DiCesare throws 7 strong innings, Gatemen lose 5-3
July 2, 2018 8:24 pm | by Andrew Lang
DiCesare throws 7 strong innings, Gatemen lose 5-3
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WAREHAM – It is not too often a starter goes seven full innings in a Cape League game, but that is exactly what Jared DiCesare did today for Bourne.
DiCesare made economical work of the Gatemen throwing just 72 pitching over his seven innings of work in a 5-3 win for the Braves. DiCesare pitches per inning read like this: 13, 12, 7, 11, 8, 10, 10. Not once did DiCesare throw more than 13 pitches in an inning. In addition, he did not walk a single hitter.
“Well he [DiCesare] threw strikes. That was the whole thing, first pitch strikes. He kept us off balance,” Don Sneddon said. “We got to him a little bit there, but it just wasn’t quite enough. Give him credit; He mixed pitches and threw strikes right around the zone.”
Gatemen starter Connor Lunn pitched well, but did not matchup to the start DiCesare had. Lunn pitched four innings and took the hard luck loss allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four. Lunn threw 62 pitches and 38 of them were for strikes (61.2 percent).
“Lunn got his curveball over. That’s the best he’s thrown his curveball,” Sneddon said. “That’s the best outing for him I believe just because he got that curveball over. I’m glad he finally got that. That’s a huge improvement for him.”
Bourne scored their run off Lunn in the fourth inning when they got their leadoff hitter, Jared Triolo, on base with a double. Spencer Horwitz grounded out to second to move the runner over to first, setting up an RBI opportunity for Lyle Lin.
On the third pitch of the at bat, Lin hit a grounder to third base and Pavin Parks fielded cleanly, looked the runner back, and threw across the diamond for out number two. Chase Murray then came to bat for Bourne and did not let Lunn escape without any damage. Murray hit an RBI single to center field for the first run of the game.
That score would hold until the sixth when Bourne added two more runs to extend their lead to 3-0.
Ken Waldichuk was in the game at this point, working in his second inning, and he allowed two runs after working a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.
To start the sixth, Jared Triolo recorded his second hit of the game, this time a single. Spencer Horwitz was then hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Lyle Lin was up next for the Braves and he hit a hard ground ball to third base. The ball took a tough hop and Pavin Parks misplayed it, loading up the bases for Bourne.
Once again, Chase Murray delivered an RBI single to put Bourne ahead 2-0. After an infield fly rule for the first out, Ashton Bardzell hit a sacrifice fly for the to score the second run of the inning and extend the Braves lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Gatemen got two runs back and finally got to DiCesare. On an 0-2 count, Isaac Collins hit a solo homer to right for his first of the season. Collins had been struggling heading as he had just three hits in his last 18 at bats (.167).
Isaac Collins hit his first homer of the Cape season tonight (via Caroline O’Connor).
Oliver Dunn made a loud first out of the inning as he flied to center field before Jeremy Ydens ripped a single. Two batters later, Austin Shenton delivered his 13thRBI of the season and Wareham found themselves just trailing by one run.
Back out for the seventh inning, Waldichuk gave up another two runs which his ERA raised up to 5.87 by the end of the night. This was Waldichuk’s second poor outing in a row. After his first two appearances, Waldichuk had only allowed one run. In his next two, he has allowed eight.
“He [Waldichuk] made some great pitches and he made some mistakes,” Sneddon said. “He made three or four bad locations. Unfortunately, those four hurt him.”
Bourne scored their two runs off a Spencer Horwitz double and Chase Murray recorded his third RBI on the night when he ground out to first.
In the bottom of the inning, Bryant Packard hit his fourth homer in six games. Packard now has a 6-game hitting streak and is hitting .364 over that stretch with seven RBIs.
The Packard homer would be the last run scored of the game as the eighth and ninth innings were scoreless for both teams. Brendan White and Ryan Stoudemire each threw an inning to finish out the night for Gatemen pitching.
Following the loss on the field, the Gatemen had a loss roster wise as one of their hottest bats will be gone for the time being. Bryant Packard will be headed off to join the Team USA collegiate national team for the next two weeks. Packard has said he will be back following his stint with the national team.
For now, the Gatemen will lose one of their best hitters. As to who replaces Packard in the cleanup spot, that is still up in the air.
“I don’t have that answer. I have to sleep on that. Hopefully someone gets hot. We are going to miss Packard,” Sneddon said. “Hopefully we can hold the fort down for 10 games until we get him back.”
Final: Braves 5, Gatemen 3
Next up: The Gatemen (12-8) travel to the village of Cotuit to take on the Kettleers (9-8-1) tomorrow night. First pitch at 5:00 p.m. at Lowell Park.
