Braves struggle on mound, drop both games in doubleheader

By: Carson Field

Remember when hitting seemed like the achilles’ heel for the Braves? Yeah, those struggles seem to have gone by the wayside. 

But, recently, Bourne has found trouble somewhere else: the mound. 

The Braves dropped both games in Saturday’s doubleheader against Hyannis, the worst team in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Despite putting up a combined 12 runs in the games, they were no match for the Harbor Hawks. 

Hyannis won the first game 6-4, largely because of the 14 hits it recorded. Jordan Westburg, Rigsby Mosley, Ian Fair and Anthony Servideo each had multi-hit games. 

In spite of the recent struggles at the plate for Bourne’s those weren’t apparent on Saturday. In the first game, the Braves put up four runs while collecting eight knocks. Nevertheless, Bourne’s pitching staff couldn’t salvage the game. 

Game two was even worse. 

Despite falling into a 4-3 hole early, Bourne struck gold in the top of the fourth. The Braves scored five runs in that frame, fueled by six base hits and two walks.

By the time Hyannis finally recorded the third out, the score was 8-4 in favor of Bourne. For the Harbor Hawks to mount a comeback, it would take a miracle. 

That occurred shortly after.

Hyannis responded with five runs of its own, once again giving the Harbor Hawks the advantage. But that wasn’t the end. In the fifth, Hunter Goodman crushed a three-run shot to left field. That was the dagger. 

As the game became more lopsided, it also became messier — literally. The game was canceled in the sixth inning when rain flooded over the infield and created puddles along the base path. This cemented Hyannis’ 13-8 win and the sweep of Bourne. 

In the long run, this may be devastating to Bourne’s playoff chances. Entering Saturday, Bourne held a seven-point lead over Hyannis for fourth place in the West Division. Now, only three points separate the division adversaries. 

Three matchups remain between Bourne and Hyannis. Those three will be pivotal in deciding who does and doesn’t make the playoffs.