Daily Fog: One-Sided Rivalry

Here's one way to get a leg-up on your division rival: Beat them. Every chance you get.

That's exactly what the Bourne Braves have done, and it's a huge reason why they're where they are in the West standings. Bourne has beaten Wareham five times, out-scoring the Gatemen 34-7 in those games. The five wins account for more than a quarter of all of Bourne's wins, and more than a third of Wareham's losses. To some extent, Bourne and Wareham have defined each other's seasons. Even if just two of the games had a different result, the Gatemen would be in first place by seven points. If three games were different, the Gatemen would officially be running away with the division.

As it is, Wareham has a slim one-point lead over Bourne for first, and the Braves actually have one more win.

They've also got another dominant performance in the books.

Last time the teams met, Bourne's Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) took a no-hitter into the fifth and the bullpen held the lead as Bourne won 4-0. Last night, Seth Maness (East Carolina) was even better. He carried a perfect game into the eighth before a single broke it up. Maness allowed nothing else the rest of the way in finishing off a complete-game one-hit shutout. Bourne won the game 8-0.

Maness has been good this summer, but not dominant. Last night, he was as dominant as anybody has been all summer, short of Chad Bell in his no-hitter. If you take away the fact that Bell finished that no-hitter off and Maness didn't, Maness was probably more dominant. He struck out 11, didn't walk anybody and faced just one batter over the minimum. In the process, he lowered his ERA to 2.30, and he's now got 31 strikeouts against just four walks in 27.1 innings.

He also had plenty of support. The Bourne defense didn't make an error and the offense delivered eight runs for the second straight night. Rob Segedin (Tulane) continued to sizzle with a 3-for-3 performance. Adam Rice (Coastal Carolina) and Kyle Roller (East Carolina) hit home runs and Pierre LePage (Connecticut) drove in two runs.

The Braves were in a rough patch not too long ago, but they've now won four in a row. They've got ten games left in the regular season, including the season finale against Wareham.

The Gatemen better hope they've got a cushion by then.

Elsewhere

Y-D topped Chatham 6-4 for its eighth consecutive win. It's also Chatham's sixth straight loss. Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) drove in two runs to lead the Red Sox, whose six runs were all unearned. Mario Hollands (UC Santa Barbara) got the win with five solid innings, while Chase Dempsay (Houston) and Kevin Rhoderick (Oregon State) combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) allowed his first earned run of the summer in the ninth but held on for his 11th save.

Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 2-for-5 and delivered a walk-off single in the ninth to give Falmouth a 4-3 victory over Cotuit. Cunningham is now hitting .393 and he drove in Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) with the winning run. Chad Bell (Walters State) started for Cotuit and struck out 10 in 6.2 innings. Nick Tepesch (Missouri) pitched well for Falmouth, striking out eight and allowing one earned run in six innings.

Orleans topped Harwich 3-1 for its second win in a row. Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) was lights-out, allowing just one hit and an unearned run in eight innings. He struck out nine and walked just one. Alex Hassan (Duke) relieved Reyes in the ninth and picked up the save. Kevin Muno (San Diego) had three hits and Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) had two to lead the Firebirds.

Hyannis and Brewster split a nip-and-tuck doubleheader, with Brewster winning game one 4-3 and Hyannis taking game two 3-2. Brewster won game one on the strength of a four-run sixth inning. Tant Shepherd (Texas) accounted for two of the runs with a two-run homer. Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) had a home run for Hyannis. In game two, the teams played nine innings before Hyannis' Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the ninth.

What to Watch For Tonight

Just three games on the schedule. League ERA leader Jake Buchanan (NC State) is scheduled to go for Cotuit at Brewster.