Braves’ Offense Explodes in 11-1 Rout of Chatham

Making another stop on their seemingly endless road trip, and coming off their most demoralizing loss of the season, the Bourne Braves delivered in explosive fashion on Monday night.

They drove east across the Cape for a 7 p.m. game at Veterans Field, in desperate need of a win after getting walked off by Wareham on Sunday. As if things weren’t hard enough, they had a daunting task in front of them: Chatham’s Brody Brecht, from the University of Iowa.

The powerful right-hander is a fascinating beast of a pitcher. He had massive control problems this season with 61 walks in 77 innings, but he struck out a whopping 109 and only allowed 37 hits. He features a high-90s fastball and a high-80s slider, a mix he’s used to wipe hitters away when not issuing free passes.

But the Braves tagged him for seven hits, knocking him out in the fourth inning and stunning the large Chatham crowd. It was a blowout victory for Bourne, improving to 2-5-1 with an 11-1 whomping of the Anglers. The Braves totaled 15 hits and eight walks on the night.

“I thought we honestly swung the bats well the last three games,” Braves manager Scott Landers said. “I think the difference in last night and tonight was we got ahead, got the lead early. We got the momentum…. We didn’t do that last night. We got five early and just let them creep back in and kind of fell asleep. Overall, it was a great performance tonight. We limited the freebies, and they gave us a bunch.”

Bourne got some good hacks against Brecht right from the start, as Pete Ciuffreda led off with a single. The next three Braves struck out, but they got right back to work in the second. A Kavi Caster walk, along with hits from Brett Callahan and Cameron Foster, loaded the bases with nobody out. Catcher Hugh Pinkney worked a good at-bat but caught a tough break, lining one to first base for a double play.

With Bourne on the cusp of wasting a prime opportunity, the struggling Paul Tammaro III came up clutch. After bunting one foul early in the at-bat, he lined a single to right field to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

“We knew that [Brecht] was a strikeout guy,” Ciuffreda said. “At the end of the day, we wanted to try to take away some of his pitches. We knew that he had a good heater, and when guys have a good heater, that means they usually throw a lot of heaters. So really just earning good counts and getting into fastball counts. We tried our best, and I think we did a good job executing.”

Bourne countered with left-hander Henry Weycker. He gave up some hard contact in the first inning, but Caster — playing center for the first time this summer — made a strong relay throw to record the third out at the plate.

Chatham got one back on a pair of hits in the second, but Weycker recorded back-to-back strikeouts to strand the go-ahead runs in scoring position.

He found himself in another bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third. Like a magician, he escaped unscathed with the help of a timely 1-2-3 double play, keeping Bourne in the lead.

“I don’t think he had his best stuff tonight, but he grinded,” Landers said. “Especially in the first two innings, he was leaving balls middle and not getting glove-side, but he battled and then settled in and did exactly what we needed.”

Brecht, meanwhile, was unable to get into a rhythm against the pesky Braves. Two Chatham errors also aided Bourne in a two-run third inning. Garrett Michel drew a walk, and Callahan hit a two-run single. Pinkney drew Bourne’s third walk to load the bases once again.

Tammaro III, however, couldn’t replicate the magic from his previous at-bat and struck out.

“I think he needs to gain weight,” Landers said with a chuckle.

Still, the Braves managed to hit around a guy who allowed fewer than five hits per nine innings this year. They collected two more against him in the fourth, ending his line with seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. That led to a four-run outburst, with Michel driving in two and Callahan recording his third hit with an RBI single.

Suddenly, it was 8-1 Braves. They found themselves with the most breathing room they’ve had this season.

Weycker managed to throw four adventurous innings, allowing nine baserunners but only one run. Kade Grundy followed with three dominant innings of relief. He struck out seven and didn’t allow a hit, letting Bourne cruise to the finish line.

Derek Bender, the newest addition to the lineup, tacked on an RBI single in the fifth. Caster drew a walk and eventually scored in the sixth. Callahan also walked in the eighth — his fourth time on base out of five times on the night — and scored, running it up to 11-1.

“I saw some good pitching and was able to put my bat on the ball,” Callahan said. “It gave me confidence, and it gave the team confidence going forward.”

Anthony DeFabbia pitched the final two innings, putting a capper on the 10-run win.

There was a sense of happiness and relaxation on the Bourne sideline following the victory. Bender ran around with giddiness, handing out hot dogs like candy while yelling “Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs!” It was a fitting — and deserved — end to a great night all around for the defending champions.

“We’re making strides every day,” Ciuffreda said. “It’s really important to take your results and not really dwell on them, but also adjust. This game is all about adjusting.”

The Braves will return to Doran Park for a five-game homestand starting Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Cotuit.