Bourne Braves

Bourne's baseball history is one of the longest of all teams on the Cape, dating as far back as the 1860s when the town was still part of Sandwich. In 1867, Sandwich had four organized baseball teams: the Nichols, Independent, Shawme, and American clubs.[1] The "Independent Club" defeated the "Mattakeesetts" of Yarmouth that year, winning 41–35 in eight innings.[2] The same year, the "Nichols Club" played a series of three games against the "Cummaquid Club" of Barnstable. The first game, played "a short distance from the Sandwich Glass Company's works," was won by the Cummaquids, but the Nichols Club took the second game played in Barnstable. The third game was contested at a "neutral" site in West Barnstable, with the Cummaquid Club taking the rubber match. Of these early contests, it was reported that, "a large party from this and adjoining villages were present to witness the game, and as it was new to very many of the number, it was of unusual interest."[3][4][5]

In 1909, a team from Bourne sponsored by the Keith Car & Manufacturing Company of Sagamore played a pair of games against the Falmouth town team.[6][7] In 1910, the Sagamore club was described as "one of the finest local teams on the Cape."[8] Although the 1910 team lost twice to the powerful Hyannis town team early in the summer,[9][10] the Keith squad had its revenge at the close of the season in what was billed as the baseball "championship of the Cape" at the annual Barnstable County Fair.[11] In the four-team tournament, Falmouth defeated Hyannis and Sagamore shut out Wellfleet to set up a final game between Sagamore and Falmouth. On a rain-soaked day that produced "mud and slippery ball and bats," Sagamore prevailed in a shortened seven-inning contest, by a score reported variously as 9–3 or 10–3.[11][12][13] The Keith team had another successful year in 1911,[14][15] and again made a strong showing at the season-ending fair tournament.[16][17] The Keith Car team continued to compete through at least the 1913 season, when the club was described as the "strongest team on the Cape."[18][19][20]

A night game at Doran Park, home of the Bourne Braves

Bourne first joined the Cape League in 1933. The league had begun in 1923 with four teams,[21] but over the years various towns moved in and out of the league. In 1933, Provincetown had joined the league for the first time, but withdrew mid-season. Bourne stepped in and played out the remainder of Provincetown's schedule, but won only one game in its inaugural partial season.[22][23] Bourne remained in the league until the league itself folded after the 1939 season,[24][25] and played its home games at the Bourne High School diamond.

In 1934 and 1935, Bourne featured hard-hitting third baseman Bob "Red" Daughters, who went on to play for the Boston Red Sox.[26][27] Bourne's mainstay during this period was Massachusetts native Tony Plansky, who was a league all-star for Bourne each year from 1933 to 1939. Plansky, a star fullback from Georgetown University, had played professionally in the National Football League for the New York Giants and Boston Braves. Prior to the NFL, Plansky had played for Hyannis in the Cape League in 1928,[28] and when his football career was over, Plansky returned to the Cape to play for Bourne. In 1999, Plansky was ranked by Sports Illustrated as the #25 all-time greatest sports figure from Massachusetts.[29] He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2001.[30]

Bourne had its most successful campaign of the era in 1936, winning the Cape League title led by player-manager Larry Donovan, the team's first baseman. Normally during this period, the Cape League season had no playoffs; a champion was determined by the best regular season record. But as it had done in 1933 and 1935, the league split the 1936 season in two half-seasons, with the winners of the two halves meeting in a post-season series for the overall title. In 1936, no post-season was needed, as Bourne took both the first and second half titles and was declared league champion.[31]

The Cape League was revived after World War II,[32] and the new league began play in 1946 with 11 teams playing in Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. The town of Bourne was represented in the Upper Cape Division by Bourne and Sagamore teams. Bourne's team would become known as the Bourne Canalmen, and Sagamore's as the Sagamore Canal Clouters, or Sagamore Clouters.

The Canalmen played in the league until 1950, then after a decade-long hiatus, returned to the league in 1961. The Bourne team of the 1940s featured CCBL Hall of Famer Jack Sanford, a hard-throwing lefty who would go on to play with Sagamore until 1954, winning a career total of 60 games in the league, including a no-hitter in 1953.[33][34]

Keith Field, former home of the Sagamore Clouters

The Clouters played at Keith Field, just steps from the Cape Cod Canal in the shadow of the Sagamore Bridge. Keith Field had been dedicated in 1936 and named in memory of Bourne native Eben Keith, a Massachusetts state senator and head of Keith Car & Manufacturing Company, once the Cape's largest industrial plant. The field was constructed privately by the Marconi Social and Athletic Club on land previously occupied by the Keith plant.[35][36][37][38]

The Clouters were initially led by CCBL Hall of Fame manager Pat Sorenti, who later served as president and commissioner of the Cape League.[39] CCBL Hall of Famer George Karras was Sagamore's player-manager from 1948 to 1954.[40] Karras' teams starred CCBL Hall of Famer Tello Tontini, the team's popular infielder, who was a seven-time all-star for Sagamore from 1946 to 1952.[41] Karras was followed by fellow CCBL Hall of Famer Manny Pena, who had played in the league for Falmouth and Sagamore from 1946 to 1955, and skippered the Clouters from 1956 to 1961.[33]

Sagamore was a league powerhouse throughout the decade of the 1950s. To fans, it seemed that Sagamore would reach the league championship series every season, usually to face the Lower Cape's dominant team, Orleans. The Clouters claimed league titles in 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1959. At a time when most Cape League teams generally abided by the unwritten rule of using predominantly local players, Sagamore led the way in recruiting collegiate talent, and so set the stage for the league's modern era.

In the 1954 Cape League championship series, Games 1 and 2 against Orleans were played as a doubleheader. In a matchup of CCBL Hall of Fame hurlers, Orleans took Game 1, 4–3, with Roy Bruninghaus outdueling the Clouters' Jack Sanford. Sagamore answered in Game 2 with a 5–3 victory behind moundsman Dick Smith.[42] The Clouters took Game 3, but Orleans knotted the series with a 10–6 Game 4 victory, setting up a decisive Game 5 to be played on the neutral Chatham field.[43] In the finale, the Clouters held down Orleans early, leading 5–0 after seven behind a masterful performance by Sanford. Orleans rallied to score three in the eighth, and with two down in the ninth, pushed across another and put the tying run on second. With the series on the line, Sanford put Orleans batter Johnny Linnell in the hole with two quick strikes. Linnell managed to foul off the next five offerings before Sanford finally whiffed him on a high ball to claim the crown for the Clouters.[44]

In the late 1950s, brothers Billy and Bobby Cleary played for the Sagamore Clouters. The pair went on to lead the US to Olympic gold in ice hockey in 1960.

The Clouters faced Cotuit for the 1956 Upper Cape title, and swept the Kettleers in two games. Sagamore jumped out early in Game 1 at Lowell Park with a six-run second frame, and hurler Johnny Karras made it stand up, tossing a complete game in the 7–5 win. The Clouters pasted Cotuit at Keith Field in Game 2, striking in the second once again with an eight-run frame, and riding the strong arm of Dick Smith to the 13–2 victory.[45][46] The win sent Sagamore to the Cape League title series against the Lower Cape champion Dennis Clippers. Smith twirled a two-hitter in Game 1 of the title tilt, and the Clouters downed the Clippers at Dennis, 7–1. Game 2 was a tight pitcher's duel early, but Sagamore scratched out a 5–3 win to secure its third Cape League championship in six years.[47]

From 1956 to 1958, the Clouters featured Billy Cleary, the 1958 Upper Cape MVP, and his brother Bobby Cleary.[47][48][49] The Clearys were Harvard ice hockey standouts who would go on to lead the US ice hockey team to a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics.[50] Sagamore's 1958 and 1959 teams featured Bill Powers, who earned the Upper Cape Division's Most Valuable Pitcher Award in both seasons. The 1962 Clouters featured CCBL Hall of Famer Wayne Granger, who hit .329 with six homers.[51]

In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the NCAA. The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be a formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius.[52]

The league was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. The Clouters and Canalmen joined Wareham, Falmouth, and Cotuit in the Upper Cape Division.[53]

Bourne reached the playoffs in 1963, but was bumped out in the first round by Wareham. In 1964, CCBL Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello became Bourne's 21-year-old player-manager. Lamoriello had played in the Cape League since 1961 with Harwich and Orleans.[54] His 1964 Bourne club starred CCBL Hall of Famer and league batting champion Harry Nelson, who hit .390 for the season.[55][56]

CCBL Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello skippered Sagamore to the CCBL title in 1965.

Sagamore's 1963 team featured future major league all-star Billy Grabarkewitz, but the team finished in last place with only six wins on the season.

The two teams from Bourne merged for the 1965 season as the Sagamore Canalmen.[57][58] The 1965 team was skippered by Lou Lamoriello, now no longer in a player-manager role. Powered by an array of talented ballplayers, the 1965 club went 25–9 in the regular season and claimed the CCBL championship in a five-game series with Chatham. The Clouters starred league MVP Ron Bugbee, and future CCBL Hall of Famers Dan DeMichele,[59] shortstop Bob Schaefer,[60] and pitcher Noel Kinski, who won 10 games for the team.[39]

In 1967, the club reclaimed its former moniker Bourne Canalmen, and the late 1960s saw two more CCBL Hall of Fame players on the team. Former Bourne High School baseball star Jim Prete played several seasons in the CCBL with Bourne and Wareham.[61] Notre Dame slugger Dick Licini was league MVP in 1968, leading the league with a .382 batting average.[60]

Bourne withdrew from the league for the 1970 season, but was back the following season.[62] 1971 and 1972 saw the return of 1965 Sagamore shortstop Bob Schaefer, now the pilot of the Bourne team.[60] Schaefer's 1972 team featured CCBL Hall of Fame pitcher John Caneira, who racked up 119 strikeouts as the league's Outstanding Pitcher.[41] The team folded after the 1972 season,[63] beginning a 16-year period when Bourne would not field a team in the league.

Bill Mueller, 1992 Bourne Brave and starting third basemen for the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox

In 1988, the Cape League expanded from eight teams to ten, adding the Brewster Whitecaps and Bourne Braves, and forming two new five-team divisions. The drive to secure a team for Bourne was led by CCBL Hall of Famers Jack Aylmer, president of Bourne's Massachusetts Maritime Academy and a former state senator,[59] and Maritime head baseball coach Bob Corradi.[55][64] Aylmer had spearheaded the Cape League's addition of an expansion franchise in Hyannis in 1976,[65] and their positions at the Maritime Academy afforded Aylmer and Corradi a similar opportunity in 1988. The Bourne Braves called the Academy's Hendy Field home from 1988 to 1995, when they moved to Coady School Field next to Bourne High School.

In their inaugural 1988 season, the Braves were skippered by Maritime Academy assistant coach Jim Watkins.[66] Worcester, Massachusetts native and Dartmouth College product Mark Johnson played for the Braves in 1988 and 1989, and went on to play several seasons in the big leagues. In 1989, just the Braves' second year in the league, Watkins' squad finished the regular season in first place atop the West Division, but was bumped from the playoffs in the West finals by Hyannis.[67][68] The 1989 Braves starred infielder Bob Rivell, the league's 10th Player Award winner, who led the league with a .358 batting average, and also featured Cape Cod native Jeff Handler of Harwich, the team's starting third baseman from Eastern Connecticut State University.[66]

Bourne struggled throughout the 1990s, and fan support was low at times.[69] The team made the playoffs only twice, being ousted by Wareham in the West Division finals in both 1997 and 1998.[70] Notable players of the decade included local product Steve Corradi of Sandwich and UMass-Amherst, who was a league all-star for the Braves in 1990,[71][72] and returned to the Braves in 1991 and 1992.[73][74] The 1991 Braves featured two future CCBL Hall of Famers: Framingham, Massachusetts native Lou Merloni,[51] and tall righty Bill Wissler, who returned from the 1990 team and was named the league's Outstanding Pitcher in both seasons. Wissler had posted an 8–2 record with a 1.56 ERA in 1990. In 1991, he led the league in innings pitched with 92, and posted a 1.96 ERA with seven complete games and three shutouts.[75] The 1991 squad also featured slugger Bobby Higginson, who went on to an 11-year career with the Detroit Tigers. Bill Mueller was a Cape League all-star with the 1992 Braves,[76] then went on to win an American League batting title, and was starting third baseman for the World Series champion 2004 Boston Red Sox. 1992 Braves hurler Ron Villone left the team mid-season to play for Team USA at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona,[77][78][79] and 1994 Brave Mark Kotsay won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics before going on to a 17-year major league career. Future major league all-stars Brandon Inge and hurler Mark Mulder were CCBL all-stars for the Braves in 1997.[80]

Bourne's 2001 team featured CCBL Hall of Fame reliever Ryan Speier, winner of the league's Outstanding Relief Pitcher Award. Speier set a league record with 16 saves, and allowed only 10 hits, one walk, and one earned run in his 20 innings of relief.[61] The team made the playoffs, but was once again ousted by Wareham.

2003 saw the arrival of CCBL Hall of Fame manager Harvey Shapiro.[55][81] In his first year with the team, Shapiro would lead the Braves to their first appearance in the league's championship series, where they were defeated by Orleans.[82][83][84] The Braves were led by the microscopic earned run averages of Kyle Schmidt (0.55) and CCBL Hall of Famer Eric Beattie (0.39).[85] Beattie went 4–0 and struck out 51 while walking only six on the season, and was named the league's Outstanding Pitcher. The team would again reach the championship series in 2005, but was again shut down by Orleans.[86][87][88]

In 2006, the Braves moved from Coady Field to a new field constructed behind Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School. The following season, the field was dedicated as "Doran Park" in honor of George Doran, Sr.[89][90] The 2006 team was powered by future Boston Red Sox slugger Mitch Moreland, who won the league's annual All-Star Game Home Run Derby.[91]

CCBL Hall of Famer Kyle Roller was playoff MVP of the Braves 2009 championship team.

In 2009, the Braves finished in first place in the West Division, and featured the league's MVP in CCBL Hall of Famer Kyle Roller,[92] who hit .342 with 33 RBIs and a league-best 10 home runs during the regular season, and Pierre LePage, the spark plug of Shapiro's club, who was the league's 10th Player Award winner.[93] In a year when playoff seedings crossed divisional lines, Bourne faced old nemesis Orleans for the right to advance to the championship series.

Game 1 of the semi-final series did not look good for Bourne, as Orleans hurler Jorge Reyes dominated the Braves through eight innings at Doran Park, and took a 2–0 lead into the final frame. But with one out in the ninth, Bourne's Scott Woodward singled, and LePage drew a four-pitch walk that marked the end of Reyes' night. Roller then lined a shot off the shortstop's glove into left field that allowed Woodward to score on a close play at home. LePage scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch, and Stefan Romero belted a long sacrifice fly that brought in Roller from third with the walk-off score.[94] Game 2 at Eldredge Park was not as dramatic. Braves starter Seth Maness set down 10 straight Firebirds to open the game, and Bourne got solo shots from LePage and Roller, going on to shut out Orleans, 8–0, and sweeping its way into the CCBL title series against Cotuit.[95]

The championship series opened at Doran Park, with the Braves starting Alex Wimmers on the mound for Game 1. The Braves proceeded to jump all over the Kettleers, scoring seven in the first, and another six in the second, on a total of eight hits and eight walks in the first two frames. Cotuit managed only one run through five innings, but had begun to make noise in the sixth when the game was interrupted multiple times and finally called due to heavy fog, a 15–5 Braves victory.[96] In Game 2 at Lowell Park, LePage again was the spark, belting a two-run single in the third, then stealing second and drawing a throw that allowed Woodward to score from third to put the Braves up, 3–1. Bourne would never look back. Starter Eric Cantrell tossed five plus, then gave way to Logan Billbrough and closer Kevin Munson, who shut down the Kettleers' attack. Bourne took it, 5–1, to complete the sweep and earn the Braves' first CCBL title, and the first for a Bourne team since the 1965 Sagamore club. Roller took home playoff MVP honors, having hit .500 with eight RBIs in the post-season.[97][98][99]

Slugger Pete Alonso played for Bourne in 2015.

The Braves reached the playoffs in nine of ten years in the 2010s, advancing to the West Division finals five times. Bourne was back in the title series in 2017, but was downed by Brewster in a matchup of the two 1988 expansion franchises.[100] Skipper Harvey Shapiro continued to pilot the team throughout the decade, his total years with the Braves surpassing the total of all previous managers combined.[101][102]

In 2010, Bourne featured the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect and Outstanding Relief Pitcher, Tony Zych. Zych allowed only two runs while striking out 29 in 20.1 innings, posting an 0.89 ERA with 12 saves, and contributing a shutout inning in the CCBL All-Star Game.[103] Joining Zych on the 2010 staff was the league's Outstanding Pitcher, Grayson Garvin, who went 5–0 with a league-leading 0.74 ERA in 36.2 innings.[104] The Outstanding Pitcher Award went to a Brave for a second consecutive season when Ryan Eades took the 2011 honor. Eades posted a 3–0 record with an 0.84 ERA in 32.1 innings, and was the West Division starting pitcher at the CCBL All-Star Game.[105]

Bourne boasted the league MVP twice in the decade, as Travis Jankowski took home the honor in 2011, and Max Pentecost won it in 2013. Jankowski hit .329 and stole 15 bases, and led the league in hits, runs and triples.[106] Pentecost was among the league leaders in all three triple crown categories, finishing with a .346 average, 6 homers and 29 RBIs.[107] Braves hurler Jeff Thompson spun a no-hitter in a rain-shortened six-inning game against Harwich at Doran Park in 2012,[108] and pitchers Austin Gomber, Josh Laxer, and Ryan Harris teamed up for a combined no-hitter at Cotuit in 2013.[109]

Bourne's Spencer Brickhouse was West Division MVP at the 2018 CCBL All-Star Game, going 2-for-2 with a homer, double and two RBI's in the West's 4–3 victory.[110] A pair of Braves hurlers were named co-recipients of the league's Outstanding New England Player Award in 2018, as Justin Lasko of Stratford, Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts shared the honor with Methuen, Massachusetts native Jacob Wallace of the University of Connecticut.[111]

The 2020 CCBL season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[112]

* During the CCBL's 1923–1939 era, post-season playoffs were a rarity. In most years, the regular season pennant winner was simply crowned as the league champion.
However, there were four years in which the league split its regular season and crowned separate champions for the first (A) and second (B) halves. In two of those
seasons (1936 and 1939), a single team won both halves and was declared overall champion. In the other two split seasons (1933 and 1935), a post-season
playoff series was contested between the two half-season champions to determine the overall champion.
^† In 1933, Bourne joined the league mid-season after Provincetown withdrew.