By: Greg Levinsky
BOURNE – With both sides returning to play after rain outs on Wednesday, the Falmouth Commodores fell 5-2 to the Bourne Braves at Doran Park on Thursday night.
After an offensive showcase in a 10-4 season opening win, the Commodores (1-1) ceded an early lead to the Braves (1-1) that lasted the game’s entirety.
Two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection and Yale rising junior Scott Politz made his first start of the summer, and Bourne jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind RBI knocks by Anthony Prato (Connecticut) and Spencer Brickhouse (East Carolina). Prato worked Politz, doubling on the 10th pitch of the Bourne’s second at bat. Politz threw 30 first inning pitches, but bounced back to retire the side in the second inning on 11 pitches.
“That was definitely tough with the second at-bat there, just grinding it out until he got a pitch to work with,” Politz said. “It was a really good at bat. It’s frustrating when you’re trying to hit spots and they’re fouling off everything looking for a decent one to hit.”
Bourne added a run in the third and Politz pitched a scoreless fourth, ending his day at four innings pitched, scattering seven hits and allowing three earned runs. Politz struck out three and walked one.
He focused on utilizing a two-seam fastball, a pitch he is beginning to add to his arsenal.
“I’m kinda working with the movement,” Politz said. “It’s harder to be as precise with an unknown movement pitch.”
Dan Metzdorf (Boston College) relieved Politz, throwing four innings of relief, surrendering three earned runs.
Braves pitcher Justin Lasko (Massachusetts Amherst) retired the first nine Commodores before center fielder Will Brennan (Kansas State) led off the fourth inning with a single. A fielder’s choice and caught stealing helped Lasko face the minimum batters through four.
“I think they pitched well,” Trundy said. “I mean, let’s face it, pitching more often than not is going to beat good hitting. I think it was just one of those nights where we didn’t have as good at bats as the other nights.
“And for all intents and purposes I think they also threw the ball well.”
The Commodore bats surged in the fifth and Lasko failed to record an out in the frame. Falmouth struck for a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 3-2. Cameron Cannon (Arizona) led off a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch, then to third on a single by CJ Schaeffer (Western Illinois). A single by Austin Masel (Holy Cross) brought Cannon home.
Marc Coffers (Florida Gulf Coast) broke an 0-for-6 start to his Commodore career, singling to load the bases with no outs. Lasko was pulled in favor of Trey Van Der Weide (USC Upstate), who escaped the jam surrendering just one run on a bases loaded walk.
“We had an opportunity. We didn’t have many of them,” Trundy said. “We’re not going to come through on that opportunity all the time.”
With a chance to tie or take the lead, the Commodores failed to execute. After loading the bases, the ‘Dores offense had just one hit in the final four frames.
“We just didn’t do enough stuff well offensively to give ourselves enough chances,” Trundy said.
Greg Levinsky can be reached at glevinsk@bu.edu. Follow him on Twitter @GregLevinsky
Up next: The Commodores host Wareham on June 15 at 6:00 p.m. at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth.
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