Kuroda-Grauer, Pinkney, Ciuffreda Capture Cape Cod League Title
Aug 14 | Baseball
Josh Kuroda-Grauer, Hugh Pinkney and incoming transfer Pete Ciuffreda helped the Bourne Braves win their second straight championship on Sunday night – a 5-2 victory over the Orleans Firebirds. The Cape Cod League is the most prestigious summer collegiate baseball league in the country, with the top college players from all over the country spending their summers competing in the 100-year-old wood bat league.
Kuroda-Grauer was named Playoff MVP after a stellar eight-game stretch that saw him register six multi-hit games and go 16-for-36 (.444) at the plate with two home runs, six extra-base hits, 13 RBI and nine runs scored. He also appeared at No. 2 on the SportsCenter Top 10 plays after a diving catch in game one of the championship series. After joining the Braves late last season for their playoff push, Kuroda-Grauer now has a pair of Cape League championships under his belt.
Pinkney closed out his Summer on a high note, batting .372 over the final 14 games of the season and driving in a run in each of his final five games to close out the campaign. He started at catcher for Bourne in game two of the championship series and went 2-for-3 with a sac fly in the ninth inning to make it a one-run game.
Ciuffreda was an everyday player for Bourne, playing in 39 games and was one of the toughest outs in the entire league, posting a .410 OBP in the regular season and .476 OBP in the playoffs. He was on base in all six playoff games he appeared in and hit a home run in game one against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. He also scored a pair of runs with an RBI triple in the series-clinching win over Hyannis. He started in centerfield in the championship game on Sunday night and picked up a single in his first at-bat.
