Fog Delay, Disastrous Sixth Send Bourne to 6-4 Loss in Seven Innings
By Mojo Hill
Things just didn’t go the Bourne Braves’ way Monday night.
It all started with a rain postponement, which pushed the start time back 30 minutes at McKeon Park. The Braves got a fantastic start from Tristan Smith, but they imploded in disastrous fashion in the sixth inning. Then, the fog creeped in, perhaps symbolizing the way things turned for Bourne in this game. The contest entered a fog delay before finally being called after 30 minutes. The final score was 6-4 Hyannis in the seven innings that were played, nearly four hours after when the game was originally supposed to start. The Braves’ record dropped to 14-11-1 with the loss.
The evening got off to a solid start for Bourne despite the rain delay. The Braves struck first, getting a Garrett Michel sacrifice fly in the first inning. Bryce Eblin and Derek Bender recorded hits, and Caden Bodine walked to load the bases and set it up for Michel, who drove one sharply to right. Bourne already had a 1-0 lead with Smith taking the mound for his second start of the season.
Smith was dominant right out of the gate. He retired the first 11 he faced and struck out four in a five-batter span at one point. He had all three of his pitches working, and showed drastically better command than his previous outing.
The Braves tacked onto their lead with a laboriously long top of the fourth. Sam Petersen and Pete Ciuffreda started things off with back-to-back walks. They each stole second, though Petersen was caught trying to steal third. Cam Foster then hit a comebacker that deflected to the shortstop and was thrown away for an error, allowing a run to score. Two more came in on a wild pitch and a Jonathan Vastine sacrifice fly, as the Braves kept grinding out plate appearances and manufacturing offense to make it 4-0.
The Harbor Hawks finally recorded a hit against Smith with two outs in the fourth. They slapped back-to-back singles, but Smith ended the frame with his sixth strikeout.
By then, the early signs of fog were already revealing themselves. Derek Bender, playing right field for the first time this summer, lost a fly ball in the fifth inning that fell for a “double.” Smith still manage to escape unscathed, though, striking out two in the inning to bring his total to eight. It was an absolutely dominant five-inning performance for the left-hander.
Jack Sullivan took over for Smith in the sixth. His inning started innocuously enough, with a leadoff single and a slick double play turned by Bryce Eblin and Jonathan Vastine.
But then the mashing began. The Harbor Hawks hit back-to-back solo homers, including one that was torched to right field. After a single, they swatted their third home run in the last four batters to tie it up at four apiece. With Bourne having suddenly relinquished its seemingly comfortable lead, the rally still didn’t stop. A hit batsman and three consecutive singles brought home two more runs, giving Hyannis a 6-4 lead with a six-run frame.
Caden Bodine led off the seventh inning with his third walk of the game, and the seventh for the Braves on the night as they tried to get something going. But the cards just weren’t falling their way Monday night. Michel sliced a sharp line drive to the right side, and it went right into the second baseman’s mitt. Bodine was doubled off first, and the Braves came up empty.
By then, every fly ball past the infield was an adventure. Gage Harrelson, who replaced Bender in right field, only barely tracked down what should have been a routine flyout in the bottom of the seventh. After the inning ended, the umpires conferred and quickly deemed that the game needed to go into a fog delay. For the next roughly half an hour, everyone essentially stood around waiting for the game to be called off, with the “delay” acting as no more than a formality. The fog only got worse during this time, not to mention the occasional spurts of rain.
There were still some players and bat boys staying loose near the teams’ respective dugouts, but the game was unsurprisingly called with a seven-inning final. It was a strange, frustrating and gloomy night for the Braves all around.
Now they’ll get a bright and sunny day off on Tuesday before returning to Doran Park for a home game against Chatham. Temperatures are supposed to reach the high 80s, continuing the roller coaster of Cape Cod weather this summer. For both teams’ sake, hopefully the Anglers don’t bring the fog to Bourne with them. Chatham has only been able to complete one nine-inning game since last Monday.
