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 No-Hit By Jordan Pries In A 2-0 Loss To Y-D

Yesterday was not the best day for the Firebirds. The night was highlighted by six errors and, of course, Jordan Pries's (Stanford) no-hitter. Pries went all nine innings and walked three while striking out four.

While the Firebirds' bats could not provide any spark last night, Their pitching was still pretty good. Kyle Simon (Arizona) started the game for Orleans and went six and two-thirds innings, allowing three hits, two runs (none of which were earned), striking out two, and walking one. Kenny Long (Illinois State) and Burny Mitchem (Dayton) pitched the rest of the game for Orleans, neither allowing a hit or a run.

The Firebirds try to come back from this tough loss and beat Yarmouth-Dennis on Friday at Red Wilson Field at 5:00pm.

Red Barn Doesn't Do Much As Orleans Drops 3rd Straight to Y-D

Orleans came in to Monday's game looking to rebound from Sunday's losses. To do so, they threw one of their three aces, Casey Gaynor. Gaynor is a product of Toms River East HS (Boo!); so he knows all about big games. He went 5 innings of baseball and allowed 3 earned runs. However, the Firebirds could not provide Gaynor with enough run support and he got the loss. The Firebirds didn't have trouble getting the bat on the ball, but had trouble finding holes in the Y-D defense.

Orleans' defense was stellar in this one. They got some fine plays from Gary Brown, Danny Muno, and Devin Lohman.

No spectacular hitting performances in this one by Orleans but many contributions from everyone. Gary Brown, Alex Hassan, Ross Heffley, Hampton Tignor, Riccio Torrez, Danny Muno, and former Y-D Red Sox outfielder, Steve Selsky each had one hit. Ross Heffley drove in the only Orleans' run of the game.

On the other side, Chris Sale and Drew Hayes were pretty untouchable for Y-D. Austin Wates had another good game for the Red Sox going 2 for 4 with 2 thefts.

Y-D is going to be a tough opponent in the playoffs if both teams make it. Next time, it's going to take a little more pizza to feul the Firebirds.

Also, this was the first time that both team's starting catchers (Orleans' Hampton Tignor and Y-D's Ben McMahan) were from the same college, Florida.

The Birds look to rebound Tuesday night against Hyannis. Let's Go Firebirds!!!

Firebirds Drop Two Games In One Day

Not much went well for the Firebirds which means I'll keep it simple.

Kudos to Jorge Reyes on his 4 strikeout 1st inning. Also, Gary Brown has been tagged in every article that I've had so far so I'll throw him in.

The Firebirds were swept today as Y-D came in and "did work." However, the team went to Red Barn Pizza after the game to re-group and beat Y-D tomorrow (courtesy of Hampton Tignor, haha).