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Western Division playoffs: No. 1 Hyannis, No. 2 Falmouth come back in opener

08/07/2013 4:43 AM

Article By: CCBL Public Relations Office

No. 1 Hyannis 4, No. 4 Bourne 3

     The Hyannis Harbor Hawks stunned the Bourne Braves 4-3 in the first game of their playoff series on Tuesday night with a come-from-behind three-run eighth inning. 

     Tyler Spoon (Arkansas Fayetteville) led the way for Hyannis, going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. The teams were scoreless through six innings as starting pitchers Ryan Kellogg (Arizona State) and Kyle Freeland (Evansville), both Western Division All-Stars, allowed one run a piece in seven innings of work each. Freeland had a standout night for the Harbor Hawks, fanning 10 at the plate, while Kellogg recorded six strikeouts. In the end, Jordan Foley (Central Michigan) picked up the win and Jack English (Florida Gulf Coast) the loss. 
 
     The game all came down to the eighth. Bourne’s Tyler Kuresa (Santa Barbara) hit a two-run homer in the top of the inning to give the Braves a 3-1 lead, but the effort fell short.
 
     Hyannis’ Spoon doubled in the bottom of the inning, allowing Dominic Jose (Stanford) to score and make it a one-run game. Ryan Padilla (New Mexico) scored on a wild pitch to even the score, and Austin Slater (Stanford) had the game-winning hit with a single to drive in Spoon. 
 
     The Harbor Hawks lead the series 1-0 as they attempt to break a 22-year championship drought. The Braves last won a championship in 2009, when they ended a 22-year drought themselves with their first-ever title as a franchise.
 
No. 2 Falmouth 6, No. 3 Cotuit 5
 
     The Commodores found some late-inning magic, as Rhys Hoskins (Sacramento State) hit a two-run double in the eighth inning to put Falmouth ahead of the Cotuit Kettleers for good.
 
     The Kettleers jumped out ahead of the West Division No. 2 seed Falmouth when Garrett Stubbs (Southern California) singled in Rhett Wiseman (Vanderbilt) before scoring on a single by Jake Fincher (N.C. State). A two-run shot by Danny Diekrogger (Stanford) in the fifth inning stretched Cotuit’s lead to 5-1, but Falmouth chipped away, taking advantage of several errors to keep the game within reach. 
 
     Hoskins hit a ground-rule double in the bottom of the fifth to drive in Kevin Newman (Arizona) and scored four batters later on a single off the bat of Troy Stein (Texas A&M). 
 
     Jared Price (Maryland) picked up the win for Falmouth with his inning of work in the eighth, and Hunter Brothers (Lipscomb) earned the save. 
 
     Cotuit last won a championship in 2010. Falmouth, which finished top of the league in batting with a team average of .285, as well as in hits (437), home runs (32), and RBIs (219), is seeking to break a 32-year playoff curse.