A detail of Lowell Park during the Cape Cod Baseball League game between the Wareham Gatemen and the Cotuit Kettleers on July 19, 2015 in Cotuit, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. (Photo by Simon M Bruty/AnyChance Productions/Getty Images)
The Bourne Braves won their fourth Cape Cod Baseball League championship and second in a row under manager Scott Landers, beating the Orleans Firebirds 5-2 at Eldridge Park in a deciding game three.
Bourne Braves starting pitcher Trystan Levesque threw 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs, four hits, no walks, and four strikeouts while facing 18 batters. Levesque is going into his senior year at the University of Rhode Island.
The Firebirds pitching staff combined for allowing 10 hits, five earned runs, five walks, and seven strikeouts.
In the bottom of the first inning, Orleans second baseman Jo Oyama ripped a solo home run over the right field wall for the first run of the game.
During the bottom of the third inning, Orleans extended their lead when Oyama ripped his second home run of the game over the left field wall, making the score 2-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Bourne finally got on the board when catcher Derek Bender ripped an RBI single to right field, sending Kendall Diggs in to score to make it 2-1.
Firebirds starting pitcher Evan Truitt threw 3.1 innings facing 15 batters allowing five hits, one earned run, three walks, and one strike out.
During the top of the sixth inning, the Braves tied the game up at two apiece when third baseman Bryce Eblin hit a ground ball to Firebirds shortstop Jack Penny. Penny flipped the ball to second baseman Oyama, but the double-play throw got past first baseman Matt Halbach, allowing Braves second baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer from second base to tie the game at 2-2.
The next batter, Bender, laced a double to left center field as Eblin came in to score as the Braves took a 3-2 lead. A few batters later, left fielder Sam Petersen hit an RBI single to left field as Bender came in to score to extend the lead to 4-2.
In the top of the eighth inning, Bender continued to swing his hot bat and launched a solo home run over the left field wall to make it 5-2.
Relief pitcher Anthony DeFabbia out of Stetson University retired the FireBirds bats in order, getting first baseman Matt Halbach to fly out to center field for the final out of the championship game, giving the Bourne Braves their fourth title in organization history.
During his relief appearance, DeFabbia threw 4.1 hitless innings, allowing no earned runs, no walks, and four strikeouts.
The Cape Cod Baseball League’s 2024 regular season will start during the middle of the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament next June.
The Cape Cod Baseball League is the premier collegiate summer league in the United States and has been in operation since 1923. Before the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed, it was a barnstorming league at the amateur level throughout towns in the region from 1885 and until 1922, when the league was realigned.
The Cape Cod Baseball League includes the many top players from NCAA Division I Baseball that are likely to be drafted by Major League Baseball clubs.
The Cape Cod Baseball League provides host families that are in contact with all the organizations to have players spend their summers in the region before they head back to their universities for the fall semester.
The Cape Cod Baseball League operates with a 44-game schedule from late June through early August every summer. The Cotuit Kettleers have the most championships in the Cape Cod Baseball League with 17.
The league currently has 10 organizations, all in the Cape region, located in Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Cotuit, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Orleans, Wareham and Yarmouth-Dennis. The league has produced more than 1,600 Major League Baseball players.
Every season, approximately 350 Major League Baseball players are Cape Cod Baseball League alumni. There were 219 Cape Cod Baseball League alumni selected in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft in Seattle this year.
The San Francisco Giants picked the most Cape Cod Baseball League alumni at the 2023 MLB Draft, taking 12 players. The Cotuit Kettleers had the most former players selected in the draft with 39.
Notable current players on the active rosters of Major League Baseball organizations that have played in the Cape Cod Baseball League include: Aaron Judge (Brewster, 2012), Chris Sale (Yartmouth-Dennis, 2009), Alek Manoah (Chatham, 2018), Pete Alonso (Bourne, 2015), Kyle Schwarber (Wareham, 2012), Aaron Nola (Harwich, 2012), Adley Rutschman (Falmouth, 2017), Shane Bieber (Yartmouth-Dennis, 2015), Corbin Burnes (Orleans, 2015), and Will Smith (Brewster, 2015).
2023 CCBL Regular Season Awards
Most Valuable Player Award – Travis Bazzana (Falmouth)
Pro Prospect Award – Cameron Smith (Hyannis)
Pitcher – Camron Hill (Cotuit)
Relief Pitcher – Sean Matson (Orleans)
Sportsmanship – Hugh Pickney (Bourne)
10th Player – Derek Clark (Orleans)
New Englander – Tyler MacGregor (Falmouth)
Batting Champ – Travis Bazzna, .375 AVG (Falmouth)
2023 CCBL Playoff Standings
| East Division | W | L | ||
| Orleans Firebirds | 5 | 2 | ||
| Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox | 2 | 3 | ||
| Brewster Whitecaps | 1 | 2 | ||
| Harwich Mariners | 0 | 2 | ||
| West Division | W | L | ||
| Bourne Braves | 6 | 2 | ||
| Hyannis Harbor Hawks | 3 | 2 | ||
| Falmouth Commodores | 0 | 2 | ||
| Cotuit Kettleers | 0 | 2 | ||
2023 CCBL Regular Season Standings
* – Division Winner
+ – Playoff Berth
| East Division | W | L | T | |
| Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox *+ | 24 | 19 | 1 | |
| Orleans Firebirds + | 24 | 20 | 0 | |
| Harwich Mariners + | 20 | 23 | 1 | |
| Brewster Whitecaps + | 15 | 27 | 2 | |
| Chatham Anglers | 15 | 27 | 2 | |
| West Division | ||||
| Cotuit Kettleers * + | 28 | 15 | 1 | |
| Hyannis Harbor Hawks + | 25 | 17 | 2 | |
| Falmouth Commodores + | 24 | 18 | 2 | |
| Bourne Braves + | 23 | 20 | 1 | |
| Wareham Gatemen | 15 | 27 | 2 | |
