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Bourne Drops Postseason Opener, 7-2
Aug 12, 2007
Author: Blair Critchlow

BOURNE, Mass.– The expression defense wins championships- normally more closely associated with football than baseball- was equally appropriate for the postseason opener at Doran Park on Saturday.

Bourne committed two of the team’s three errors on back-to-back plays in a decisive four-run third inning and the Braves would never recover, dropping the first game of the best-of-three series to Falmouth, 7-2.

Already leading 1-0 after a second inning RBI single by Phil Carey (Winthrop), Falmouth’s Joey Wong (Oregon State) reached on an infield single and Conor Gillaspie (Wichita State) walked to lead off the third. With two men on and David Adams (Virginia) at the plate, catcher Adam Zornes (Rice) threw to the second base bag in an attempt to pick off Wong but the ball bounced into centerfield. Later in the same at-bat, Adams grounded to shortstop but another miscue- this time an Addison Maruszak (South Florida) throwing error- pulled Josh Satin (California) off the bag allowing Wong to score without a ball being hit out of the infield in the inning.

The Commodores added three more runs in the inning on a two-run double by Aja Barto (Tulane) and a single past the third baseman by Jeremy Farrell (Virginia).

Braves starter D.J. Mitchell (0-1) went six innings in the loss. The Cape League’s regular season strikeout leader was not hit very hard by the Commodoroes, allowing only one extra-base hit, but Mitchell (Clemson) gave up three walks and six runs.

Aaron Crow (1-0) recorded seven strikeouts over six innings holding the Braves to three hits. In his two appearances against Bourne this season, Crow (Missouri) allowed only one earned run in twelve innings with 11 strikeouts.

"He had great stuff," Satin told The Cape Cod Times’ Matt Gelb after the game. "When he was handling us pretty easy, he was throwing in good spots. That was the key. His stuff's good enough if he throws it down the middle it's hard to hit, but he was working inside and out well, too."

Normally a starter this summer, Aaron Shafer (Wichita State) pitched the final three innings for Falmouth to seal the victory.

Bourne chipped away at the Falmouth lead in the sixth and seventh innings. Satin hit a one-out RBI single in the sixth to score Bill Perry (Hartford) cutting the lead to 6-1. But with two men on, the Braves could not do any more damage as Brian Pruitt (Stetson) struck out looking and Zornes grounded into an inning ending fielder’s choice.

Ben Guez (William & Mary) continued his success against Falmouth this year with a solo homerun off Shafer to lead off the seventh. Coming into Saturday’s game, Guez was hitting .529 with three extra base hits in five games regular season games against Falmouth. The Braves would not get another hit in the final three innings.

Falmouth added another insurance run in the ninth on a RBI ground rule double by Farrell off reliever Jesse Haney (UNC Wilmington). Farrell, Carey and Wong all had at least two hits for the Commodores and Wong went 3-4 with an RBI and run scored after struggling to a .100 average against Bourne this year.

The Braves play again tonight in a do-or-die Game Two at Falmouth. Bourne will send lefty Rick Zagone (4-1, 2.09 ERA) to the hill against college teammate Kyle Gibson (2-0, 1.17). For the Missouri Tigers in 2007, Zagone went 7-4 in 17 starts while Gibson notched an 8-3 record with all but two of his 28 appearances coming from the bullpen. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. If the Braves win, the third game of the series will be on Monday at Doran Park at 3 p.m.

Notes:
Cape Cod League President Judy Scarafile presented the Braves organization with a trophy for their regular season Western Division title. Bourne finished with a 25-17-2 record and 52 points, eight points ahead of second place Falmouth... Bill Perry (.222, 2 HR, 10 RBI) was recognized before the game as the Cape League’s best player from New England in 2007... Bourne is now 2-5 against Falmouth this year...