Sam Travis went 4-6 and knocked in a run Saturday night as Bourne defeated Y-D 8-7 in 14 innings.
By: Andrew Constant / @andrew_constant
BOURNE ? Mason Robbins hit an inside-the-park home run off Brian Gilbert with two outs in the bottom of the 14th inning to cap a massive comeback for the Bourne Braves, ending Yarmouth-Dennis? seven-game winning streak, 8-7.
The Red Sox went up 7-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, backing a strong effort from starter Ben Lively and left-handed reliever Joey Denato. But, after sleepwalking through the first seven innings, the Braves snapped into action against Y-D reliever Spenser Linney.
Justin Leeson led off with a double down the right field line, which fell just out of the reach of first baseman Sean Dwyer. Jack Reinheimer followed with a single up the middle and Bourne had two on with nobody out against Linney, who failed to make it out of the first inning in his start against Harwich on July 16. With Colin Moran at the plate, Linney threw an 0-2 pitch way over the head of catcher Wayne Taylor, allowing Leeson from third. After Chase McDonald doubled in Reinheimer, Y-D manager Scott Pickler called on Bryan Verbitsky to get out of the mess.
Verbitsky retired the next three batters, allowing just an RBI groundout, to keep the Red Sox ahead after eight innings. After Y-D put two on but didn?t score in the top of the ninth, Verbitsky went back out to try and save the game for the Red Sox, but he was unable to hold the lead.
Jordan Patterson grounded out to begin the inning, but Joe Jackson, Leeson and Reinheimer all reached to load the bases against Verbitsky. Colin Moran got the scoring started in the ninth for Bourne with an RBI single before McDonald struck out. But Robbins blasted a two-RBI, ground rule double down the left field line, cutting the lead to one and putting the potential winning run on base. With Trent Gilbert at the plate, Verbitsky?s second pitch got away from Wayne Taylor, allowing Moran to score the tying run and complete the comeback. Verbitsky got a fly out to end the inning, but not before allowing four runs on four hits.
The Red Sox opened the game up in the top half of the eighth, extending a 4-0 lead against Ryan Donohue. Sam Travis led off with a double to right and advanced to third two batters later when Zak Blair flied out to deep center field. Dwyer struck out for the second out of the inning, but Justin Shafer walked to load the bases with two outs, before Taylor knocked in two with an RBI single to center. Josh Tobias followed with an RBI of his own, chasing Shafer in from third.
Lively pitched himself into and out of trouble throughout his five-inning start, striking out seven and benefitting from some solid defense behind him. In the first inning, Lively picked off Jack Reinheimer, who had walked with one out, to face the minimum in the opening frame. In the second, Shafer and Carlos Asuaje turned an inning-ending double play, catching McDonald too far off of second base when Shafer caught Mike Ahmed?s sinking liner in center.
Denato only allowed one hit in two scoreless innings before giving way to Linney in the bottom of the eighth. After the Braves tied the score in the ninth, Preston Hatcher tossed three clean innings, striking out three along the way.
Y-D will look to start a new winning streak Sunday afternoon when the Falmouth Commodores pay a visit to Red Wilson Field. Andrew Thurman is scheduled to take the hill for the Red Sox.
