With their 5-2 victory over first-place Cotuit on Wednesday the Bourne Braves (8-7) extended their winning streak to five games and climbed to within a game of the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Western Division lead.

     The Braves gave starter Nate Reed (Pittsburg) a two-run lead in the second. Reed allowed just two hits over his four innings of work. Kevin Landry (William & Mary) took over on the hill in the fifth. The Braves added to the lead behind Landry, picking up another two runs in the fifth and a single run in the sixth. The Kettleers pushed two runs across in the seventh on an error and a sacrifice fly. Bourne then went to the bullpen once more, bringing in Eric Pettis who tossed two innings of two-hit baseball to nail down the win. Landry got the win, his third, and Pettis picked up his first save. Combined Bourne pitching struck out nine Cotuit hitters.

     Ross Wilson (Alabama) had two hits for Bourne

     Bourne pounded out 17 hits Tuesday night in a 13-4 victory over Wareham. Jordan Henry (Mississippi) went 6-for-7, scoring four runs and picking up an RBI in the game that raised the Braves’ record to 7-7. Henry’s performance broke the club record for hits in a game that had previously stood at five.

     The Braves jumped on Wareham pitching early, scoring in the top of the first as Henry crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Bourne added another run in the fifth and then blew the game open with six runs in the sixth on five hits.

     Wareham starter Robby Broach (Tulane) lasted five innings, giving up four of the Bourne runs. When the Gatemen went to the bullpen the floodgates opened as the Braves chewed up four more Wareham pitchers with 10 hits and nine more runs.

     Ricky Bowen (Mississippi State) struck out seven Gatemen over his six innings of work, allowing just two hits and picking up his second win of the summer.

     Bourne designated hitter Kyle Roller (East Carolina) finished the night 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored. Stephen Batts (East Carolina), Marc Krauss (Ohio University), and Jamie Johnson (Oklahoma) each had two hits on the night.

     The field lights went out at Spillane Field in the sixth inning for 40 minutes, but even that could not cool off the Bourne bats. It did, however, allow the Gatemen a chance to regroup and come back with four runs that included a solo home run from Brett Eibner (Arkansas).

     The Braves didn’t cross the finish line in Sunday night’s marathon at Falmouth until the 15th inning. Shortstop Dusty Coleman (Wichita State) ended the lengthy battle breaking up the 2-2 tie in the top of the 15th with a blast over the right field fence that also scored Henry, who had reached on a walk, to give Bourne a 4-2 victory.

     Bob Revesz (Louisville) came on in the bottom of the 15th, retiring the Commodores in order to preserve the win for Kevin Landry, who allowed just two hits in two innings of work.

     Falmouth opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first and held their 1-0 advantage through four innings until the Braves came to the plate in the top of the fifth. Third baseman Mark Krauss put the Braves on top 2-1, with a home run over the centerfield fence that scored Wilson, who had reached on a base hit.

     Falmouth pushed across the equalizer in the bottom of the eighth on a Ryan Jones (Wichita State) home run.

     The Braves went through a half dozen pitchers before Coleman matched his Wichita State teammate with a fence clearing blast of his own to put the marathon contest in the Bourne win column. 

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