Braves’ Offense Explodes in 14-3 Defeat of Cotuit

By Mojo Hill

The Bourne Braves’ players were sitting in their cars at Doran Park on Sunday. They’d shown up in anticipation of a 6 p.m. game against Wareham, hoping to end their three-game losing streak against the worst team in the West.

But then it started raining, followed by strong winds all through the late afternoon and evening. There was no chance of playing baseball on Sunday. So the players sat in their cars, the realization setting in that they would have to wait another day before facing the first-place Cotuit Kettleers on Monday.

The rain, which came and went in waves, took a halt while the players were still in their cars. So manager Scott Landers — or “Skip,” as Sam Petersen calls him — sent a text to the team group chat.

The message said “Get your asses out of the car and get your work in,” Petersen recalled. So instead of going home and taking shelter under the howling gales of Cape Cod, the players spent about two hours hitting in the cages and working on their approaches. They’d scored seven runs in their last three games combined, so something needed to change.

“I think that really brought guys together,” Petersen said. “Knowing we didn’t have a game, guys could really work on the stuff they needed to work on without having to worry about a game that night.”

And perfectly on cue, the Braves’ bats lit up as just as brightly as the 80-degree sky in Cotuit on Monday. Petersen led the charge of a 14-run attack against the Kettleers, putting a stomping on the leaders of the West in a 14-3, seven-inning rout. All nine of the Braves’ starters reached base, and the top six in the order each got on multiple times. The win raised their record to 16-14-1.

“I think coming together as a team is what makes a team,” said Bryce Eblin, who got on base four times and pitched the final inning. “Just being able to compete in the at-bats. And pitching and defense has been really, really good. We played a little music on the bus today and got us juiced up for the game. It’s a lot of fun to come out here and play some good baseball.”

Technically, it was a comeback victory for the Braves. They trailed 1-0 in the first inning, with left-hander Tristan Smith allowing three straight two-out baserunners.

But Petersen flipped the script with one swing of the bat. He effectively reversed multiple scripts, in fact, with the Braves owning the least amount of homers in the league and Petersen only having one extra-base hit coming into the day. He muscled a two-run homer to right-center, putting Bourne on top 2-1 in the top of the second. Garrett Michel made it back-to-back, pummeling one inside the right field foul pole for his third homer of the season.

“The day off, we worked on some things with a bunch of guys, and we talked about approaches with some of these guys,” Landers said. “Between Petersen and [Gage] Harrelson and those guys, they really caught a lot of barrels and did some good things. And Garrett Michel. We worked on some changes, and they took it into the game.”

The line kept moving. Jonathan Vastine, Eblin and Derek Bender all came through with two-out singles. The Braves scored five in the inning — as many as they’d scored in their previous two games combined.

“We got a bunch of dudes up and down the lineup,” Petersen said. “We just all hit a low point all at the same time. Now we’re all back up at the same time.”

They outdid themselves a frame later, batting around for the second inning in a row. Bourne put up six runs on just one hit, with Cotuit imploding for six walks and a hit batsman. Petersen drew a walk and stole home in a double steal with Michel, who drew two walks in the inning. The Iowa outfielder also hit a well-struck sacrifice fly later in the inning.

“I mean, he did it wrong. But it worked out,” Landers said of Petersen’s steal, with Michel nearly getting thrown out before Petersen distracted the fielders. “I allow these guys to do aggressive things on the bases. He’s trying to work on some different things to take back to school, which is good.”

Working with a 10-run lead, Smith settled in. He struck out four in the next two innings and wound up pitching four solid frames. Max LeBlanc went two perfect frames in relief as the game’s pace picked up.

The Braves added three more in the seventh. Caden Bodine hit a pinch-hit RBI single, then scored on a wild pitch. Petersen added an RBI single of his own, getting on base three total times while collecting four RBIs.

“Something I need to work on is putting the ball in play more, and I did a good job of that tonight with two strikes,” Petersen said. “But it’s just a confidence thing. I know I’m fast, and I know I have power. So those are two tools that will always play on the offensive end.”

The Braves came through in grand fashion with their situational hitting on Monday after struggling in that facet lately. As they’ve done a few times this summer — including once already against these same Kettleers — they showed how lethal their offense can be when it clicks with runners on.

“That was really the only difference,” Landers said. “Today, we had a lot of guys in scoring position, and we got a lot of hits, especially early.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Eblin moved over from second base to the pitcher’s mound after only warming up for about three pitches, by his own admission. He pumped his fastball around the high-80s to low-90s mark, while throwing a few curveballs that he struggled to command. He gave up two runs but still got through the inning in one piece.

“I’m blessed to be in the situation that I’m in,” Eblin said. “There’s a lot of fun to be had on that mound, for sure.”

The Braves can now enjoy what should be a much happier and more relaxed off day on Tuesday. They’ll follow by returning to Doran Park for games on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The team camaraderie is really, really good,” Eblin said. “Just being able to adjust with the games that we’ve kind of slacked with the at-bats. I’m really happy with the way that we came out today.”