Firebirds Fall To Harbor Hawks 3 To 2 In 11 Innings

The Orleans Firebirds opened up their season Monday night in Hyannis taking on the Harbor Hawks. Matt Sisto (Hawai'i) took the hill for the Firebirds and gave up a two-run home run to Jason Nappi (Harding University) in the first. After giving up the big fly, Sisto settled down and was unhittable. Sisto went five innings and gave up three hits and two earned runs. Burny Mitchem (Dayton), Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell), and John Brebbia (Elon) combined for four scoreless innings of relief. Pictured is the infield (Left to Right) 3B-Kolten Wong, SS-Shon Roe, 1B-Dennis O'Grady, and 2B-Danny Muno during Leathersich's warmup.

Trent Howard (Central Michigan) took the hill for the Harbor Hawks. He went five and two-thirds innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. Howard was going strong until the sixth inning when he gave up a leadoff single to Shon Roe (Loyola Marymount), a single to Kevin Muno (San Diego), and a sacrifice bunt by Danny Muno (Fresno State) to move the runners over. Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) singled home Roe to pull the 'Birds within one run. One of Orleans' best hitters, returning Firebird Steve Selsky (Arizona) laid down an unexpected bunt to bring Kevin Muno home and tie the game at two.

In the eleventh inning, the Firebirds loaded up the bases but stranded all three runners as Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston State) got Hyannis out of a jam. The Harbor Hawks came up in the bottom of the eleventh against Kenny Long (Illinois State) and their first two batters, Corey McElroy (Auburn) and Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) reached base with a walk and a bunt single. Jason Nappi singled to load the bases for Cody Stubbs (Tennessee). Stubbs put the ball into the outfield like he was assigned to do, and got the sacrifice fly that he needed to bring McElroy in and put a "1" in the win column for Hyannis.

Kevin Muno did an impressive job in the leadoff spot for the Firebirds with two hits, a stolen base, and a run. Muno is in his third season for Orleans. He played for Orleans for half of the 2007 season, the entire 2009 season, and now the 2010 season. His younger brother Danny returns as well after playing for the Firebirds in 2009. Kevin Muno and Martin Viramontes (Loyola Marymount) are the only two players left on the Firebirds 2010 roster who played for the "Orleans Cardinals." Also returning to the Firebirds is catcher, Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount).

The Firebirds pitching looked great tonight, too. We are still awaiting the arrival of some key pitchers. Mitchell Lambson (Arizona State), Nolan Belcher (South Carolina), and Alex Panteliodis (Florida). We also await the arrival of  big bats, Riccio Torrez, Drew Maggi, and Matt Newman (Arizona State), Jayce Boyd (Florida State), and powerhouse Preston Tucker (Florida). They are all still playing in the College World Series so good luck to all of them!

First baseman and pitcher Nick Ramirez (CS-Fullerton) were recently eliminated by former Firebird Rob Rasmussen's (UCLA) unbelievable outing. Also on their way up to the Cape are Joe Loftus, Will Clinard, and Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt).

Tune in on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 as the Firebirds host the Brewster Whitecaps at 7:00pm.

Firebirds Win 6 to 5 in 12 Innings!!!

Firebirds' ace, Rob Rasmussen took the hill for Orleans. He went 4 innings allowing 2 earned runs. Rasmussen left with the game tied 3-3. Steve Selsky's and Devin Lohman's home runs provided the first 3 runs of the game for Orleans.

The Firebirds got another run in the 5th on a very odd play. Mike Olt blooped one to center that Falmouth's center fielder, Todd Cunningham dropped. Running on 2 outs, Ross Heffley scored easily. Then, Danny Muno tried to score and was thrown out at home to end the inning with a mini-collision at the plate.

In the 9th, Orleans allowed 2 runs and Falmouth took a 5-4 lead over Orleans.

In the bottom of the 9th, Jaren Matthews reached on a walk. Gary Brown sacrifice bunted him over to 2nd. Devin Lohman moved him over on a ground out. Then, Matt Koch stepped to the plate and singled to left to drive Matthews in and tie the game.

On to the 12th now with Orleans batting. At this point, they could only tie or win because 12 is the maximum number of innings in the regular season that a game can go into. Kevin Muno, who went 4 for 5, walked. His younger brother, Danny tried to sacrifice bunt him over but drew a walk. Mike Olt was then intentionally walked. Jaren Matthews came up with 1 out and grounded to 2nd base. The 2nd basemen threw home and got Danny Muno out at home. The catcher tried to complete the double play by getting Matthews at 1st but threw it away; allowing Mike Olt to score the winning run for Orleans.

Magic Number down to 3 wins to make the playoffs! Remember, this number decreases every time that Orleans wins and (or) Brewster loses. Yarmouth-Dennis has clinched itself a playoff spot also. Orleans takes on Harwich at home on Friday. I may have coverage of that one on Twitter and may not. Also, they have a double-header at Wareham on Saturday. I will not have coverage of that on Twitter. The post for that game will probably just include the scores.

Also, Alex Hassan will sign a contract with the Red Sox Thursday at Fenway Park.

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.

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.

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