2023 Cape Cod Baseball League final ranking: Bourne Braves at #1. Who else made the top 5?

The 2023 Cape Cod Baseball League season was yet another campaign filled with standout performances, surprise stars and a postseason filled with drama and high-quality baseball.

What a season for the Bourne Braves, who repeated as league champions after making the postseason as the fourth seed in the West Division. It was a West Division that featured three teams (Cotuit Kettleers, Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Falmouth Commodores) with 50 or more points.

The East Division came down to the final day of the season, with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox holding off the charging Orleans Firebirds.

The champions, and the East Division champions, lead these rankings, and the rest of the top five behind them looks very different after the playoffs than it did after the regular season.

Here are my final rankings of the 2023 Cape Cod Baseball League season:

1. Bourne Braves

Don't let the Braves hear you say they went on a Cinderella run to their second straight Cape Cod Baseball League championship. They believed they were destined for that the whole season. Despite entering the postseason as the fourth seed in the West, the Braves swept Cotuit, beat Hyannis in three, and then dispatched of Orleans in three games to win the title.

Derek Bender bounced back from a rough first round series to light up the last two rounds, including a three hit, three RBI performance in the deciding championship series game. Bryce Eblin from Alabama ended his season riding an active 23-game hitting streak. Josh Kuroda-Grauer, after a disappointing regular season, bounced back in the playoffs helping Bourne go back-to-back, and earning the 2023 Playoff MVP award in the process.

2. Orleans Firebirds

The East Division champion Firebirds had a season that featured a little bit of everything. Manager Kelly Nicholson won his 400th game back on July 3, Jo Oyama (UC Irvine) took the league by storm, and the Firebirds nearly ended the season in first place in the East. Oyama, who was awarded the East Division MVP at the 2023 All-Star game, had a strong case for league MVP when the regular season ended. He led the league in triples with six, had five home runs, had a hitting average of .360, and scored 35 runs.

More: In his final Cape League start, Ivran Romero left it all on the field for Orleans

Although the Firebirds fell in three games to the Bourne Braves in the championship series, Oyama still had two home runs in the decisive game three, and three home runs in the postseason. Harvard's Sean Matson was the recipient of the Russ Ford Outstanding Relief Pitcher Award after not allowing an earned run in any of his regular season appearances.

3. Hyannis Harbor Hawks

Hyannis ended the summer as arguably the hottest team in the league after a scorching hot month of July. The Harbor Hawks surged into a second place finish in the West Division behind a league-leading offense, and beat the Falmouth Commodores in two games, but ultimately fell in three games to Bourne in the West Division Finals.

Florida State's Cam Smith received the Robert A. McNeese Outstanding Pro Prospect Award after pacing the entire league in both hits and runs scored. Jon Jon Gazdar only played 24 games between the regular season and the playoffs, but had 36 hits, scored 16 runs, and drove in 15. As a team, the Harbor Hawks had the most extra base hits in the league (108), while striking out the least in the league as a team (316).

4. Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox

The Red Sox reached the East Division finals after finishing in first place in the division on the final day of the regular season. They ended the season with 24 wins, and their season ended there with a sweep at the hands of the Orleans Firebirds. They were led by their pitching staff all season, with Smith Pinson (Kennesaw State), Finnegan Wall (UC Irvine), and Landon Beidelschies (Ohio State) forming a formidable trio all season long. The Red Sox allowed a league-low 203 runs during the regular season. Offensively, Hunter Hines did the majority of damage this season for the Red Sox, leading the league in home runs (13), and RBI (45).

5. Cotuit Kettleers

The curse of the President's Trophy re-emerged after taking a one-year hiatus last summer. Cotuit coasted through the regular season, recording a league high of 28 wins and 57 points, but ended up getting swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the eventual champion Braves. However, winning 28 out of 44 games is no small feat, and the Kettleers certainly had a great regular season, and it showed in Manager Mike Roberts being named Manager of the Year.

Camron Hill from Georgia Tech led the league in ERA en route to being named the "BFC Whitehouse Outstanding Pitcher," of the season. Cole Mathis (College of Charleston) anchored the Cotuit offense this summer, but Sean Keys (Bucknell) arrived late in the year and finished second on the team in both home runs and RBIs.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Final Cape Baseball League ranking: Why we put Cotuit Kettleers at #5.