ORLEANS — The beaches of San Diego are about as far away as you can get from Cape Cod and still be in the continental U.S., but two Orleans Firebirds from UC San Diego are adjusting to their new surroundings just fine. Anthony Potestio was one of two Firebirds with three hits on Sunday evening, and his college teammate, the wonderfully named Steele Murdock, pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season, placing him in a tie at the top of the Cape League in that category.
Their efforts helped propel the Firebirds to a 5-2 victory over the Bourne Braves at Eldredge Park. With the win, the team’s record stands at 8-10-1, two points out of a playoff spot in the highly competitive East Division where the other four teams were at .500 or better going into Tuesday night.
The Braves (8-10-1) had been on a hot streak, winning their last four. They appeared as if they might make it five in a row, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third off Orleans starter and 2024 Cape League Outstanding Pitcher Award winner, Itsuki Takemoto. After facing the minimum number of batters in the first two innings, Takemoto got into trouble in the third, giving up three singles and a walk before manager Kelly Nicholson brought in Harvard’s Truman Pauley. Pauley walked Kuhio Aloy, Bourne’s cleanup hitter, to load the bases but then struck out DH Logan Hughes to keep the deficit at two.
The Firebirds responded in the bottom of the inning as Luke Nixon and Dawson Bryce both laced one-out doubles. Bryce’s hit plated Nixon, bringing up Potestio with the Firebirds now down by one. The right fielder ripped his second single of the night into left field, scoring Bryce to tie the score. He scored what proved to be the game-winning run two batters later when Robbie Lavey, from George Washington, belted the first of his three singles to register his team-leading 12th RBI.
The Firebirds added two insurance runs in the fifth off Bourne reliever Joe Colucci. Potestio doubled to start the inning with his third consecutive hit. He and Michael O’Shaughnessy, who had reached base on his league-leading 20th walk, scored on a one-out double by third baseman Alejandro Garza. That made the score 5-2. The Orleans bullpen allowed only three singles the rest of the way.
Potestio went 3 for 4, bringing his average up to .375 over seven games. He joined the team a few days into the season but has quickly adjusted.
“This is the best competition in the country, but I just try to keep it simple. It’s still just baseball,” said the affable outfielder while signing autographs.
Two Orleans relievers put on a show in the eighth and ninth innings. Ethan Foley struck out the three batters he faced in the eighth before turning the ninth over to Murdock. The right-hander had knowledgeable fans sitting behind home plate exchanging glances as the radar display caught his fastball in the mid- to high 90s, the smack of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt demanding attention. Murdock combined velocity with a deceptive off-speed pitch that clearly had the Braves off balance.
Murdock is thoroughly enjoying the closer role for the Firebirds. “I love closing,” he said. “It is fun for me to compete with the game on the line.”
Pauley, 2-1, pitched 2.1 innings of one-hit relief to earn the win.
On Sunday, the team took extra batting practice, arriving four hours before game time to hit in the cage. It seemed to pay dividends as the Firebirds cranked out 10 hits. That followed a 12-hit effort the night before in their comeback from a seven-run deficit to tie Hyannis.
A Tuesday game at Cotuit wrapped up the first half of the season. Orleans plays Brewster at home on Sunday, with the first pitch at 6:30.
