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.

Firebirds Win One, Lose Two, Tie One After 3 Days Off

From Satursay (6/11) to Monday (6/13), the Firebirds saw five games either cancelled due to rain or unplayable field conditions.

After a short break from baseball, the Firebirds traveled to South Yarmouth on Tuesday to take on the Y-D Red Sox. Steve Selsky (Arizona) doubled in a run in the first to give Orleans an early lead. Y-D then responded with a run in the second and a run in the sixth. In the eighth, Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State) singled home Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) to tie the game at 2-2. Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth) struck out 2 and allowed 1 run and 5 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Marcus Stroman (Duke) pitched the seventh, eighth, and ninth. Stroman walked 1, allowed 1 hit, and struck out 5.

On Wednesday, the Firebirds took the first game of the double-header against Hyannis 5-1. Orleans opened the game up in the third inning by scoring 4 runs. Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) pitched 5 solid innings and got the win.The Firebirds then dropped game two 3-0 on a three-run walk-off homer by Hyannis's Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville).

Orleans dropped last night's game 3-0 to the Wareham Gatemen. Wareham's Justin Amlung (Louisville) pitched 6 solid innings and got the win. Alex Sherrod (USC) had the only hit of the game for the Firebirds.

The 2-2-1 Firebirds take on Falmouth tonight at 7:00pm. For full coverage check out the last link on the "Links" page at the top of the screen.