Posted in: Sports 
By Dan Crowley

    From last to first; the Bourne Braves are the Cape Cod Baseball League 2007 Western Division champions

    Saturday, before a home crowd of nearly 900 fans, the Bourne Braves put their stamp on the division title with a 5-0 shutout victory over the Wareham Gatemen. Last year the Braves won less than 10 games finishing a difficult season at 9-32-2. This season the team passed the nine win mark in June finishing the 2007 regular season at 25-17-2.

    The Braves will begin post season play today when they host Falmouth at Doran Park beginning at 3 PM in a best two out of three series. The second game scheduled for Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth will begin at 8 PM. The winner will advance to face the winner of the Eastern Divisional playoff between Yarmouth-Dennis and Chatham.

    Bourne wrapped up the regular season Wednesday as they prepared for the playoffs sending six different pitchers to the mound in a 6-2 loss to Wareham. Joe Kent (Oklahoma State) got the start going two and a third innings allowing three runs on four hits. The Gatemen got to Kent in the bottom of the first for a run, and then posted two more in the third before T.J. Hose (East Carolina) took over.

    The Braves got both of their runs in the sixth on a two-run base hit by Brett Basham (Mississippi). Bourne knocked out a dozen hits against a trio of Wareham pitchers.

    After loosing to Chatham August 2 by a lopsided 10-0 score and falling the next night to the Gatemen, the Braves got back on track in a big way Saturday behind an outstanding performance by Rick Zagone (Missouri) who went nine scoreless frames, allowing just five hits and striking out 10. Zagone got plenty of help from his teammates beginning in the bottom of the third with a two-RBI home run down the left field line by Kevin Hoef (Iowa) that drove in Brett Basham (Mississippi) who had singled.

    It wasn’t until the eighth that the Braves struck for their third run and once again it came complements of Hoef. Adam Zornes (Rice) led off the eighth with a double and Heof followed with a two-bagger into left scoring Zornes. Brian Pruitt (Stetson) then hit a bases loaded single scoring two more runs knocking Wareham starter Kendal Volz (Baylor) from the game.

    With the win Zagone improved his record to 4-1 and his ERA to 2.09.

    Falmouth pounded Bourne starter Mitch Harris (Naval Academy) in the first inning Sunday scoring eight times on their way to a 12-0 win. Harris went just two-thirds of an inning allowing eight runs, only four of which were earned, on eight hits. Bourne threw three more pitchers at the Commodores before the night came to a close giving up a combined 16 hits.

    Shooter Hunt (Tulane) got the start and picked up the win for Falmouth in six scoreless innings of work. Addison Maruszak (South Florida) finished the night 2-for-4 for the Braves who collected a total of just four hits.

    Bourne came back the next night before a home crowd to beat Falmouth 4-1. Steven Hensley (Elon) got the start and went six innings holding the Commodores to one run on five hits, while striking out seven.

    This time it was Bourne that struck early with three runs in the first inning. With two men on, Pruitt tripled into left field scoring Ben Guez (William & Mary) and Josh Satin (Cal-Berkeley). Zornes then knocked a ball up the middle to bring in Pruitt.

    A triple by Falmouth’s Phil Carey (Winthrop) resulted in a run for the Commodores in the second. The Braves got the run back in the bottom of the third when Bill Perry (Hartford) drove home Zornes to make the score 4-1.

    Matt Grogen (Cal-Berkeley) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, with Jeff Richard (Central Michigan) pitching a scoreless eighth to earn the save.
A rain delay earlier in the game resulted in the game being called after eight because of darkness.

    Bourne had 10 hits against Commodore pitching led by Guez, who finished a perfect 4-for-4 with a run scored. With the win Hensley improved to 4-2, lowering his ERA to 3.89. Kyle Thebeau (Texas A&M) took the loss.

    Bourne finished the regular season third in the league in hitting with a .258 average at the plate. They were fourth in ERA at 3.06. In 2006 the team was last in both categories with a team batting average of .201 and a combined ERA of 3.85.