Bourne Raises Record Above .500 With 8-2 Defeat of Chatham

By Mojo Hill

For the first time this summer, in a season that started with an 0-4-1 record, the Bourne Braves are above .500.

They trounced the Chatham Anglers for the second time in as many matchups, this time by a score of 8-2 on Wednesday at Doran Park. They drew nine walks in the game’s first six innings, grinding out all eight runs within the third, fourth and fifth. The victory brought their record to 8-7-1 on the season. It was their third straight win and seventh in their last nine games.

“We did all three aspects, and we’re getting better with baserunning,” Bourne manager Scott Landers said. “We’re really starting to click, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The Braves’ offense struggled against Chatham starter Miles Langhorne in the first two innings, striking out four times. But they got to him in the third inning. After a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases, Derek Bender suffered a rare strikeout. His Coastal Carolina teammate Caden Bodine bailed him out, though, blooping a single to give Bourne a 2-0 lead. Garrett Michel followed with a long double that nearly left the park, and the Braves grabbed a 3-0 advantage.

“He’s starting to figure some things out,” Landers said of Michel. “He’s a threat in the middle of the lineup whether he’s going well or he’s not going so well. But he’s getting better. He’s getting more feel for the strike zone.”

Bryce Cunningham made his summer debut on the mound for Bourne after helping the Braves achieve a championship last year. His fastball showed a lot of life early on, as he recorded a pair of strikeouts in each of the first two innings to work around a couple singles. He issued his first walk in the third inning, but Bodine caught a runner stealing to end the frame.

Cunningham got into his first batch of trouble in the fourth, as unlucky hits off of Kendall Diggs and Jonathan Vastine’s gloves brought a run home. Another infield single off of Vastine put runners on the corners. But Cunningham weaseled out of it and limited the damage, as he induced a much more routine ground ball to Vastine.

The result was a solid four-inning outing for Cunningham in his 2023 summer debut. He struck out five and walked only one while limiting the Anglers to one run.

“I thought today was good, but he’s losing a lot of balls arm-side,” Landers said. “We gotta figure that out and get his slider and secondary stuff for strikes more. But overall, really good performance out of him, and we just gotta look to get a little better next time out.”

The Braves quickly reclaimed a three-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. Vastine drew a leadoff walk for the second straight inning, and showed off his wheels by stealing second and advancing to third on a flyout to center. He came home on a clutch two-out single by Bryce Eblin, making it a 4-1 game.

“I’ve been trying to work on a lot of seeing more pitches, working the counts and getting a specific pitch,” Vastine said. “And if I didn’t get it, I take my base and try to do something on the bases.”

The Vastine show was on full effect in the fifth inning. He made a ridiculous leaping grab in the top of the inning, making a full arm extension and earning the adoration of the crowd.

“[The batter] was fouling a couple balls off towards the left side,” Vastine said. “So I shifted a little bit over to the hole, and I took a chance on it. He hit a ball, good piece of hitting, got a good ball, and I took a leap of faith and I caught it.”

Then in the bottom of the fifth, Chatham’s walk problems went from bad to worse. Bodine worked a leadoff walk, and the Anglers elected to intentionally walk the newest bat in the order, Diggs, to face Cameron Foster. It didn’t pay off. Foster singled to load the bases, and Vastine worked his third walk in the last three innings to drive in a run.

“Our strikeouts are starting to come down, and our walks are getting there,” Landers said. “We’re taking bases when they give them to us. But overall, really good at-bats.”

Gage Harrelson drove in two more with a single, and Chris Stanfield’s sacrifice fly made it an 8-1 walloping. Vastine stole another base for good measure, though Bender’s magic finally ran out as he stranded the bases loaded. He finally had a hitless night, going 0-for-5.

In any case, the Braves cruised to the finish line. David Falco threw two perfect innings in relief for Bourne, and new pitcher Jack Sullivan pitched two innings while allowing one run. Another new pitcher on the Braves’ roster, Brady Afthim, threw the final frame and worked around a couple walks to shut the door on the 8-2 victory.

“It’s a bunch of people just playing good baseball,” Vastine said. “We were talking about it in the cages earlier. We’re just playing with a lot of fun. We’re enjoying every bit of it. It makes it easy to show up here every day knowing that we have a great group of guys who are just trying to have a bunch of fun.”

The Braves will look to keep their win streak going on the road against Y-D Thursday at 4:45 p.m.