Posted on by Will Geoghegan

Daily Fog: Fireworks

With today being the Fourth of July, I fully expected to write an entry titled Fireworks. Whatever happened, I was going to make it work one way or another.

I didn’t know it would be quite this fitting.

Bourne visited Falmouth last night and delivered the biggest offensive performance of the 2010 season, rolling to a 17-3 victory. The win moves the Braves into sole possession of first place ahead of Falmouth.

The Braves came into the game hitting .218 as a team with 54 runs scored, numbers that ranked them in the middle of the pack, or a little below. It was strange, because their offense looked very good on paper. After this one game, the numbers are matching up. Bourne is now hitting .230, good for fourth in the league. Their 71 runs are the second-most in the league. Amazing how much difference one game can make.

I guess it happens when the game is as big as this one.

Bourne had 15 hits and blew the game open with eight runs in the fourth inning. Five Braves had multi-hit games led by Daniel Bowman (Coastal Carolina), who went 2-for-6 with a grand slam and five RBI. Newcomer Zack MacPhee (Arizona State) had two hits and two RBI, as did Ryan Wright (Louisville). Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) and Nick Ahmed (Connecticut) scored three runs each. Creede Simpson (Auburn) had a home run, one of six extra-base hits for the Braves.

The Braves started doing their damage against Mark Pope (Georgia Tech), who’s been one of the top starters in the league in the early going. He allowed two runs in the first three innings and got two quick outs in the second until an Ahmed double started the fireworks show. A two-run double by MacPhee drove in two and chased Pope, and the Braves scored six more in the inning.

Three Bourne pitchers had no trouble making the lead stand up. Anthony Meo (Coastal Carolina) allowed one earned run on one hit in five innings. Michael Dimock (Wake Forest) pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts and Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) finished things off.

Elsewhere

  • For the second straight night, a team won an extra-innings game by a 1-0 score. This time it was Harwich over Chatham in 11 innings. Pratt Maynard (NC State) broke the scoreless tie in the top of the 11th when he singled home Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida). Matty Ott (LSU) picked up the win for the Mariners with two scoreless innings. Lex Rutledge (Samford) started for Harwich and allowed three hits in six innings. Derek Self (Louisville) went eight shutout innings for Chatham.

  • Brewster and Y-D both posted victories to stay locked in a first-place tie. Brewster beat Orleans 6-0 behind another dominant start by Andrew Gagnon (Long Beach State). Gagnon allowed one run in seven innings and struck out eight. That’s three straight starts in which Gagnon has gone seven innings, allowed one run or fewer and struck out at least eight. He was backed last night by a nine-hit attack. Andy Burns (Kentucky) went 2-for-2 with three RBI. Drew Martinez (Memphis) went 2-for-4, raising his average back above .400.

  • Y-D delivered two late runs to beat Wareham 3-1. Bobby Crocker (Cal Poly) scored on an error in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie, and Jordan Ribera (Fresno State) drove an insurance run home in the ninth. Tanner Poppe (Kansas) picked up the win in relief with 2.1 scoreless innings. D.J. Baxendale (Arkansas) got the save. Brett Mooneyham (Stanford) started the game and allowed one run in 5.2 innings. Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) pitched well for Wareham, striking out seven and allowing just one earned run in 7.2 innings. The loss was the sixth in a row for the Gatemen, who dropped to 4-13.

  • Cotuit beat Hyannis 3-1 as Josh Spence (Arizona State) picked up his first win. Spence went five innings, his longest outing so far, and allowed no runs on one hit. A.J. Achter (Michigan State) relieved him and allowed one run en route to the four-inning save. Zach Cone (Georgia) had two RBI for the Kettleers and Deven Marrero (Arizona State) knocked in one. Cam Seitzer (Oklahoma) made his debut for Hyannis and went 1-for-4.

    • What to Watch

    Y-D shoots for its fifth win in a row when is hosts Hyannis. Michael Goodnight (Houston) is slated to start for the Red Sox.

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