Bourne had a flair for the dramatic in an extra-inning win over Wareham in its playoff opener. The Braves are full-on movie stars at this point.
With six runs in the bottom of the ninth Saturday, they rallied to stun Wareham and sweep the Gatemen out of the playoffs. Not only was it a stunning ending, it was the climax of a crazy sequence of plot points — Bourne hadn’t beaten Wareham all season and the Gatemen hadn’t lost two in a row since July 12 and 13.
Going into the ninth Saturday, Bourne trailed 7-2. Christian Taugner (Brown), who had delivered five straight scoreless outings for the Gatemen, was on the hill, but things got wild quickly. Singles by John Jones (South Carolina) and Grant Williams (Kennesaw State) put two on for Andrew Shaps (Arizona State). A late addition who hit .103 in nine regular-season games, Shaps took Taugner deep and it was suddenly a 7-5 game.
Closer Jake Matthys (Angelo State) came on but had no more luck. Willy Yahn (Connecticut) greeted him with a double and scored on a Brennan Breaux (LSU) single. After another pitching change, Jones hit a two-out, walk-off double to give the Braves the 8-7 win.
Yahn and David MacKinnon (Hartford) had three hits each to lead the Braves. Adrian Tovalin (Azusa Pacific) and Dominic Miroglio (San Francisco) homered for Wareham.
The third-seeded Braves will face No. 1 Falmouth in the West finals.
Falmouth 8, Hyannis 2
Hyannis’ dreams of a playoff turnaround fell flat again in the face of dominant Falmouth pitching. Brady Singer (Florida) followed Jeffrey Passantino’s lead with six shutout innings, striking out five and allowing three hits. Cole Sands (Florida State) was touched up for two runs, but Stephen Villines (Kansas) and Corbin Martin (Texas A&M) kept the Harbor Hawks from getting any closer. Michael Gigliotti (Lipscomb) shined at the top of the lineup for the second day in a row, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Michael Cantu (Texas) drove in three runs. Hyannis’ season ended on with 10 consecutive losses.
Y-D 2, Orleans 1
The Red Sox also swept through the semis, breaking a 1-1 tie with a run in the eighth on their way to a 2-1 win. Nolan Brown (TCU) reached on an error with two outs in the eighth, took second and third on wild pitches and came around on a base hit by Joey Thomas (Cincinnati), who had an RBI for the second straight game. Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) homered for the other Y-D run. Jared Janczak (TCU) allowed one run in five innings for the Red Sox before a big finish by the bullpen. Dillon Bray (Western Carolina), Sam Delaplane (Eastern Michigan) and Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) combined for four scoreless innings of relief. John O’Reilly (Rutgers) went 7.1 strong innings in the loss for Orleans.
Harwich 13, Chatham 1
The top-seeded Mariners responded to Chatham’s game one upset win in emphatic fashion. B.J. Myers (West Virginia) pitched eight innings of one-run ball and pitched with a lead almost throughout. The Mariners pounded 13 hits and raced to a 6-0 lead before adding to the cushion in the late innings. Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) hit a grand slam to power a five-run second inning and Johnny Adams (Boston College) went 2-for-4 with five RBI. Joe Dunand (NC State) scored three runs and Pavin Smith (Virginia) added two hits. The 13 runs matched a season-high by the Mariners, a mark they hit only once before.
What to Watch
Chatham and Harwich will play game three at Whitehouse Field at 5:30 p.m., and that will be the only game of the day. Packy Naughton (Virginia Tech), one of the league leaders in strikeouts, goes for Harwich against Parker Rigler (Kansas State), who had a 4.03 ERA in the regular season.