Derek Bender’s Three Hits Lead Bourne to Second Consecutive Win
These Bourne Braves are starting to click.
After a slow start to the season amidst a relentless stretch of road games, the Braves’ return to Doran Park has allowed them to lock in and flourish. Add to that a collection of new names bolstering the lineup, and Bourne is looking more like the team that won a championship last summer.
One of those new names is Derek Bender. The slugger out of Coastal Carolina has already found his footing just a few games into his Braves career. After reaching base three times Wednesday night, he collected three more knocks on Thursday as Bourne won its second consecutive game, 6-5 over the Falmouth Commodores. Bender has slotted himself nicely in the three-hole and added some juice to the lineup.
“It’s honestly something when I first came up here that I noticed; it’s hard not to notice a pretty big losing streak to start,” Bender said. “But knowing that I could contribute, whether it’s just on the bench with vibes and overall attitude stuff, or whether it’s legitimately contributing on the field, I just knew I’d come in and give a little spark. And I know the guys have been responding well to me as a person, but also as a player. It’s nice to be able to come in and play such a big role in our success recently.”
Featuring their deepest lineup yet, the Braves opened the game with a three-spot. Gage Harrelson led off with a single, and Garrett Michel drew a walk to set things up for Bender, along with his Coastal Carolina teammate Caden Bodine. They each came through with an RBI single, Bodine’s coming in his first at-bat as a Brave.
“We’ve been waiting for those guys,” Bourne manager Scott Landers said. “Bender had some good at-bats…. Bodine came in and did exactly what I thought he would do. He’s an all-around great player, and it’s good to have him in the lineup.”
Sam Petersen, getting his first start in a Braves uniform, drove in the third run with a fielder’s choice. The Braves quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead against funky sidearmer AJ Causey.
“Those kind of guys are always weird,” Bender said, noting the adjustments it takes to face someone with a unique arm angle. “Seeing guys like that, knowing their ball’s gonna run in, knowing their ball’s gonna sink. Just being inside and under most of what they have, and just not letting them turn your front shoulder.”
On the mound, left-hander Garrett Horn impressed in the first three innings for Bourne. It took him a lot of pitches to get through the first, but he settled in and struck out five in a row at one point.
Michel singled in the bottom of the third, and Bender collected another hit of his own. Bender nearly got picked off, but heads-up baserunning from both him and Michel allowed Bender to steal second. Michel then came home on a Bodine groundout to extend Bourne’s advantage to 4-0.
Landers admitted with a laugh that he was in the bathroom during Bender’s steal. But aggressive baserunning has been a theme for Landers since the start of the summer, and Bender has caught on quickly.
“We did some early baserunning today, talking about being aggressive, working on some vault leads,” Bender said. “Maybe not the right spot. But first and third, leaving early is kind of like a normal play, so that’s what it turned into after I did get picked off.”
Horn fell out of his groove in the top of the fourth, issuing two straight walks. He recorded a strikeout before giving up a two-run double as the free passes came back to hurt him. He didn’t let the inning spiral on him, however, ending the frame with his seventh strikeout.
After a leadoff walk in the fifth, Horn’s outing came to an end. The runner came around to score on two groundouts and a wild pitch with reliever Griffin Stieg on the mound. Shortstop Jonathan Vastine made an impressive play to steal a hit from Falmouth, fielding a bad hop off the second base bag and getting the runner in time. The Braves were still holding on to a 4-3 lead.
“That was a great play,” Landers said. “I was looking for him to flip it to second, try to get that out, and he made the play at first. That was unbelievable.”
After a dry spell where eight straight Braves were retired, they finally tacked on some insurance in the sixth. Facing left-hander Rio Britton, Bender recorded his third hit of the night, and Bodine drew a walk. Britton committed a balk that advanced the runners, and Petersen drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Bryce Eblin added a clutch two-out knock with the help of a bad hop that sent it over the shortshop. The Braves had some breathing room, now up 6-3, thanks in large part to the dynamic duo of Bender and Bodine.
“It’s so fun because Bodine is such a great player, and we think so alike,” Bender said. “It’s nice to have somebody in the dugout that thinks the same and operates the same as a person and a player, to just bounce ideas off of, bounce tendencies off of. It’s just great to have that again.”
Stieg fell into brief trouble in the seventh with a pair of two-out singles, but another athletic play by Vastine ended the frame with no damage. Stieg wound up throwing three scoreless innings with a trio of strikeouts and one walk.
The Commodores tried to claw their way back in it with a run in each of the eighth and ninth innings against right-hander David Falco. A pair of singles and a throwing error by the catcher helped Falmouth scratch out a run in the eighth, and a leadoff walk came around to score in the final inning. But the Commodores’ comeback attempt was short-lived, as Falco finished off Bourne’s second consecutive victory.
“I think we’re getting these guys in, and we’re getting acclimated to each other,” Landers said. “We did good things tonight. We got on the board early. We got a good start from Horn; a couple too many walks. I think he got tired a little bit. But the guys coming out of the ‘pen did a great job.”
The Braves are now 4-6-1 and will look to keep the winning streak alive on Friday against Hyannis at 6 p.m.
“One more and we’re streaking,” Bender said. “Baseball is all about momentum. Right now we’re riding the up wave, and hoping to stay there for as long as we can because this game’s going to humble you really, really fast.”
