Matt Koch: A Hero Again! ORL wins 3-2!

Matt Koch wins it in the bottom of the 9th for Orleans by driving in Ross Heffley and Jeremy Gould! He singled to left in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, after fouling off 5 pitches. That's all for tonight as I have to finish packing for my trip to Orleans. Magic Number down to 2! D-H tomorrow at Wareham; no Twitter updates, sorry.

Firebirds Win 6 to 5 in 12 Innings!!!

Firebirds' ace, Rob Rasmussen took the hill for Orleans. He went 4 innings allowing 2 earned runs. Rasmussen left with the game tied 3-3. Steve Selsky's and Devin Lohman's home runs provided the first 3 runs of the game for Orleans.

The Firebirds got another run in the 5th on a very odd play. Mike Olt blooped one to center that Falmouth's center fielder, Todd Cunningham dropped. Running on 2 outs, Ross Heffley scored easily. Then, Danny Muno tried to score and was thrown out at home to end the inning with a mini-collision at the plate.

In the 9th, Orleans allowed 2 runs and Falmouth took a 5-4 lead over Orleans.

In the bottom of the 9th, Jaren Matthews reached on a walk. Gary Brown sacrifice bunted him over to 2nd. Devin Lohman moved him over on a ground out. Then, Matt Koch stepped to the plate and singled to left to drive Matthews in and tie the game.

On to the 12th now with Orleans batting. At this point, they could only tie or win because 12 is the maximum number of innings in the regular season that a game can go into. Kevin Muno, who went 4 for 5, walked. His younger brother, Danny tried to sacrifice bunt him over but drew a walk. Mike Olt was then intentionally walked. Jaren Matthews came up with 1 out and grounded to 2nd base. The 2nd basemen threw home and got Danny Muno out at home. The catcher tried to complete the double play by getting Matthews at 1st but threw it away; allowing Mike Olt to score the winning run for Orleans.

Magic Number down to 3 wins to make the playoffs! Remember, this number decreases every time that Orleans wins and (or) Brewster loses. Yarmouth-Dennis has clinched itself a playoff spot also. Orleans takes on Harwich at home on Friday. I may have coverage of that one on Twitter and may not. Also, they have a double-header at Wareham on Saturday. I will not have coverage of that on Twitter. The post for that game will probably just include the scores.

Also, Alex Hassan will sign a contract with the Red Sox Thursday at Fenway Park.

Firebirds' Magic Number Stuck At 5 As They Fall To Brewster 4 to 2

The game started out rough for Elliot Glynn as he went 2 and 1/3 allowing 4 earned runs. Harold Martinez hit a 2-run homer of Glynn to give the Whitecaps a 4-0 lead. Orleans bullpen did great, however, by combining to pitch 5 and 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Orleans started its comeback with a Mike Olt double and a Danny Muno sacrifice fly to score Olt. Jeremy Gould drove in the other Firebird run. That wasn't enough runs to outscore the Whitecaps. Orleans fell short 4-2.

Also contributing to the Firebirds offense were Riccio Torrez and his triple, Hampton Tignor's 2 hits, and Jeremy Gould's 2 hits.

The Orleans Firebirds are 19-16-1 and currently sit 2nd in the east. Remember, the top 3 teams in each division make the playoffs so they are almost in with Chatham (3rd place) having lost 8 in a row and still in 3rd.

Orleans needs 5 wins to clinch. With 8 games left this number seems hard to reach, but it is not what it seems. 5 games means that if Brewster wins all of its remaining 7 games then Orleans has to win 5. Every time the Firebirds win and (or) Brewster loses, the number decreases. They take on Falmouth tomorrow.

Magic Number Down To 6 As Jorge Reyes Twirls Gem At Eldredge

Jorege Reyes allowed 1 hit and 0 earned runs in the Firebirds win over Harwich. Surprisingly, Orleans got down 1-0 in the 6th on an unearned run. Mike Olt and Kevin Muno both plated runs in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead, 2-1. Riccio Torrez then "went yard" in the 8th to add some insurance. Alex Hassan shut the doors to a 3-1 Orleans win.

Hassan Provides Emotional Spark In Firebirds 8-6 Comeback Win

Short summary for this one. Orleans went down 6-2 and scored 6 unanswered runs to win 8-6 over Hyannis. Both benches were warned also because of some confrontation between Alex Hassan and the Mets' pitcher because of the two batters hit in the same inning. Hassan then singled to provide an emotional spark.

Orleans Gives Up 2 In The 9th And Falls To The Gatemen 2-1

This game seemed to be a pitchers deul between Matt Packer and Bruce Kern. Packer pitched 5 innings allowing 3 hits and 0 runs. Kern threw 4 innings of relief for Wareham and gave up 0 runs on 1 hit. Cole Cook then came in and allowed just 4 hits in 3 innings. He allowed 1 earned run, however, by allowing a single to Jordan Swagerty in the top of the 9th who later scored on Brett Wiebley.

Gary Brown drove in the lone Firebird run.

Orleans travels to Hyannis Saturday to take on the Mets and hopefully rebound from their last 4 losses. Go Firebirds!

East Loses 3-0 in 4.5 innings

Not many words can explain the All-Star game at Fenway Park. All of the subs had gotten in and the game was just starting to get interesting when they "called the game" due to heavy rain. However, it was not like they had a rain delay and waited a while. After the East finished their fifth at bats, they brought the tarps out and almost instantly "called it." Rasmussen and Brown started the game. Alex Hassen and Elliot Glynn also got put into the game. Casey Gaynor, on the other hand, was one of 9 pitchers who did not get into the game.

However, warming up and just being at Fenway and on the field was a very memorable time for the players.

(Images courtesy of Rob Rasmussen)

Firebirds (ex. Ras, GBrown, Hass, Gaynor, and Glynn) Get 3 Off Days To Re-Group

The Firebirds and Mets got rained out today. To cheer up all the Firebird fans I've added this video to the blog. In this video, a current Firebird was trying to pass the time while the Orleans' bus broke down, last year, on the way to Bourne.

Who is it? It's Gary Brown!

The make up date was just determined. Because of the many rain outs and the shortage of days left to complete the season, they scheduled the make-up game for August 3 and pushed the Chatham game scheduled for that day back to August 4th.

Red Barn Doesn't Do Much As Orleans Drops 3rd Straight to Y-D

Orleans came in to Monday's game looking to rebound from Sunday's losses. To do so, they threw one of their three aces, Casey Gaynor. Gaynor is a product of Toms River East HS (Boo!); so he knows all about big games. He went 5 innings of baseball and allowed 3 earned runs. However, the Firebirds could not provide Gaynor with enough run support and he got the loss. The Firebirds didn't have trouble getting the bat on the ball, but had trouble finding holes in the Y-D defense.

Orleans' defense was stellar in this one. They got some fine plays from Gary Brown, Danny Muno, and Devin Lohman.

No spectacular hitting performances in this one by Orleans but many contributions from everyone. Gary Brown, Alex Hassan, Ross Heffley, Hampton Tignor, Riccio Torrez, Danny Muno, and former Y-D Red Sox outfielder, Steve Selsky each had one hit. Ross Heffley drove in the only Orleans' run of the game.

On the other side, Chris Sale and Drew Hayes were pretty untouchable for Y-D. Austin Wates had another good game for the Red Sox going 2 for 4 with 2 thefts.

Y-D is going to be a tough opponent in the playoffs if both teams make it. Next time, it's going to take a little more pizza to feul the Firebirds.

Also, this was the first time that both team's starting catchers (Orleans' Hampton Tignor and Y-D's Ben McMahan) were from the same college, Florida.

The Birds look to rebound Tuesday night against Hyannis. Let's Go Firebirds!!!

Firebirds Drop Two Games In One Day

Not much went well for the Firebirds which means I'll keep it simple.

Kudos to Jorge Reyes on his 4 strikeout 1st inning. Also, Gary Brown has been tagged in every article that I've had so far so I'll throw him in.

The Firebirds were swept today as Y-D came in and "did work." However, the team went to Red Barn Pizza after the game to re-group and beat Y-D tomorrow (courtesy of Hampton Tignor, haha).

Beat Down In Bourne! Firebirds Win 11-1!

Remember Kevin Muno's 4-hit performance three nights ago? That was the 1st, 4-hit game Orleans had had in almost 2 years. The way the Firebirds have been playing, someone was bound to do it again. This time it was Devin Lohman. Lohman went 4 for 5 in Orleans 11-1 win over Bourne.

Orleans quickly got on the board with a Jaren Matthews RBI single in the 1st. Bourne put up 1 in the 2nd but the lead fell back into the Firebirds' hands in the 3rd on a Danny Muno 2-run double to score Gary Brown. Then, a Jaren Matthews sacrifice fly scored Danny Muno to make it a 4-1 Firebird lead.

Orleans went down quietly in the 4th which means its time to "explode" in the fifth. They did just that. Actually, they did more than that. The big inning began with singles by Alex Hassan and Jaren Matthews. Alex Hassan scored on a wild pitch. Steve Selsky was walked and that brought up Jeremy Gould. Gould hit a 3-run homer to drive in Matthews and Selsky to give Orleans an 8-1 lead. Then, Matt Koch started them back up with a single and was driven home on Devin Lohman's first "big fly" of the summer. 10-1 Orleans after 5.

Orleans didn't strike again until the 9th when Devin Lohman drove in Koch while grounding out. If Lohman could have gotten another hit, he would have became the first Orleans player to go 5 for 5 since "who knows when."

Orleans has a double header on Sunday against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Orleans Beats Harwich 10-2 To Take Over 1st Place Due To The Chatham Loss

After Harwich went up 2-0 in the 2nd on a Levi Michael solo homer, it was all Orleans from there.

A Riccio Torrez RBI single and an Alex Hassan 2-run single gave Orleans a 3-2 lead in the 4th inning that would later increase to a 5-2 lead.

The Firebirds exploded in the 7th as Gary Brown drove in 2 runs with a single. On the play, he got into a run down and the fielder was called for interference; Brown was awarded second. Then Brown stole 3rd and the throw went into left field, allowing Brown to score and give the Firebirds an 8-2 lead.

Are we done yet? No...

In the 8th, Hampton Tignor drove in a run with an RBI single. This was followed up with a Gary Brown RBI double to preserve the win.

The storms held off, but a lot of fog rolled in around in the 9th inning. Over in Wareham, there was a 2 hour rain delay. However, the storms moved slightly north of Harwich to allow the game to continue. Rob Rasmussen got the win for the Firebirds as he improves to 3-0 and his next assignment will be on the hill at Fenway Park on July 23rd. The Firebirds travel to Bourne tomorrow and take on the Braves at 5:30.

All Star Roster Announced, 5 Firebirds

Firebirds' Rob Rasmussen will take the hill for the East All Stars at Fenway Park on July 23rd. Ras is 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA in 3 starts.

Gary Brown will get the start in center. Brown is hitting .353 with 2 HR and 9RBI in just 16 games. Brown also has 7 stolen bases.

On the roster as reserves are Alex Hassan, Casey Gaynor, and Elliot Glynn. Hass is hitting .272 with 1 big fly and 15 RBI. He also has a 1.50 ERA and 2 saves. The Firebirds noticed his ability to pitch after Kyle Kamppi's departure last year leaving the "closer" role wide open. Gaynor is 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA in 5 starts. Glynn is 2-1 with a 1.05 ERA. http://capecodbaseball.org/archives/Arc2009/AllStar/CCBL_E_all_stars2009.htm

^^East Roster

http://capecodbaseball.org/archives/Arc2009/AllStar/CCBL_W_all_stars2009.htm

^^West Roster

Kevin Muno Comes Up Big But Darkness Ends Game With Orleans Down 5-3

If only the game could have continued... Oh well, let's get started.

The Cotuit Kettleers got out to an early lead on a Cory Vaughn RBI single. Orleans responded with a double by Kevin Muno, a Muno stolen base and a Devin Lohman RBI single to tie it at 1-1.

The Kettleers then scored 2 in the bottom 3rd to take a 3-1 lead. Firebirds turn. They responded with 4 runs on a Matt Koch RBI double, an Alex Hassan RBI ground out, and a Riccio Torrez 2-run double. 5-3 Firebirds.

Then, it was all Kettleers from there as Cotuit scored 2 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th on Tony Plagman's 2 RBI's before the game was called. 8-5 Kettleers over the Firebirds.

Gary Brown and Devin Lohman had 2 hits each for the Firebirds. The real stud, however, was Kevin Muno. Muno went 4 for 4, and stole 2 bases. The starting pitchers, Cole Cook and Seth Blair, each went 4 innings allowing 5 earned runs. Benjamin Rowen picked up the win and Tommy Kahnle got the loss. The 15-11 Firebirds travel to Harwich on Friday to take on the former Cape League champion Mariners.

Firebirds... win? lose? No, they TIE

The Firebirds only get 1 point tonght as they tie the Brewster Whitecaps in 11 innings. In the 4th, Gary Brown tripled home a run and then scored to make it 2-1 Firebirds. Brown then hit a solo shot in the 7th to give the Firebirds a 3-1 lead over Brewster. Then, in the bottom of the 8th, Tim Ferguson hit a 2 run double to tie the game for the Whitecaps. Alex Hassan then proceeded to pitch a scoreless 9th. Orleans came close to pushing the winning run across but Jeremy Gould was thrown out at 2nd to end the top of the 11th. Brewster then got up and stranded runners at 1st and 3rd to end the ball game at a 3-3 tie.

This is Orleans' 1st tie giving them an odd number of points. On the other hand, Brewster is quite familiar to the 1 pointer having 4 of them on the season. The Orleans Firebirds take on Cotuit in a make-up game tomorrow night.

4 Run 2nd Lifts Kettleers Over Birds

The Firebirds got off to a 1 run lead in the 1st but were unable to hold it as Matt Hiserman surrendered 4 runs in the top of the 2nd. The Firebirds were unable to claw their way back in this one and took the loss, 6 to 2. Mike Olt and Alex Hassan both went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Jaren Matthews and Matt Koch each had 2 hits in the loss. Brian Guinn and Cory Vaughn each had 2 RBI's in Cotuit's win. Thier pitcher, Jake Buchanan pitched a CG allowing 1 earned run on 6 hits.

Orleans is now 15-10-0 and still sits at the top of the East. They take on Brewster today and look to start a new winning streak.

4 Points In 1 Day!

Orleans had been rained out twice against Bourne causing for a Monday night, double dip in Orleans. Orleans came into the game with 13 wins and 9 losses while Bourne had 13 wins and 7 losses and 2 ties. Orleans was leading the East with Bourne leading the West. Is this a preview of the Cape League finals? Who knows?


Game One was highlighted with a Riccio Torrez two-run double to give the Firebirds the edge over the Braves. Alex Hassan went 2 for 3 and also came in to record the final 2 outs of the game for the Birds. Jimmy Reyes picked up his 3rd win of the season allowing just 2 earned runs on 4 hits over 6 and 1/3. As for Bourne, Pierre LePage had two of their four hits, one of them being a 2-bagger. Chris Wallace also hit his 2nd homer of the year off of Reyes. Orleans took game one 6 to 2.



Game Two was decided by a wild pitch from Kevin Munson allowing Steve Selsky to score Orleans' 2nd run to give them a 2 to 1 victory over the Braves. Jorge Reyes threw six tremendous innings out of the 'pen but it was Matt Packer who got his 2nd "W" this year. Gary Brown went 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Birds while Kyle Roller went 2 for 3 for the Bourne Braves.


The Orleans Firebirds improve to 15 and 9 and have won 9 of their last 11 games. They take on the Cotuit Kettleers on Tuesday.