Firebirds Win 2 In A Row!

On Monday, the Firebirds faced the Chatham Anglers at Veterans Field and won 2-1.

Ryan Carpenter (Gonzaga) started the game and went five and one-third innings, allowing one run, four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. The run came on a Brian Humphries (Pepperdine) sacrifice-fly that scored Dan Paolini (Siena) in the third. Burny Mitchem (Dayton), John Brebbia (Elon), and Mitchell Lambson (Arizona State) combined to throw a perfect two and two-thirds innings. Marcus Stroman (Duke) pitched the ninth and allowed one hit while striking out one. Stroman earned himself the save.

The two Firebird runs came in the seventh and eighth when Will Piwnica-Worms (Duke) and Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) scored unearned runs due to errors.

Today, the Firebirds took on the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox at Red Wilson Field in a game that lasted ten innings. The Firebirds won this one 5-3.

The Firebirds were finally able to benefit from errors in the first inning when Kolten Wong (who reached base on an error) scored on another error.

Matt Sisto (Hawai'i) continued his excellence on the mound so far this season. Sisto went five innings, allowing no runs, two hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. Sisto dropped his earned run average to 0.84 on the season!

Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell) (who was released and then signed to a full contract due to the release of Elliott Glynn (UConn)) gave up a two-run home run to Matt Watson (Boston College). In the seventh, Matt Vinson (Arkansas) doubled home a run off of Joe Loftus (Vanderbilt). Loftus was relieved by Will Clinard (Vanderbilt).

In the bottom of the ninth, the Y-D Red Sox loaded the bases against Clinard. Mitchell Lambson came on in relief and was miraculously able to work Orleans out of a bases loaded, no out jam!

The Firebirds took advantage of Lambson's performance and wasted no time at all. Kolten Wong singled, followed by a Matt Newman (Arizona State) single. Then, with one out, Jayce Boyd (Florida State) singled them both home to give Orleans a 5-3 lead. The lead was preserved by Mitchell Lambson's one-two-three tenth inning.

Orleans improves to 9-12-0 and is currently tied with Harwich for the last playoff position. They are off tomorrow but host Yarmouth-Dennis on Thursday.

Also, I found out that the reason Alex Panteliodis (Florida) is not playing in Orleans is because he is having hip surgery over the summer.

Firebirds Fall To Y-D 3-2 And To Brewster 6-2

Sorry for the lack of blog posts; I haven't had much time to blog because of work.

The Firebirds lost to Yarmouth-Dennis yesterday 3-2. Jayce Boyd (Florida State) 'went yard' in his first at-bat as a Firebird. However, Ben McMahan's (Florida) 2-run double in the bottom of the seventh gave Yarmouth-Dennis the lead and eventually the win.

Earlier today, the Firebirds lost to the division leading Brewster Whitecaps 6-2. Martin Viramontes (Loyola Marymount) struggled early and gave up four runs in the first two innings. Elliott Glynn (UConn) gave up the other two runs. Burny Mitchem (Dayton) and John Brebbia (Elon) finished out the game and threw a combined two and one-third innings of perfect baseball. Matt Newman (Arizona State) went 3 for 4 in the loss and Kevin Muno (San Diego) hit a home run to left.

The Firebirds drop to 7-11 and are quickly falling behind Brewster, Yarmouth-Dennis, and Chatham. The Firebirds host the Chatham Anglers tomorrow on July 4th, 2010. Be sure to watch for some great Firebirds baseball and red, white, and blue bases.

Firebirds Unable To Avenge Opening Day Loss To Hyannis

Kyle Simon (Arizona) started the game for the Firebirds against Hyannis and went five innnings while allowing no runs on five hits and four strikeouts.

In the sixth, Elliott Glynn (UConn) came on in relief and gave up two runs. The first came on a double by Jeff Lusardi (Missouri) scoring Charlie Thurber (Tennessee). In the next at-bat, the catcher Dan Sheppard (Iowa) hit a single to left scoring Lusardi to put the Harbor Hawks up 2-0.

In the seventh, it had seemed that Glynn (2009 CCBL all star) had settled down until he gave up a double to Jason Nappi (Harding University). Nappi then scored on a single by Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State), whos grandmother was listening to the broadcast as well. Those three runs were all that was needed as Hyannis beat Orleans 3-0.

Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell) pitched the eighth and the ninth for Orleans. He allowed no runs and no hits while walking one and striking out five.

The best pitching of the night, however, was done by Hyannis's starter Tyler Ray (Troy). Ray went seven and two-thirds innings while allowing no runs on four hits and three strikeouts.

Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) went 2 for 3 in just his second game with the team.

The Orleans Firebirds now have a record of 4 wins, 5 losses, and 0 ties. They travel to Harwich tomorrow to take on the Mariners at Whitehouse Field at 7:00pm. Elliott Glynn will make his first start of the season on Sunday in the double-header against Bourne at home.

Firebirds Get Their Fourth Straight Win! 5-3 Over Cotuit!

Marcus Stroman (Duke) started the game for Orleans and threw five scoreless innings whiles striking out five and only allowing three hits. Cameron Hobson (Dayton) came on in relief and allowed Cotuit to cross the plate twice on sacrifice flies. Dennis O'Grady (Duke) then came on and threw one and two-thirds perfect innings. Burny Mitchem (Dayton) came on in the ninth, loaded the bases, and allowed a run; but eventually picked up the save and sealed the win for Orleans.

Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) lead off the bottom of the first with a single, followed by consecutive walks to Kevin Muno (San Diego), Steve Selsky (Arizona), and Will Piwnica-Worms (Duke). Wong scored on Piwnica-Worms' walk. Then, Shon Roe (Loyola Marymount) hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Kevin Muno. Ronnie Shaeffer (UC-Irvine) followed with a sacrifice fly of his own to center that scored Selsky. The Orleans Firebirds scored three runs in the first inning on just one hit.

In the second inning, Steve Selsky hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated Cam Kneeland (UMass-Lowell) and put Orleans up 4-0.

In the fifth, Will Piwnica-Worms singled home Kevin Muno after he stole third two pitches earlier.

Will Piwnica-Worms was the offensive star of the game for Orleans. He went 2 for 4 and drove in two runs. Steve Selsky now leads the Cape Cod Baseball League in batting average with his .478 average. Kolten Wong also added to his league leading 8 stolen bases.

The Orleans Firebirds are starting to piece everything together. Will Clinard, Jason Esposito, and Joe Loftus (All from Vanderbilt) should be in Orleans and activated for Tuesday. Elliott Glynn (UConn) is also back in Orleans after playing for the Firebirds in 2009 and the Cardinals in 2008. The Firebirds are off tomorrow and host the Brewster Whitecaps on Tuesday at 7:00pm.

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.

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.

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