08/09/2008 1:46 PM Article By:
9 August 2008
It’s Falmouth, Cotuit in West Playoffs
After Commodores Defeat Bourne, 3-2
FALMOUTH, Mass. – Falmouth needed a 45th game to do it, but the Commodores are in the playoffs!
Left-hander Shaffer Hall (Kansas) pitched 4.1 innings of solid relief as the Commodores defeated the Bourne Braves, 3-2, Friday night, Aug. 8, at Fuller Field’s Arnie Allen Diamond to break a second-place tie and clinch the final West Division playoff spot.
The Commodores open the best-of-three set Saturday, Aug. 9, against Cotuit, with game one starting at 3 p.m. at Lowell Park.
Hall (2-1), who entered with two outs in the fifth, held the Braves hitless while striking out six to earn the victory.
Falmouth started the scoring with a run in the third inning on back-to-back singles up the middle by Joey Wong (Oregon State) and Trevor Coleman (Missouri). After Wong’s single, the speedy shortstop stole second and continued on to third on an erratic throw by catcher Brandon Bantz (Dallas Baptist). Coleman then worked the count full before lacing a single to center, scoring Wong and giving the Commodores a 1-0 advantage.
Bourne tied it, then moved ahead in the fourth. Jordan Henry (Mississippi) led off with a walk and advanced to third after a Pierre LePage (Connecticut) bunt and a Marc Krauss (Ohio) fly out. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) drew a walk, bringing up Bantz, who doubled to center on a 2-and-2 offering.
Roller advanced to third on Bantz’s single and scored one batter later on a wild pitch to give Bourne a 2-1 lead.
The Commodores reclaimed the lead for good in the seventh.
Kevin Nolan (Winthrop) led off with a bloop single to right and Ryan Jones (Wichita State) followed with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt by Brian Fletcher (Auburn) advanced the pair, Michael Thomas (Southern) plated Nolan with a ground-out to second. Brandon Macias (South Mountain CC), who had recorded just two hits through 51 at-bats, then singled up the middle to drive in Jones with the go-ahead run.
With a 3-2 lead, Hall sealed the victory, having retired 13 Bourne batters in a row.
Falmouth’s starter Nate Karns (Texas Tech) was just as impressive. The right-hander tossed 4.2 innings, surrendering only two hits while fanning seven.
Bourne’s starter Nathan Baker (Mississippi) held the Commodores to just three hits through six, recording six strikeouts before giving way to Kevin Laundry (William & Mary), who was charged with the loss.
Friday night’s “play-in” game was necessitated after both Falmouth and Bourne posted wins Thursday night to finish in a second-place tie in the West with identical 23-20-1 records.
Laura Rasmussen, CCBL Intern ([email protected])
Interns: Chris Blake, James Chandley, Ashley Crosby, Phil Garceau, Stefanie Marini, Laura Rasmussen
