Heading into Thursday’s action, Cotuit had won four straight games and was starting to pull away from Bourne for the final playoff spot in the West.
The Braves themselves kept Cotuit from getting further away.
After getting shut-out for five innings, Bourne scored three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to beat Cotuit 7-5 at Lowell Park.
Justin Lasko (UMass) and Seth Shuman (Georgia Southern) had dueling shutouts going until the fifth, when the Kettleers broke through for a run against Lasko. But Bourne’s breakthrough against Shuman in the top of the sixth was bigger.
An RBI double by Tyler Fitzgerald (Louisville) brought the first run home. Jared Triolo (Houston) then tripled home the go-ahead run and scored himself on a passed ball.
After Cotuit got a run back in the home half of the sixth, the Braves delivered another burst. Danny DiGeorgio (Rutgers), a late reinforcement playing in his third game, hit a two-run single. A bases-loaded walk to Triolo – which bumped him to a tie for the league lead in RBI – and an RBI fielder’s choice tacked on two more runs.
Reliever Andy Archer (Georgia Tech) had a little trouble in the ninth, giving up two runs on a Peyton Burdick (Wright State) homere. But he stranded the tying runs on base.
Bourne is now four points behind Cotuit with six games to play.
Falmouth 5, Wareham 3
More and more, it’s like there’s a top group of three in the West Division, with Falmouth crashing a party that was reserved for two for much of the season. The Commodores topped Wareham Thursday to move within two points of the Gatemen for second place and three points back of Hyannis for first. Falmouth broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the seventh inning on a two-run single by Cameron Cannon (Arizona). Cannon finished with three RBI while Kyle Stowers (Stanford) had one for the Commodores. Patrick McGowan (Holy Cross) allowed three runs in six innings and was credited with the win thanks to the seventh-inning runs. Logan Rinehart (California Baptist) and Jack Little (Stanford) closed the door on Wareham over the final innings.
What to Watch
Back to a full slate today, and it should be a good one in Yarmouth, where the top two teams in the East square off.