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Braves' Postseason Ends With 5-3 Loss to Falmouth
Aug 13, 2007
Author: Blair Critchlow

FALMOUTH, Mass. – Bourne fans will still have to wait for their first Cape League title even though- for a few seconds at least- it looked like that wait might be shorter than it will have to be.
Trailing 5-3 in the eighth inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Ben Guez drove Erik Bird’s first pitch deep to rightfield. Off the bat it looked promising, but the ball ended up a landing few feet short of the fence and into Aja Barto’s glove to effectively end the Braves’ postseason chances.
Bourne lost their second game of the best-of-three series, 5-3, and was swept by the Falmouth Commodores for the 2007 Western Division Championship.
“We just didn’t score enough runs, that’s all there is to it,” left fielder Josh Workman said. “Their pitching is really tough and they get timely hits when they need them. They played better than us both yesterday and today.”
Workman’s college teammate Conor Gillaspie (Wichita State) continued his dominance at the plate in his last game for Falmouth before leaving for school. The Cape League’s top hitter this year after hitting .351 in the regular season went 2-4 at the plate including a crucial two-run double in the third inning.
“What makes him so effective at the plate is his focus,” Workman said. “He’s always been a really focused guy, and he works hard at what he does.”
Staked to a 1-0 lead, Rick Zagone (0-1) held the Commodores hitless through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third.
Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt) started the three run rally with a one out double After Phil Carey’s (Winthrop) RBI single straight up the middle knocked in Giobbi, Chris Hopkins (Oregon State) hit a deep fly ball that got past rightfielder Brian Pruitt for another double. Gillaspie cleared the bases, but got a bit greedy as he was tagged out at third base by Kevin Hoef to end the inning.
Falmouth added two more runs in the fourth on a bases loaded grounder by Carey. Hit deep to the hole at shortstop, Addison Maruszak (South Florida) scrambled to make a back handed stop, but the ball bounced off his glove and into the outfield allowing two-runs to score. The Braves committed four errors in two postseason games.
“I can’t say that we were all mentally fatigued but I’m sure that played some part [in the defensive struggles],” Workman said. “Really, [errors] are just part of the game.”
Falmouth starter Kyle Gibson (1-0) lasted seven innings scattering four hits and allowing two runs for the win over Zagone.
But, the game started auspiciously for Bourne as leadoff man Hoef (Iowa) lined Gibson’s (Missouri) second pitch of the game over the fence in left center spotting the Braves an immediate 1-0 lead. Workman then singled, stole a base and moved to third on a wild pitch, where he would be stranded.
The Braves took one run back in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Pruitt (Stetson), cutting the lead to 5-2.
Bourne’s last best chance came in the eighth against Kyle Weiland (Notre Dame). Hoef led off the inning with a chopped infield single in front of the plate and advanced to second on an errant throw before Workman reached after being hit in the foot. Pruitt scored Hoef on an RBI single through the right side of the infield and Adam Zornes (Rice) walked to load the bases with two outs before Bird got Guez to fly out.
Louisiana Tech’s Luke Burnett pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save, striking out all three batters he faced.
The Braves end the season at 25-19-2 - a marked improvement from the nine win 2006 season. Falmouth advances to today’s championship opener against the Eastern Division Champion Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Y-D completed its sweep over Chatham with a 4-0 win at Veteran’s Field.

Notes:
Bourne’s season record against Falmouth finishes at 2-6 including the postseason... The Braves had ten come-from-behind wins in 2007... The first two hitters in the Braves lineup- Hoef (3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI) and Workman (2-3, 1 R, 2 SB)- reached base seven times in eight plate appearances... Braves reliever Matt Gorgen (California) struck out seven of the ten batters he faced in three innings of relief... Bourne reached the postseason for the third time in five years (2003, 2005 and 2007).