11 August, 2004


Bats fizzle as Braves close shop

     They were hot through the first half of the Cape Cod Baseball League season. But the Bourne Braves couldn't maintain their fire when it came time for playoff baseball in August. With the championship being contended by the league's four remaining teams - the East's Yarmouth-Dennis and Brewster and Falmouth and Hyannis in the West - the Braves' 2004 season came to an early close last weekend.


Bourne Braves’ players gave fans reason to cheer this summer despite their last-place finish in the Western Division of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Photo by Silene Gordon / 2004

     The Braves started the season with a bang, literally. In fact, several of them. Cotuit was an opening-night 14-1 rout victim that sent Braves fans onto the field at game's end chattering about pennants. Premature, sure, but even remnants of that first evening's performance would have helped.

     In the end, however, Bourne finished with the league's lowest team batting average, .195 versus the league-leading .245 posted by Hyannis and Brewster. While the pitching staff did its part all summer, it was the lack of production at the plate that accounted for most of Bourne's woes and their drop from the top of the standings to their ultimate fifth-place finish.

     The sub-par performance was common through most of the club, but there were exceptions. Maine's Greg Creek led the Braves with a team-high .242, followed closely by Kyle Padgett of William & Mary at .239 and Florida Atlantic's Tim Mascia at .238.

     By those players appearing in more than 20 games, no other Brave even hovered near the .200 mark. Contributing to the demise was the team's 329 strikeouts and a meager 219 hits.

     "When you go through a stretch scoring three runs in 54 innings, you're not going to win many ballgames," offers head coach Harvey Shapiro. The kids get frustrated and it's tough for everyone."

     Shapiro, who a week earlier had notched his 150th CCBL win, refused to take the back-slapping that came as a result of reaching the coaching milestone. "Since then we've only won one game," says the skipper. "The point is to win."

     The Braves' second half skid deepened with just a little over a week left in the regular season. After losing to Wareham 2-0 and Falmouth 2-1 the following night, the Braves' stock started spiraling out of playoff contention. "They've all played well at times but they haven't hit," says Shapiro. "The pitching has kept us in ball games but you can't ask pitchers to throw shutouts."

     While the lackluster hitting was a team condition, the unforeseen injuries were a variable out of the team's control, yet one that struck when it could afford it the least. Says Shapiro, "We lost five players in a five-day period, five quality players. We've never really recovered after that."

     The pitching staff provided some of the high points on the season, with several bullpen players finding their groove. John Lewis, via SUNY Stony Brook, threw 41.2 innings for the Braves in seven appearances and finished with a 1.73 ERA, while Georgia Tech's John Goodman was 2-0 on the year with a 1.37 ERA.

     All-star selection Mike Madsen, out of Ohio State, was the Braves' most prolific hurler, though, tallying a 5-1 overall record in 47 innings of ball while allowing just nine runs. The Canfield, Ohio native threw two complete game shutouts, including the team's last win against Wareham Aug. 4 at Coady Field.

     "The pitching staff got better and better and was positioned to challenge now," say Shapiro. "It just wasn't enough." The Braves finished the season 19-24-1.

By Silene Gordon