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Gatemen Erase Early Deficit to Down Braves 9-5
Aug 6, 2010
Author: Hal DeCoursey
If the Bourne Braves are destined to repeat as league champions, they'll do it with their backs against the wall from the start. The Braves suffered through collective pitching struggles as the Wareham Gatemen powered their way to a 9-5 win in the first game of the league quarterfinal best-of-three series.
Despite falling behind 4-0 in the first, the Gatemen used timely hitting to outscore the Braves 9-1 over the last eight innings. Each Wareham starter had at least one hit, with Tyler Bream (Liberty) contributing a home run and two RBIs. Travis Shaw (Kent State) hit a first-inning three-run home run, while Tommy LaStella and Daniel Bowman added single RBIs.
Grayson Garvin (Vanderbilt), the Braves pitcher of the year, could not live up to his 5-0 record as he worked over 4.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on eight hits. Max Perlman (Harvard) struggled early but came around to pitch six solid innings.
Bourne got the scoring started early as the first four batters all scored. Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) set the tone by turning a blooper right over the shortstop into a hustle-double. LaStella doubled him in and Jason Coats (TCU) walked to set up Shaw's home run, his fourth of the season, into the bullpen in right field.
But Perlman was stellar after that, scattering three hits over the next five innings while striking out nine. Meanwhile the Gatemen offense was able to force their way back into the game with strong fundamental baseball, stealing four bases and dropping two sacrifice bunts while scoring single runs in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to tie the game.
Wareham pushed the winning runs across in the top of the eighth off RJ Alvarez, who hit two consecutive batters before throwing a wild pitch, allowing John Andreoli (UConn) to score. LJ Mazzilli (UConn) added an RBI single for the sixth and decisive run. Bowman (Coastal Carolina) hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to make it a one-run game, but RC Orlan walked three batters in the ninth, all of whom came around to score, to put the game out of reach.
Wareham leads the best-of-three series 1-0, with game two taking place at 7:00 Saturday at Spillane Field in Wareham. If Bourne can take it, the deciding game would be Sunday at 7:00 back at Doran Park. But with a win-or-go-home game on the road Saturday, the odds of a repeat of last year's storybook finish just got a little longer.
Wareham - 010 111 023 - 9 13 0
Bourne - 400 000 010 - 5 10 2
Perlman, McKirahan (7; W), Bilodeau (8), Ferrer (9) and Caldwell. Garvin, Brady (5), Alvarez (7; L), Orlan (9) and Blaser.
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