Mason Robbins and Colin Moran are two of the biggest names in a pretty talented Bourne Braves lineup. That lineup — and the team in general — has had a rough go of it this year, but the last two games have offered some pretty promising signs.
Robbins (Southern Miss) and Moran (North Carolina) have been featured prominently.
Robbins went 2-for-3 last night with two home runs, while Moran went 1-for-4 with his fifth home run and his second in as many days. Robbins suddenly ranks third in the league in hitting with a .382 average, while Moran is tied for the league lead in RBI. Throw in Chase McDonald (East Carolina), who also hit a home run for the second straight night, and you’ve got a lineup that’s finally hitting its stride.
And the results are finally there too. Bourne beat first-place Falmouth 9-2 last night after topping Hyannis 10-7 the night before. Those are the second and third-highest run totals of the season for the Braves.
Moran, one of the top hitters in the country, has been on target all summer, but in the first two weeks of the season, he wasn’t producing much, with just four RBI in his first 10 games. In his last 10 games, he’s hit four homers and knocked in 17 runs. In Bourne’s last two wins, he’s hit two home runs and driven in five.
Robbins, a 20th-round pick out of high school last year, has been even hotter. On June 28, he was hitting .267. Since then, he’s gone 13 for 25 and raised his average significantly. On Saturday against Hyannis, he went 4-for-5 with a double. Last night, he blasted his first two home runs of the season.
Now that Moran and Robbins are in gear, the rest of the Braves are following suit. McDonald now has four home runs while Aaron Payne (Oregon) went 4-for-5 with three RBI last night. The pitching was also good. Jaron Long (Ohio State) turned his best performance of the season, striking out six and giving up just an unearned run in six innings.
And Bourne did all that against the best team in the West. With a 6-15 record, there’s still a long way to go for the Braves to be back in the thick of things.
But they’re certainly heating up.
Elsewhere
Cotuit is also heating up, as the Kettleers beat Hyannis 14-8 for the their third win in a row. They’re now over .500 for the first time since week one. James Roberts (USC) led a 16-hit attack with a 4-for-5, four RBI day. Mike Ford (Princeton) added two hits and three RBI while Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt) drove in two. Daniel Aldrich (College of Charleston) had two more hits, his ninth and 10th in five games with the Kettleers. Cotuit actually fell behind 7-4 when Hyannis rocked starter Tim Mayza (Millersville) for seven runs in the second inning, but the Kettleers came back with three in the second and then kept hitting. Out of the bullpen, Dusty Isaacs (Georgia Tech) allowed one run in 3.2 innings for the win, while Jordan Smith (Western Carolina) pitched three scoreless frames to finish it off.
Harwich got the best of Orleans for the third time in four tries this season, topping the Firebirds 7-4 at Eldredge Park. Eric Jagielo (Notre Dame) hit his seventh home run and JaCoby Jones (LSU) cracked his second as the Mariners improved their league-best record to 15-6. They did much of their damage against Orleans starter Jarrett Arakawa (Hawaii), who gave up five runs in two innings. He had given up just one run on the season before that. On the other side, Corey Littrell (Kentucky) struck out seven and allowed two runs in five innings, before the Harwich bullpen took over. Tyler Burgess (Missouri State), Zane Evans (Georgia Tech) and Grant Gordon (Missouri State) pitched scoreless frames. Orleans touched up C.K. Irby (Samford) for two runs in the ninth, but Irby got out of a two-on, two-out jam with a groundout.
Y-D scored eight runs in the third inning and never looked back en route to a 10-3 victory over Chatham, which moves the teams back into a third-place tie in the East. Josh Tobias (Florida) had a home run and three RBI to lead the Y-D charge, while Wayne Taylor (Stanford) went 2-for-4 with two RBI. On the mound, Rick Knapp (Florida Gulf Coast) got the win with four strong innings of relief. Pat Valaika (UCLA) had three hits to lead the Anglers.
Brewster won for the second night in a row, beating Wareham 5-2. Aaron Judge (Fresno State) went 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBI to lead the offense, while Dylan Davis (Oregon State) made his first start after four relief appearances and pitched four scoreless innings. Four Brewster relievers finished off the victory.
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