ORLEANS — At Eldredge Park the first-base line is blanketed with lawn chairs. Children wearing baseball caps and carrying gloves roam the outer edges of the field in search of foul balls, and an announcer warns people not to cross Route 28 in pursuit of the aforementioned treasured souvenirs. The Orleans Firebirds and the Cape Cod Baseball League are officially back for the summer.
The start of the season also marks the return of an important part of the community, according to fans.
“It’s what baseball should be,” said Ethan Hull, who typically catches three to five games a season when vacationing in Eastham. “It’s got a more hometown feel than going to a huge stadium and being so far away from the players.”
Gail Spink of Orleans, who sang the national anthem at the team’s home opener, also noted the communal atmosphere, adding that attending every home game over the last couple of years has helped her form friendships. But what she was looking forward to in the upcoming season, she said succinctly, was this: “I like winning.”
Unfortunately, a victorious start to the season was not to be for Orleans last Sunday evening, which was Father’s Day. The Firebirds fell 2-1 to the Cotuit Kettleers (1-1), leaving them with two straight losses to begin the summer.
This summer the Firebirds will look to build on the successes of last year. The team advanced all the way to the league’s championship series last August before eventually losing a winner-take-all game against the Bourne Braves at Eldredge Park.
On Sunday, Cotuit was powered by solo round-trip shots from Devin Taylor (Indiana) in the 2nd inning and A.J. Gracia (Duke) in the 4th. The latter home run was hit hard enough over the right-center field fence that it bounced off the wooden clubhouse and bandstand behind the Firebirds’ bullpen.
With their home team down 2-0 for much of the game, and with the early summer evening temperature dropping, the initial crowd of nearly 2,000 began to clear out at the end of the 6th inning. The fans, like the Firebirds’ offense, which produced only one hit until the final frame, had gone cold.
But Orleans came alive in its last opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. A pair of one-out singles put first baseman Landon Moran (Stetson) on second before a line drive to left field from Roch Cholowsky (UCLA) enabled him to score after narrowly avoiding a tag at the plate.
Batting next, catcher Jimmy Keenan (St. John’s, Wake Forest) sent a shot to deep center field that suffered from poor placement — at its farthest, the park’s center field wall is a formidable 434 feet from home plate. The ball was caught for the second out. After a pitching change, Mark Hindy (William & Mary) was able to finish off the Firebirds with three straight strikes, stranding the tying and winning runs on second and first base.
The Firebirds will be in action nearly nightly the rest of the way, with 38 games in 48 days.
