Birds Of Fire Enter Last Five Games Of The Season Hot!

The 20-18-1 Firebirds are 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Everything is starting to come together for the Firebirds entering the last five games before playoffs. The Firebirds have passed Harwich for third place in the East with back-to-back wins over the Mariners. They won the first game 8-2 and scored all eight runs in the ninth inning. In the second game, Jayce Boyd (Florida State) drove in 6 runs to power Orleans to a 14-3 win. Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) is back to hitting and leads the league with his .341 average. The Firebirds as a team sit in fifth in batting average (.229) and are .001 out of third behind Bourne (.230) and Falmouth (.230). Orleans' 2.39 ERA leads the Cape League by 0.21 over Brewster.

Around the league, Orleans and Yarmouth-Dennis are streaking, Brewster is slumping, Chatham was slupming and has not been able to move out of last place, and Harwich has lost two in a row and slid into fourth place. In the West, the race for first place is within three points [Cotuit-40pts, Bourne-38pts, and Wareham 37pts] and the race for fourth is within five points [Falmouth-31pts and Hyannis-26pts]. Also, first place Cotuit just signed Barret Loux (Texas A&M). Loux was the 6th overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft.

As I said a little over a week ago, we are entering the August stretch of the summer where the Firebirds' attendance peaks and 'Mr. Firebird' pumps up the crowd along the right field line. Also, I am heading up to the Cape tomorrow morning. This means that my blog posts will be shorter but there will be more Twitter updates. You can follow my Tweets on the right side of the page or at www.Twitter.com/OrlFirebirds. Also, the official Firebirds' Twitter page, www.Twitter.com/FirebirdsCCBL has very in-depth updates.

Firebirds Beat Harwich, Fall To Y-D, And Fall To Harwich All By One Run

The Firebirds beat the Harwich Mariners 3-2 on Monday. A three-run fifth inning capped the offense for Orleans. Steve Selsky (Arizona) doubled home Jayce Boyd (Florida State) to score the first run. Then, Matt Koch's (Loyola Marymount) single and a throwing error by the left fielder scored Selsky and Preston Tucker (Florida). Ryan Carpenter (Gonzaga) started the game and allowed the two Harwich runs over five and one-third innings. Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell), Will Clinard (Vanderbilt), Mitchell Lambson (Arizona State), and the closer Marcus Stroman (Duke) finished the remainder of the game without allowing a hit.

The Orleans Firebirds lost to the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox 3-2 on Tuesday. Y-D's first three runs came early and Orleans couldn't climb back. Shon Roe (Loyola Marymount) and Preston Tucker drove home the Firebirds' runs. Matt Sisto allowed three earned runs and watch his ERA increase to 1.73 on the season. Kolten Wong (Hawai'i) and Kevin Muno (San Diego) each had three hits for Orleans.

The Firebirds were defeated by Harwich 2-1 in 14 innings on Thursday at Whitehouse Field. Orleans and Harwich each scored a run in the first inning and could not score one throughout the next twelve. Orleans' run was scored on a Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) RBI single. In the fourteenth, Clint Moore (Army) hit a ball back to Kenny Long (Illinois State). Long threw it passed the first baseman and it seemed that the ball went out of play. Selsky put his hands up to signal to the umpire that the ball had gone out of play, but the umpire did not stop play. Harwich scored on the play and got the win. The Firebirds protested the game and the call will be reviewed.

Simon Rolls Against Y-D And 'Birds Fall Short To Brewster And Bourne

On Thursday, Kyle Simon (Arizona) took the hill for the Firebirds and continued his dominance. Simon tossed eight innings and allowed five hits, one earned run, one walks, and four strikeouts. Simon's 0.69 earned run average sits among the league leaders along with teammate Matt Sisto's (Hawai'i) 0.84 earned run average. John Brebbia (Elon) threw a perfect ninth out of the bullpen and struck out two. Orleans' bullpen has been "lights out" lately.

The Firebirds' tied the game up in the second on Steve Selsky's (Arizona) RBI single. In the fourth, the 'Birds took the lead on Selsky's solo home run. In the fifth, an RBI single by Jayce Boyd (Florida State) made it 3-1. In the seventh, RBIs by Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) and Jayce Boyd made it 5-1 and a wild pitch scoring Matt Newman (Arizona State) added another.

The Firebirds won this one 6-1 over Yarmouth-Dennis. Also, Danny Muno (Fresno State) was released by Orleans and signed by Yarmouth-Dennis. Muno started for the Red Sox and went 0 for 2.


On Friday, the Firebirds took on the league's top team, the Brewster Whitecaps. They lost this one 4-3 and almost pulled off a great comeback.

The first Firebird run was scored in the third on a Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) single to score Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt). In the seventh, the Firebirds scored their second run on a Matt Newman single that scored Matt Koch. In the ninth, Preston Tucker (Florida) doubled home Kevin Muno (San Diego) to pull within one run of Brewster. The Firebirds then had runners on the corners and were unable to bring them in.

Cameron Hobson (Dayton) went five innings and allowed three hits, three earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. Burny Mitchem (Dayton) allowed the fourth Whitecap run during his two innings of work on a Kirk Singer (Long Beach State) home run. Kenny Long (Illinois State) allowed one hit and no runs in the eighth and Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell) pitched a perfect ninth.

Andrew Gagnon (Long Beach State) got the win and improved to 4-0 on the season. He appears to be one of the better pitchers in the league, along with Matt Sisto, Kyle Simon, and his Brewster teammate Anthony Ranaudo (LSU). Ranaudo is from Jackson, NJ (which is about ten minutes away from where I live) and was drafted very early by the Boston Red Sox in 2010. His starts are being followed closely by the Cape Cod Times and their Twitter page www.Twitter.com/capeleagueCCT.

The Firebirds were rained out on Saturday against Falmouth.

On Sunday, the Firebirds lost to the Bourne Braves 2-0. They struggled at the plate and only had two hits on the game. In the ninth, however, Preston Tucker sent a deep fly ball to the fence that almost gave Orleans a 3-2 lead. It was caught and the game ended.

Andrew Kittredge (Washington) let up the two Bourne runs and got the loss. Kenny Long, Will Clinard (Vanderbilt) and Marcus Stroman (Duke) combined to allow no runs on one hit (allowed by Long).

The Firebirds try to gain ground on Harwich for the last playoff spot on Monday night at 7:00pm.

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).