ORLEANS — The Firebirds were hovering just below .500 with a 9-10 record on Monday, which put them in third place in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s East Division behind Yarmouth-Dennis and Harwich.
After a slow start at the plate, the team has seen its batting average climb to .239 through 19 games. Jo Oyama (Southern Cal) leads the league at .365, with three triples and two doubles. The second baseman has walked 10 times and driven in 5 runs while scoring 8, second on the team behind Eddie King Jr.’s 11. King (Louisville) is hitting just .147 — second to last on the team — but he’s been successful on the basepaths and scored the winning run in a walk-off win over Wareham on Sunday.
Southern Cal’s Johnny Olmstead is 9 for 15 in his last three games, and Andy Blake (Duke) has gone 5 for 12 in the same stretch. The awakened bats are a reason why the Firebirds are 6-4 in their last 10 outings.
Daniel Avitia (Grand Canyon) has a league-best 0.47 ERA in 19 innings pitched. His 19 strikeouts rank third league-wide. Sean Matson (Harvard), meanwhile, has been strong out of the bullpen for the Firebirds, with three wins and two saves.
Orleans hosted Hyannis on Monday and then played a home-and-home with Chatham on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Firebirds 10, Red Sox 1
Orleans pulled away from East Division leaders Yarmouth-Dennis with a 4-run seventh in a 10-1 win on Friday night at Eldredge Park. The Firebirds were sparked by Olmstead’s two-run homer. Avitia pitched 6 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit to go with 4 strikeouts. Jonathan Gonzalez (Stetson) earned the save, pitching 3 innings.
The Firebirds got massive help from the middle of the batting order with Jack Penney (Notre Dame) and Olmstead going 7 for 8 at the plate. Penney, who was 3 for 3 with 2 walks, scored three runs, while Olmstead drove in three in a 4-for-5 performance.
Braves 6, Firebirds 5
Orleans was overtaken late in a 6-5 loss at Bourne’s Doran Park on Saturday. The Firebirds led 4-2, but the Braves had a 4-run eighth to take the lead. Jake Hyde (Georgetown) gave the Firebirds hope when his single scored Fenwick Trimble (James Madison), but Jack Sullivan (UConn) got Owen Carapellotti (Georgetown) to fly out to end the game.
Starting pitcher Sam Hliboki (Vanderbilt) pitched just 1 2/3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs before being replaced by Derek Clark (Northwood).
After going 0 for 3 against Yarmouth-Dennis, Oyama went 3 for 5 and scored a run against the Braves. Johnny Olmstead was 2 for 4 with an RBI in the loss.
Firebirds 7, Gatemen 6
Olmstead drove in the winning run in a 7-6 walk-off win over Wareham on Sunday at Eldredge Park. The Firebirds let a 2-run lead slip away but scored runs in the bottom of the seventh and ninth innings to close within a game of .500.
The Gatemen took a 6-5 lead with a 3-run seventh in which Bobby Boser (South Florida) had a bases-clearing double. Orleans responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning, and the pitching staff held the Gatemen scoreless over the next two to set up a dramatic finish. Eddie King Jr. reached base on an error by the second baseman, then advanced to second and third on wild pitches. Justin Rubin and Oyama were intentionally walked to make it a force at any base. But Olmstead’s single, which evaded the pitcher and the diving second baseman, scored King for the winning run.
Jake Peppers pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up just 3 hits and a run to go with 4 strikeouts. Matson got his third win of the season with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Olmstead was 3 for 6 with 2 RBIs from the second spot in the line-up, and Andy Blake was 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs.
Upcoming Games
July 7 at Harwich, 6:30 p.m.
July 8 vs. Falmouth, 6:30 p.m.
July 9 at Cotuit, 5 p.m.
July 10 vs. Yarmouth-Dennis, 6:30 p.m.
July 11 at Brewster, 5 p.m.
