Bourne beat Cotuit 13-1 on Monday night. Then the Kettleers clinched a playoff spot anyway when Falmouth lost.
Then the Kettleers probably started thinking about the loss to Bourne again.
Because the Braves await them in the playoffs.
Cotuit had been red hot, with five straight wins. Bourne had cooled off a bit lately, going 5-5 in its last 10 games. But Monday’s win can serve as a reminder that the Braves are still very much here.
The victory included strong pitching from a reinforcement. Matt Jachec (Indiana State) made his CCBL debut and allowed one run in six innings for the win. Xavier Lovett (Mississippi State) struck out four and walked four but didn’t allow a hit in three scoreless innings en route to his second save.
At the plate, Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech) had two hits and three RBI, while Dalton Rushing (Louisville) and Colby Thomas (Mercer) each had two hits and two RBI. Max Anderson (Nebraska) homered for the second consecutive game and Benjamin Huber (UConn) had three hits and scored three runs.
The win puts the Braves at 24-8-3. Cotuit is 17-17-1.
Brewster 4, Hyannis 0
Brewster is the East Division champ after a win over Hyannis and Harwich’s loss to Orleans. The Whitecaps scored early to take control in this one, and their pitching staff allowed just three hits in the shutout effort. Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Jake Thompson (Oklahoma State) and Chris Lanzilli (Wake Forest) drove in the other runs. Chris McElvain (Vanderbilt) struck out four and gave up two hits in five innings for the win. Teddy McGraw (Wake Forest) surrendered one hit in three innings and Brendan Girton (Texas Tech) pitched a perfect ninth.
Wareham 7, Falmouth 4
The Gatemen played spoiler in the victory over Falmouth, who needed to win out to have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs. Home runs powered the Wareham offense. Cade Fergus hit a two-run shot in the third for a 2-0 lead. Jim Jarvis (Alabama) hit a two-run homer of his own in the fifth and Tommy Troy (Stanford) went back-to-back with him on a solo shot. Jarvis, Troy and Fergus each finished with two hits and two RBI. Falmouth was shut out for the first five innings as Adam Mazur (South Dakota State) lowered his league-best ERA even further, but Falmouth broke through for four runs in the sixth. All of the runs were charged to Mazur, bumping his ERA to 1.55. Still a terrific summer for him. Carter Rustad (San Diego) came out of the bullpen and struck out seven over 3.2 innings to finish out the win.
Orleans 1, Harwich 0
Four Orleans pitchers shut out a Harwich team that hadn’t been held scoreless since July 11. Nathan Florence (Hartford) didn’t allow a hit in three innings. Zack Morris (Arkansas) struck out five in 4.1 innings and was credited with the win. Nick Wallerstedt (Arizona State) pitched one scoreless inning, and Jared Southard (Texas) struck out both batters he faced in the ninth for the save. The game’s lone run came in the second inning when Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) doubled and scored on an RBI single by Jared McKenzie (Baylor). Harwich starter Cam Schlittler (Northeastern) was the hard-luck loser after allowing just the one run in five innings.
Y-D 8, Chatham 1
If the playoff field was the usual size, we might be looking at another magical run by Y-D. As it is, the Red Sox have to settle for finishing strong. They continued to hit the ball well en route to their fourth straight win, bringing the run total in the streak to 34. Tanner Smith (Oregon) went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. Brooks Lee (Cal Poly) hit his sixth home run as part of his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. Zach Lew (Cal State Fullerton) added two hits. Jacob Meador (TCU) made his first start after a summer spent in the bullpen and was terrific, allowing one run in six innings, with eight strikeouts. Christian Culpepper (Cal Baptist) pitched three scoreless innings of relief, his eighth shutout appearance of the summer.
WHAT TO WATCH
Cotuit has clinched and Y-D is out, but the way both teams are playing, it should be a playoff atmosphere as they meet each of the last two days of the season. Y-D is on the four-game win streak and Cotuit had won five straight before Monday’s loss.
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