ORLEANS — The Orleans Firebirds’ slow start in this year’s Cape Cod Baseball League season picked up a bit when they halted a four-game losing streak by edging Falmouth 5-4 on Tuesday night. Their record is now 3 and 6, which has them looking up from the East Division basement.
Cold bats have contributed to the Firebirds’ early season woes. The team entered Tuesday’s game hitting just .160. They’d been held to two runs or fewer in five of eight games and amassed 74 strikeouts in that stretch. With Tuesday’s win, Orleans saw the team batting average rise to .231.
Eddie Micheletti Jr. (George Washington) and Jack Penny (Notre Dame) have paced the team at the plate. Micheletti has seven hits in 27 at-bats, including a home run. Louisville’s Eddie King Jr. has walked three times and scored four runs — two by virtue of smart base running.
Daniel Avitia (Grand Canyon) has struck out 11 in two starts and has an ERA of just 1.00. Northwood’s lefty Derek Clark picked up his first win of the season against Bourne, pitching four scoreless innings.
Kettleers 6, Firebirds 1
Orleans fell 6-1 on Friday night to Cotuit, which continued its hot start with a fifth win. Rodney Green Jr. (UC Berkeley) broke the game open with a three-run homer. Orleans pushed its lone run across in the bottom of the seventh.
David Avitia (Grand Canyon) gave up just one run on four hits in five innings, striking out five. Henry Hunter (Alabama Birmingham) was the lone Firebird to get more than one hit, going 2 for 4. The Kettleers’ Tanner Thach (UNC-Wilmington) went 3 for 4, including a pair of solo home runs, to go with two RBIs and a walk.
Mariners 12, Firebirds 2
Orleans’s Cam Leiter (Central Florida), who has started both losses to Harwich, lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs off two hits and five walks. The Firebirds’ bats continued to stay cold in the loss, with just three hits and 14 strikeouts. Sam Armstrong (Old Dominion) pitched six scoreless innings for the Mariners.
Red Sox 4, Firebirds 1
The Firebirds’ fourth straight defeat came on Monday night at Eldredge Park. Drew Faurot (Central Florida) gave Orleans a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second with a single to left field to drive in Jo Oyama (California Irvine). Jake Peppers (Jacksonville State) pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and recording five strikeouts, before Jonathan Gonzalez (Stetson) came in in relief. The Red Sox took the lead on a fielding error on Anthony Martinez’s single to right field. The Firebirds were unable to get a hit over the last three frames, leaving two on base to end the game.
Yarmouth-Dennis’s pitching duo of Nicholas Judice (Louisiana Monroe) and Leighton Finley (Georgia) combined to hold the Firebirds to five hits, with 11 strikeouts. Sawyer Hawks (Air Force) picked up the save.
Firebirds 5, Commodores 4
Orleans ended its slide at Guv Fuller Field on Tuesday night. The Firebirds had just five hits. Leadoff hitter Austin Overn (USC) was 0 for 3 but scored both times after he reached base on walks. Fenwick Trimble (James Madison) drove in two runs, and Jake Casey (Kent State) had a home run. Stetson’s Dylan Jacobs pitched four solid innings, giving up just one earned run, while Riley Frey (UW-Wisconsin) picked up the win.
The Commodores made it interesting with a run in the bottom of the ninth, but Sean Matson got all three putouts with the hosts stranding a runner at second base.
Upcoming games
Thurs., June 22 vs. Brewster, 6:30 p.m.
Fri., June 23 at Harwich, 6:30 p.m.
Sat. June 24 vs. Hyannis, 6:30 p.m.
Sun., June 25 at Yarmouth-Dennis, 5 p.m.
Mon., June 26 at Cotuit, 5 p.m.
