Off Day Rundown: Five Braves get drafted, Cayden Wallace catches fire, Bourne sweeps three-game series with Hyannis

By: Nick Galle 

The Braves have continued to see their fair share of success as they passed the midway point of the 2021 campaign. Since their last off day, the Bravos have gone 4-1 to improve to 14-2-3 on the season. Over the past five games, Bourne has outscored opponents 34-16 and has given up more than three runs on just one occasion.

If you’ve missed any of the action since July 10, here is everything you need to know about the Braves:

• The Bravos had five players drafted in this year’s MLB Draft. Gordon Graceffo was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth round, Colton Bender was taken by the Padres in the 10th round, Kyler Fedko was taken by the Twins in the 12th round, Peter Van Loon was drafted by the Orioles in the 16th round and Nick Zwack went to the Mets in the 17th round.

• Cayden Wallace has seemingly found his footing in Bourne. The Arkansas Razorback is currently on a six-game hit streak. During that span, Wallace has gone 9-for-26 (.346) with six RBIs, five runs scored and four doubles. He also ended things against Hyannis Wednesday night with a walk-off single over the right fielder’s head in the bottom of the ninth.

• With the departures of multiple arms, some Bravos were in a starting pitching role for the first time this year. Austin Parsley went four innings against Y-D and allowed three hits, two runs and struck out three. Ben Ethridge tossed four scoreless innings against Hyannis on July 12. He gave up five hits, walked two and fanned four. Ken Turner also went four innings on Wednesday night, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out three.

• After trailing 5-1 at one point, the Braves battled back Wednesday night against Hyannis to complete the three-game mid-season series sweep. Bourne is now 4-0 on the year against the Hawks.

• Cade Smith made his debut on July 10 against the Red Sox and Dylan Bowers made his debut on July 11 against Chatham. Smith has given up one earned run and one hit in 1 2/3 innings while striking out two. Bowers has tossed two scoreless innings and has allowed just one hit. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has also walked one and struck out four.

• Andrew Taylor returned home after making two appearances with the Bravos. He finished with a 1.28 ERA through seven innings of work, allowing just three hits and one run, while striking out 11.

• Dalton Rushing has also been impressive over the past five games. He is 8-for-17 (.471) during that span with one home run, three RBIs and four runs scored. The Louisville Cardinal currently has the highest batting average on the team at .351. His college teammate Christian Knapczyk has the second highest average in Bourne at .328.

Cover photo via: Joe Sullivan