If his first at-bat was any indication of the game he was about to play in, Ty Moore (UCLA) was ready to sign on the dotted line. The lefty sliced a ball down the left-field line and broke his bat, but still strolled into second with a double. 

“It was the first time I used that bat in a game and it died a hero,” Moore said. “Once that dropped in I knew this was going to be a good night.”

And it was. For him, and more importantly his team. 

Chatham (7-6-1) upended Bourne (10-4) 13-3 on Wednesday night, handing the Braves their first loss at Doran Park this season. The blowout came a night after scoring 16 runs in an eight-inning win at Yarmouth-Dennis, giving the Anglers a total of 29 runs and 38 hits in their last two outings. 

An Angler crossed the plate in all of the first five innings against Bourne. 

Box Score:

Game Tracker

Jordan Hillyer (Kennesaw State) started and earned his second win of the season, throwing five and giving up one run. Eric Nyquist started and received the loss for Bourne, giving up four runs on six hits in two innings of work. 

“That’s a baseball team. That’s a team just going out and doing what you are supposed to do,” Chatham manager John Schiffner said. “It’s fun when everything clicks like that and tonight was fun. Really fun.”

After his team beat Y-D 16-14 on Tuesday, Schiffner was naturally displeased with the pitching staff’s performance. He said that that was what the Anglers had to work heading into its bout with first-place Bourne, who were winners of five straight heading into the game. And while Chatham’s hitting stayed on its torrid pace, a combination of Hillyer, Garrett Williams (Oklahoma State), Mike Wallace (Fairfield) and Paul Covelle (Franklin Pierce) helped the pitching catch up. 

Hillyer gave up a run in the first, but found his fastball-slider combination after that frame and started to roll. By the time he jogged out for the bottom of the third he had a six-run cushion to lean on. It was cruise control from there.

“That’s what you love,” Hillyer said. “Once we got up big I felt like I could just throw and it’s easy from there. I just let guys hit the ball to our defense because they do such a good job behind us pitchers.”

As the final line shows, it was another night for crooked numbers. The Anglers tallied a run in each of the first five innings, and polished off an eight-inning scoring streak that crossed over the last two games. Every player in the lineup — including Kevin Fagan (Stetson) and Robert Baldwin (Yale) who came in as late substitutions — recorded a hit. Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State) and Moore each went 4-for-6 and Hampson scored three times. Patrick Mazeika (Stetson) walked, yes walked, four times. 

Statistical outliers have become a theme this week, and Bourne is Chatham’s latest victim. The Braves are still in possession of first place in the West Division and are a highly impressive 7-1 at home on the young season. But that “1” belongs to the Anglers, who are already itching to get back onto the field. 

“I don’t want to have an off day Thursday,” Schiffner said. “We’re playing too well. We don’t need it.”

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