Firebirds Kick Off Season With 2-0 Win Over Harwich!

On Friday night, the Orleans Firebirds kicked off what will hopefully be a solid 2011 summer season with a 2-0 win over the Harwich Mariners. In front of an Eldridge Park crowd of about 1,100, Tyler Johnson (Stony Brook) threw 6 solid innings, allowed 3 hits, and struck out 2.

In the first inning, the Firebirds loaded the bases on singles by Will Piwnica-Worms (Duke) and Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) followed by a walk to Steve Nyisztor (Rutgers). Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State) then hit a sacrifice fly to left that drove home Pwinica-Worms and put Orleans on the board. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, third-baseman Steve Nyisztor, hit a home run over the left field wall to put Orleans up 2-0.

John Brebbia (Elon) tossed two scoreless innings; he struck out two and allowed two hits. Trevor Gott (Kentucky) worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record his first save of the season.

The Firebirds are rained out for tonight against Bourne. Next, they travel to McKeon Field on Sunday for a double-header against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. Tune in at 4:00pm to the Firebirds broadcast (new link on helpful link page) for full coverage of the double-header.

Firebirds Beat Harwich 3-2 On Back-To-Back Hit-By-Pitches!

The Firebirds took down the Harwich Mariners tonight, 3-2, on my last day of school before summer vacation. Cameron Hobson (Dayton) got the start for the Firebirds and went six innings. He allowed one earned run, four hits, and two walks, while striking out one.

In the fourth inning, Will Piwnica-Worms (Duke) singled home Steve Selksy (Arizona) to give Orleans a 1-0 lead over Harwich.

In the sixth, the Firebirds increased their lead to 2-0 on a Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) RBI single scoring Kevin Muno (San Diego). In the bottom of the sixth, Harwich got a run back on a home run by Brian Goodwin (North Carolina). This was the one run allowed by Hobson.

Burny Mitchem (Dayton) came on in the seventh and walked his first batter faced, John Hicks (Virginia). Kenny Long (Illinois State) took the hill with one out in the seventh. The first batter he faced, Aaron Conway (Missouri State) hit a sacrifice fly to score Hicks and tie the game, 2-2. Long threw two and two thirds innings, allowed no runs, one hit, two walks, and struck out two.

In the ninth, Mick Doyle (Notre Dame) struck out to start the inning followed by a Danny Muno (Fresno State) double. Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) then drew a walk and a wild pitch advanced both Muno and Wong. Kevin Muno was then hit by the pitch in the helmet to load the bases. Steve Selsky was hit by a pitch in the back that allowed Danny Muno to trot home and give Orleans a 3-2 lead. Long held off the Mariners in the bottom of the inning to seal the deal and get his second win of the season.

The Firebirds improved to 5-5-0 on the season. They play the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox tomorrow for the first time this season at 7:00pm at Eldredge Park.

I am going to start posting stories in addition to scores on the blog making it more personal and interesting. Also, there is a new "Fan Counter" on the left side of the page. If you hit refresh on the homepage, the sidebars will not appear. You need to hit the "Home" tab if you wish to refresh the page.

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.

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.

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.