A-Team Gets Back on Track After First Loss of the Season

Brookline's A-Division Lou Tompkins All-Star team may have been making it look too easy in the first four games of the season.

The Bandits outscored their opponents 46-5 to open the season undefeated, but a funny thing happened on the way to a perfect season — they got beat.

On Tuesday, Brookline was edged 2-1 against a stout Medford team for the Bandits' first loss of the season. A little dose of humility? A learning lesson? Just ask the head coach.

"It's unfortunate," John Bucci said of the loss to Medford. "But sometimes you need a little wake up call when you've blown out a couple of teams and you need somebody to beat you 2-1 to remind you that you don't win just by showing up."

Gut-wrenching losses have a way of showing you what a team has inside, and if Thursday's 6-1 win over Cambridge at Warren Field is any indication of how this team feels, then consider the previous loss a learning opportunity.

Eric Dumas set the tone on the mound for Brookline in the top of the first by striking out the first two batters of the game — the first batter swinging and the second looking. The offense did their part in the home half of the inning by plating three runs to keep the momentum going.

Campbell Narron (1-for-2, two RBI, sac fly) smacked a RBI single in the first and Jonny Gold followed that up with a 2-run single.

That run support gave Dumas all the confidence he needed to go out there and throw strikes.

"It's always great when your team can help score runs," said Dumas, who threw 101 pitches through seven innings. "We hit the ball great today, which was awesome."

Dumas struck out seven and only allowed four hits in his complete game win. His only trouble came in the top of the fourth when he gave up an RBI double.

"Dumas is a shut-them-down kind of pitcher," said Bucci, whose squad is now 5-1 on the season. "When he's throwing strikes and he's feeling confident out there, he's really hard to hit."

The bats were quiet in Tuesday's loss to Medford, but on Thursday the lineup produced from top to bottom. Scott Cordner went 3-for-3 with three singles and an RBI from the bottom of the order and Gold had two hits and two RBI out of the six-hole.

In the bottom of the fifth, Alex Rozek singled, swiped second and third base and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to plate Brookline's final run. 

Brookline hits the road this weekend to play Reading at 5 p.m. on Saturday.