Daily Fog: Bourne Again

In the preseason, I thought the Bourne Braves looked like the most talented team in the league. But with more ifs than any other team, a lot of things had to go right.

They didn't really go right. For example: Of the five players I was excited to see in Bourne's Early Look, four are not in Bourne, and the fifth -- Alex Wimmers -- was a late arrival who has pitched only out of the bullpen so far.

But the Braves have shown an amazing ability to adjust on the fly. Their two best hitters -- Kyle Roller and Stefen Romero -- were not on their initial roster. Neither was their most overpowering starting pitcher, Bryan Morgado.

That's just the tip of the iceberg and there's a common thread running through it all -- these things have gone right.

Very right.

The Braves beat Cotuit 5-1 last night for their eighth win in nine games. They're in first place by seven points and they're tied with East leaders Chatham and Y-D for most points in the league.

Last night's game was as complete an effort as they've delivered all season. The first five players in the batting order delivered one RBI each, with Pierre LePage going 3-for-5 (Connecticut) to lead the way. Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) and Raynor Campbell (Baylor) also had two hits and Roller (East Carolina) hit his fourth home run.

On the mound, Turner Phelps (James Madison) got the start and allowed one run on four hits in 6.1 innings. Cameron Roth (UNC Wilmington) and Kevin Munson (James Madison) combined for 2.2 perfect innings to finish it off. In all, those three pitchers retired 21 batters in a row. Cotuit didn't have a baserunner after the third inning.

That stat is pretty remarkable, but considering what Bourne's bullpen has done, the back end of that performance isn't a huge surprise. If you want to highlight Bourne's biggest strength, I think you've got to look at the bullpen first.

That's certainly what the Braves do: “Our bullpen is fantastic," Phelps told the Cape Cod Times. Our starting pitchers know that if we can get it to the (relievers), they’ll come in and shut the game down.”

The numbers are pretty staggering. In Bourne's last eight wins, relievers have pitched 29 innings. They have allowed just four runs. Five times, they haven't allowed any runs.

Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) and Justin Poovey (Florida) have emerged as lights-out setup men, while Munson and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) essentially give the Braves two closers. Neither Munson nor Harrold has allowed an earned run this summer. While Harrold leads in saves with six, Munson has better peripheral numbers, with 17 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. Combined, Harrold and Munson have allowed 10 hits in 19.1 innings of work. Harrold hasn't even allowed an unearned run.

It's all pretty ridiculous, and it's a big reason why the Braves are where they are.

Where we thought they'd be, I guess, even if they took a slightly different road.

Elsewhere

I headed over to Wareham last night to catch the Gatemen against Harwich. I ended up seeing a lot more offense than I expected from the teams that run nine-ten in the league in team batting. Wareham led most of the way, but Harwich scored four in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to tally for a 9-7 victory. Connor Powers (Mississippi State) hit a long home run -- his first of the year -- to give Harwich a lead, but Wareham started stringing hits together soon after. Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech), Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge), Brett Eibner (Arkansas) and Ryan LaMarre (Michigan) all had doubles to lead the charge, and Eibner added a triple on a ball that bounced in front of left-fielder Leon Landry before taking a crazy bounce over his head. But Harwich started rallying and chased Wareham starter Josh Mueller (Easter Illinois) before continuing to hit against the Wareham bullpen. An RBI double by Powers brought home the tying run in the eighth and a sac fly by David Herbek (James Madison) scored the go-ahead run.

After falling off the pace momentarily, Y-D got right back on it with an 8-1 victory over Chatham. The teams are now back to having the same number of wins. Y-D's John Leonard (Boston College) allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, earning his second victory of the summer. On offense, the Red Sox pounded Chatham pitching for 14 hits. Blake Kelso (Houston) and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) had two RBI each. Five players had two hits.

Every once in a while, Falmouth -- the team with the worst record in the league -- comes up with a blowout. Last night, the Commodores blitzed Hyannis 10-2, ending a three-game winning streak for the Mets. B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Missippi) went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple and three RBI and Chris O'Brien (Wichita State) also had three RBI. Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 4-for-5 and now leads the league in hitting. Hunter Morris (Auburn) hit his third home run. Jordan Cooper (Wichita State) delivered a quality start for Falmouth, allowing one run in five innings.

Orleans scored seven runs in the first inning en route to a 9-4 victory over Brewster. Kevin Muno (San Diego), Michael Olt (Connecticut), Jeremy Gould (Duke), Danny Muno (Fresno State) and Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) all drove home runs in the big inning, with Gould's two-run homer serving as the exclamation point. Rob Rasmussen (UCLA) struck out nine in 5.2 innings and picked up the win. The Firebirds have won two in a row and are three games over .500.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne will try to stay hot on a visit to Brewster. Robert Morey (Virginia), who has a 1.29 ERA in two appearances will go for the Braves against Kyle Blair (San Diego).