settle in after his three-run inning and righty Kade Grundy followed suit, slamming the door on the Cotuit lineup as he denied the Kettleers of a hit through two innings of work with a trio of strikeouts. Righty Ty Cummings brought home the save with a hitless ninth.
“Except for the third, we pitched very well,” Landers added. “They had a couple walks and cheap hits which happens, but next thing we know, we had three runs and more and played overall solid defense and got timely hits when we needed to.”
The Braves are now just three points back on Hyannis and four on Cotuit respectively. They head to Fenway Park on Monday for the annual Fenway workout and are back in action on Tuesday at Falmouth at 6:00 p.m.
