Firebirds 2010 Season In Review... Plus, A Look At 2011

Eldredge Park 8/3/10 vs Chatham [Click to Enlarge]

Greetings from Orleans... I have been up on the Cape for the last week and a half and got to watch the end of the Firebirds' season. The Orleans Firebirds finished off the regular season with a record of 23-19-2 and 48 total points. They finished third in the Eastern Division and qualified for playoffs.

They faced Brewster in the first round of the playoffs and dug themselves into a hole early with an 8-2 loss in game one. In game two, they were able to bounce back and win 4-1 at home. In game three, the Firebirds took an early 4-2 lead and were unable to hold it.

In the ninth inning, with the game tied and Brewster threatening with the winning run on first, All Star closer, Marcus Stroman (Duke) entered the game with confidence. Stroman struck out Brewster second baseman Khayyan Norfork (Tennessee) who had been hot, hitting .462 in the playoffs. Brewster was able to push the winning run, Derek Jones (Washington State), into scoring position. Then, Taylor Ard (Mt. Hood Community College) hit a ball into the hole between second and third that looked like it could get through and possibly win the game. Shon Roe (Loyola Marymount) made an extraordinary play to retire Ard at first and hold Jones at second. Stroman then powered past Jeremy Schaffer (Tulane) to get out of the inning. In the tenth, Ronnie Shaeffer (UC Irvine) drove in Matt Newman (Arizona State) with a single and set up Orleans for a 5-4 win and a trip to South Yarmouth for game one of the Divisional finals.

In game one against the Y-D Red Sox, the Firebirds scored 10 runs. Most of the time, this is enough to blow out a team in the Cape League. The only problem was that Y-D scored 23 runs and crushed Orleans by 13 runs. In game two in the best-of-three series, Orleans lost 13-4 to put an end to their summer season.

Kolten Wong (Hawai'i), Marcus Stroman, and Kyle Simon (Arizona) got to play at Fenway Park on July 28th in the 2010 CCBL All Star Game. Wong went 0 for 4, Stroman allowed no runs on one hit, and Simon allowed one run on two hits. The West beat the East 5-0. Also, the most powerful hitters in the league competed in a Home Run Derby before the game. No Firebirds participated in this but Steve Selsky (Arizona) certainly deserved to and really wanted to.

Now that I've explained the playoffs and the All Star Game, I can get to my review of some of the players' summer performances.

First off, I would like to say congratulations to Kolten Wong, who received the MVP award for the 2010 regular season. I was unable to see Kolten play this season because he returned home to the islands on August 2nd due to a thumb injury. Wong hit .341 on the summer with 3 home runs and 11 RBI's. Wong will likely be drafted in the first or second round of the 2011 draft because of the hardware that he possesses as 'CCBL MVP.'

Marcus Stroman finished off the summer with 11 saves in 11 opportunities. He pitched 28 innings without allowing a single run on the summer! Stroman also only allowed 12 total hits on the season. Not only is Stroman a "lights out" closer, but he has a decent bat to go with it.

Steve Selsky finished off the season with 7 total home runs which was the second highest total in the league. Three of his home runs came in three straight playoff games. His .273 average was one of the higher ones on the team and when a home run was needed, Selsky was the guy to hit it. Selsky was drafted in the 34th round in 2010 but I would look for him to go a lot earlier in 2011.

Kevin Muno finished off his three year run on the Cape with a loss to his brother Danny [Muno] in the second round of playoffs. Kevin's time in an Orleans' uniform however was a success compared to most other Cape Leaguers. In 2007, Muno hit .182 in just 9 games as a freshman. He did not play for Orleans in 2008 but in 2009 he was invited back and hit .257 with 1 home run and 16 RBI's. He did this after being injured for most of the 2009 NCAA season and medically redshirted for that year. In 2010, Muno returned as a redshirt junior and hit .243 with 1 home run and 9 RBI's. Muno spent a lot of time as the Firebirds' leadoff hitter but was tossed around in the line-up a lot. Kevin was one of the most clutch hitters on the team. Kevin Muno was a 'fan favorite' in Orleans especially to my cousin Matt and to Dougie "Muno," who is one of the biggest Firebirds fans. In the CCBL, making it through a full summer with an average over .220 is an achievement itself. Muno, who did this multiple times, was not drafted in 2010 but will most likely be selected in June of 2011.

Shon Roe finished off the season with a .299 average after going 4 for 6 in the final game of the regular season in Chatham. In the playoffs, Roe hit his only home run of the summer and batted .348. Shon ended the season with a 10-game hitting streak since July 26, 2010. A streak that included 18 total hits and 5 muti-hit games.

Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) was added to the roster in the last week of the season. He only had 2 hits in 3 games for the Firebirds during the regular season. However, in the playoffs Tissenbaum exploded, hitting 9 times in 21 at bats for a .429 batting average. Coach Kelly Nicholson moved Tissenbaum up into the second slot in the line-up for the playoffs after their game one loss to Brewster. When you combine his playoff and regular season performance, his batting average ends up at .344 on the summer.

Preston Tucker (Florida) is one of the best hitters in the NCAA, although his .113 average did not show. In the playoffs, however, Tucker got used to the wood bat and hit 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and drove in 3 runs. Expect Tucker (a sophomore going into his junior season) to get drafted in the middle rounds in 2011 because of the excellent numbers he puts up for the Gators.

Kyle Simon finished off the regular season with a 1-2 record and a 0.92 ERA in 39 innings. Simon will likely be drafted pretty early in 2011 after a stellar summer on the Cape.

Matt Sisto (Hawai'i) will head back to school with a 3-2 record and 1.79 ERA on the summer (playoffs included). Sisto will also probably be drafted in the earlier rounds of the 2011 draft.

The Firebirds' bullpen was capped by low ERA's all together. Marcus Stroman, of course, anchored the 'pen with his 0.00 ERA. Mitchell Lambson (Arizona State) got the 'Birds out of some big jams and also only had a 0.96 ERA. Side-armer, Kenny Long (Illlinois State) had a regular season ERA of 1.13. Also, Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell) finished with an ERA of 1.71.

Now, we look forward to the 2011 season. By doing so, this brings up many questions and options.

One major one is "Who will return?" Most of the time, the guys who play in the Cape their freshman season return for their sophomore season. With that we can look for Jayce Boyd and Maxx Tissenbaum to return and play a key role on the 2011 team. Also, some guys who played as sophomores will return for their junior year; some others will not. The number of players who will return as juniors in 2011 will determine how many sophmores will be needed to fill the roster.

One of the major questions is if Marcus Stroman will be back in a Firebirds uniform in 2011. He will be a sophomore who is ineligible for the 2011 MLB Draft. Does this mean he will return to Orleans? Will he be invited to Team USA? Will the Firebirds' bullpen be as strong as it was in 2010? This all depends on what Stroman decides to do in 2011. Also, if he is invited to play for Team USA, will he choose to go? Kolten Wong didn't go and ended up winning MVP of the whole league.

The Firebirds will look to rebound in 2011 and win a CCBL Championship. I will keep you updated throughout the offseason on the 2011 schedule, 2011 temporary roster release, big league debuts, and other information regarding the Firebirds.