Firebirds Fall to 11-11-3 After 2-0 Loss to Gatemen

Tonight's game against the Wareham Gatemen featured very little offense supporting the stereotypical idea of the Cape League as primarily a pitchers' league. Wareham's Joshua Turley (Baylor) dominated the Firebirds offense tonight, striking out 8 and allowing just 1 hit through 5 innings pitched.

On the Firebirds side of things, Ryan Carpenter (Gonzaga) threw 6 strong innings despite picking up the loss. Carpenter's two big mistakes came in the second inning when he game up back-to-back solo home runs to Daniel Palka (Georgia Tech) and Johnny Field (Arizona). Carpenter allowed 5 hits and 2 runs through 6 innings while striking out 7 Gatemen.

A strong bullpen combination of Pat Butler (UConn), Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth), and Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) finished off the game for Orleans.

The Firebirds only hit through the first 8 and 2/3 innings came in the first inning off the bat of Matt Duffy (Long Beach State). With two outs in the ninth, Jayce Boyd (Florida State) tried to rally the 'Birds with a double but it was just too little too late.

The Firebirds now sit in third place in the East Division with a record of 11-11-3 and 25 points. Harwich and Brewster sit at the top of the East with 32 and 29 points respectively. Y-D is in fourth place with 23 points followed by Chatham's 13.

Ben Waldrip's (Jacksonville State) 5 home runs have him tied for the league lead with Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) of Cotuit. There is the possibility we may see him in the Home Run Derby at Fenway Park before the Cape League All-Star Game on July 29.

Matt Duffy and Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) are tied for the team's high batting average at .294. Andrew Aplin (Arizona State) follows them with a .290 average; Steve Selsky (Arizona) trails with his .253 average.

Ryan Carpenter leads the Orleans pitching staff with 20 strikeouts. Closer, Trevor Gott's (Kentucky) 6 saves seem to be going unnoticed. Gott has a 0.77 ERA with 14 strikeouts.

The Firebirds try to end their two-game losing skid tomorrow night against the Y-D Red Sox at 5:00pm.

Kevin Muno's 2 RBI's Help Take Down Wareham 3-0!

The Firebirds came into this game looking for a win after being swept in the Sunday double-header by Bourne. They got just what they were looking for tonight against Wareham. Matt Sisto (Hawai'i) started the game for Orleans and went five and one-third innings, allowed two hits, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout. Eric Pfisterer (Duke) started the game for the Gatemen and went six innings, allowed five hits, one run, and one walk, while striking out four.

The Firebirds started the scoring off early. In the bottom of the first, Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) doubled and was singled home by Steve Selsky (Arizona).

Will Clinard (Vanderbilt) came on after Sisto and threw one inning. Clinard allowed no runs, one hit, and two walks. He was relieved by Marcus Stroman (Duke) who threw two and two-thirds innings, allowing no hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) singled to start the rally. Then, Danny Muno (Fresno State) doubled out of the nine hole and moved Koch to third. Kevin Muno (San Diego) drove home Koch and his younger brother Danny home to expand the lead to 3-0.

The two runs were charged to Joseph Flynn (Franklin Pierce) who gave up three hits, no walks, and recorded no strikeouts. Andrew McKirahan (Texas) pitched the eighth for Wareham and gave up no runs on two hits.

Matt Sisto got the win. Eric Pfisterer took the loss. Marcus Stroman recorded the save. Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt), Danny Muno, and Steve Selsky each had two hits in the 3-0 win. Orleans hosts Yarmouth-Dennis tomorrow at 7:00pm and look for back-to-back home wins in their red caps.

Firebirds Sweep Wareham In D-H!

Sorry for the delay on the post. Orleans won the first game 4-3 and the second game 7-2. Check out http://orleansfirebirds.com/061910.html for the complete article on the sweep.

Orleans Clinches Playoffs With A Win And A Tie At Wareham!

Game 1: 2-2. Matt Packer threw 6 and 2/3 innings and only allowed 3 hits and 2 earned runs. Devin Lohman and Steve Selsky drove in both Firebird runs on RBI singles. After 9 innings (D-H games are supposed to be 7 innings), the game was called.

Game 2: 6-5. Orleans got itself into an early, 4-1 deficit but was determined to climb back. The "Firebird Comeback" was charged by a Devin Lohman 3-run triple and a Jeremy Gould 2-run double.

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!