An Independent-minded calendar of arts and events for Outer Cape Cod

Advertise in the Indie.

Reach more readers from Eastham to Provincetown.

Unchained news for Outer Cape Cod

The Provincetown Independent

Let us bring you the paper.

Your subscription supports real community journalism.

Orleans Firebirds

    CAPE COD BASEBALL

    Firebirds Impressive in 5-2 Win Over Bourne

    College teammates Murdock and Potestio lead the way

    By

    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.

    The Firebirds’ Anthony Potestio slides into second, beating the tag on a fifth-inning double. (Photos by Ben Harold)

    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.

    Harvard’s Truman Pauley was credited with his second win of the season.

    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.

    Luke Nixon drives a one-out double down the right field line in the bottom of the 3rd.

    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.

    STRANGE BIRD

    A Cardinal Squawks for Some

    Others cover their ears when the Firebirds’ unofficial mascot yells

    By

    ORLEANS — George Hoskey has a low, gravelly voice that draws strength from his diaphragm. If he pulls it taut, he can release a piercing squawk. A friend once measured him at 106 decibels — louder than a subway train — and he swears that he can hit 110.

    “See how quiet it is?” he asks, gesturing toward Eldredge Park. “Can you imagine it being quieter?” It is the third inning of a close contest between the Orleans Firebirds and the Bourne Braves. As fans recline on the grassy slope behind first base, Hoskey bobs his feathered head in the parking lot.

    George Hoskey at a Firebirds-Braves game at Eldredge Park last week. He’s been an unofficial mascot since back when the Firebirds were the Cardinals. (Photo by Anna Salvatore)

    There is no warning before he bellows, “Feel the breeze!” Part command, part exultation, it is an expression of wild joy from a man who has been the Firebirds’ unofficial mascot since 1998.

    Former Firebirds Assistant General Manager Ron Conte met Hoskey at a girls soccer game in 1998. Hoskey was the best referee that he had ever seen, so Conte asked whether he wanted to get involved with the Cape Cod League.

    “He got all excited about it, and then he had this idea about becoming Mr. Cardinal,” says Conte, referring to the team’s name from 1913 to 2009. “It was his idea, but I was the one who set it all up.”

    “He’s not an official mascot of the Firebirds,” says team president Bob O’Donnell. “We would have the mascot not talking and not making loud noises. You hear George, right? You know any other mascot who talks and yells?

    “But he’s an interesting person and he’s a nice guy,” O’Donnell adds.

    For the first five years, Hoskey roamed Eldredge Park in long johns and homemade felt wings. When local donors funded a new costume, he was measured at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans for a custom headpiece with bulging eyes, a soft yellow beak, and red tufts flowing from his neck and shoulders. He says he is most uncomfortable when it rains.

    “Tonight’s a three-pounder,” he says, squinting at the sky. “I’ll probably lose three pounds of water weight.”

    Hoskey spends most of the year teaching history at a public high school in Prince George’s County, Md. Raised in central New York, he graduated from SUNY Potsdam in 1995 with a degree in education. He taught in Brewster and Eastham before moving in 2005 to Maryland, where he announces many of his school’s basketball, football, and playoff soccer games. Few students know about his avian alter ego on Cape Cod.

    “Baseball is not a big sport at school,” he says. “And I’m not just going to tell you. You’ve gotta come and see, you know?”

    Fans approach him every few minutes during the Tuesday night game. Smiling shyly, they ask whether it’s hot in his costume. (“Not too bad.”) They take pictures of him posing with their grandchildren. (“Of course — go Birds!”) And if they are under six, they wonder aloud if he lives in a big red house with other creatures.

    “Why are you so loud?” asks one little boy, getting straight to the point. “To help you!” he replies.

    “And why do you have yellow shoes?”

    “Because it’s part of the costume!”

    “And why do you have that on your head?” a young girl chimes in. “The yellow thing.”

    “Because birds have beaks — that’s how we eat and talk!”

    Before long, Hoskey says goodbye to these curious children and wanders toward the outfield. His wife, “Mrs. Firebird,” sits in the shade with a water cooler, and his son, Isaac, interns for the team. For the past few years, they have hosted Firebirds in their Eastham home, and they will do so again this summer.

    Every player gets a nickname. Third baseman Alejandro Garza is “Prime” because his number is 17. Pitcher Truman Pauley is “Capote,” after the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Outfielder Michael Crossland is “Hammer,” a subtle play on the rapper M.C. Hammer. And all opposing pitchers are “chum in the water,” “fish bait,” or “nibblers” when the Firebirds are on base.

    “I don’t know how he doesn’t lose his voice, because it’s like a foghorn when he hits the high notes,” Conte says. “He bellows these things out — and, well, some people get mad at him. They want to get rid of him.”

    Hoskey admits that he ruffled some feathers when he wore his Firebirds costume to a Chatham Anglers game.

    “They were like, ‘Hey, you’re showing up our team,’ ” he says. A letter to Firebirds General Manager Sue Horton followed, according to Hoskey, and it stipulated that “Mr. Firebird can’t go to any more away games.”

    Hoskey still attends home games with his beak held high. When an older woman turns from her chair on Tuesday and says, “Please don’t yell,” he moves to another place on the grass. Then he spots a policeman.

    “Officer, I can’t get arrested for yelling, can I?” he asks.

    The answer is no, and he squawks on.

    CAPE BASEBALL

    Rain Causes Calendar Crunch for the Firebirds

    There are more games than days left in the Cape Cod League regular season

    By

    ORLEANS — The Firebirds will have to slog through a tough schedule of back-to-back games to secure a playoff spot in the final days of the Cape Cod Baseball League’s 2024 regular season.

    A twice rescheduled match with the Cotuit Kettleers had already taken up the only chance for a rest for the team this week when Monday’s game against Bourne had to be postponed despite hours of work to bring Eldredge Park’s infield into a playable condition.

    With the season set to end on Aug. 4, the Firebirds now need to cram in seven games in a row to overtake the Harwich Mariners — who they are scheduled to face Thursday in a game that could decide who claims the crucial third place in the league’s East Division. The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have already clinched the division top spot, and the Chatham Anglers have a firm hold on second place.

    Ian Daugherty at bat for Orleans against the Falmouth Commodores last Friday, the last game played at Eldredge Park before wet weather came. (Photo courtesy Grace Kinney/CCBL)

    The stakes are high, but Orleans’s Sue Horton, who will be heading into her 25th season as general manager next year, said protecting the young potential superstars of tomorrow’s big leagues has always been the priority.

    “You just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she said, talking about the close-call decision to put off the July 24 Kettleers match, which led to the calendar jam. “It was a shame. It wasn’t really heavy rain, but it was just enough mist and fog and drizzle, and it made the ground very slick. It’s not worth it.”

    The original makeup date of July 28 was also rained out, that time by an indisputable deluge, leading organizers to slot it into the only available day: July 31. That created the marathon now testing the team’s endurance, scheduled to end on Sunday in a contest with Chatham at Eldredge Park. The delayed Bourne game did not have a makeup date scheduled at the Independent’s deadline this week.

    Orleans Head Coach Kelly Nicholson has been part of Horton’s top team almost from day one, first as pitching coach before being promoted in 2005. The California native has seen a lot of rain in his 24 summers on the Cape and far worse situations, such as the 2009 season when 65 games had to be shifted because of weather. He said he takes an “it is what it is” approach to the schedule but believes postponements can reveal the strength of a team’s psychology.

    “It’s not necessarily the best team who makes it in the end,” he said. “It’s who’s playing the best and who has the desire and will to advance and win this thing. Those kids who have that in their soul, who want to be here and want to win, are usually the last ones standing.”

    How to Schedule a League

    “It’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle,” according to Cape Cod League Director of Broadcasting and Communications Shawn McBride. He said it was up to the commissioner’s office, led by former Orleans Head Coach John Castleberry, to figure out how to put a weather-wrecked schedule back together.

    “We’re on a bit of a wet weather run right now,” he said. “The first two-thirds of the season were pretty good, but when Mother Nature’s dictating, you have to be flexible. We build in off days, and there are things that can be done like double-headers to keep the league on schedule. We have to get these kids back to school!”

    McBride agreed with Horton that, while the players are competing at a high level, they have to do so “in conditions that minimize the risk to their safety.”

    Infielder Hudson Shupe helped the Firebirds to a 10-8 victory over Falmouth on Friday before appearing on the roster for Saturday’s All-Star game. (Photo courtesy Amelia Bashy/CCBL)

    The league always has one eye on who could be the next Aaron Judge or Chris Sale, just two of the hundreds of Major League Baseball heroes who have played at least one summer on the Cape. Part of that is ensuring they remain fit beyond their time here.

    Orleans had six players on the All-Star East team that lost 9- 8 to the West in last weekend’s game at Guv Fuller Field in Falmouth. Three pitchers, Itsuki Takemoto, Cody Bowker, and Callan Fang, were joined by Jack Gurevitch at first base, outfielder Ben Zeigler, and utility player Hudson Shupe.

    Horton would not speculate on which of this year’s crop she expects to appear in an MLB shirt, but she suggested that even those who did not get an All-Star call-up would be worth keeping an eye on.

    “There’s a couple that I think are going to be very fun to watch, and some that may be sleepers and surprise you,” she said. “You never know. That’s one of the fun parts of this league. Somebody jumps out of the pack that you didn’t expect.”

    “It’s one day at a time, man, but I would bet on us,” said Nicholson. “From top to bottom, it’s a high character group. They enjoy being around one another, they like to compete, they love to win. They want to win the whole thing, right? We’ve just got to get in.”

    SUMMER LEAGUE

    Baseball Is Back at Eldredge Park

    Firebirds fall 2-0 to Cotuit Kettleers in home opener

    By

    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.”

    A crowd of 1,993 fans gathered at Eldredge Park in Orleans as the Firebirds dropped their first home opener since 2018. (Photo by Jacob Smollen)

    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.

    CAPE BASEBALL LEAGUE

    Firebirds Fall to Braves in Championship

    Orleans takes Bourne to the limit in a hard-fought series

    By

    ORLEANS — The Orleans Firebirds’ historic Cape Cod Baseball League season ended with defeat in the playoff championship in front of more than 7,000 people at Eldredge Park on Sunday.

    The Firebirds swept Harwich in the East Division playoffs before dispatching the top seed Yarmouth-Dennis in two games to reach the championship series for the first time since 2013, where they faced the defending champion Bourne Braves.

    Much like Orleans, the Braves had to go through the West Division’s number-one seed Cotuit. Bourne swept the Kettleers, then battled Hyannis in a tough 3-game series to reach the finals.

    Manager Kelly Nicholson speaks to pitcher Ivran Romero during a Firebirds’ game against Yarmouth-Dennis. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    The Firebirds and Braves entertained crowds of over 5,000 each night in a tightly contested series, with 2 games at Eldredge Park and a game at Doran sandwiched in between.

    Orleans was without its ace Derek Clark (Northwood) for the playoffs, while Bourne lost a top hitter in Caden Bodine (Coastal Carolina). Bodine was hitting .384 with 19 RBIs, 16 runs scored, and 18 walks when he played his last game.

    But the two clubs produced a sensational 3-game final, all decided by 3 runs or fewer, including a 4-3 win by the Firebirds in Game 2. The Braves clinched back-to-back playoff titles with a 5-2 win on Sunday.

    Game 1: Braves 6, Firebirds 4

    Bourne’s 5-run fifth inning clinched the win at Eldredge Park on Friday. Trailing after 4 innings, the Braves tied the game on a fielder’s choice that scored Sam Petersen (Iowa). A double by Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (Rutgers) drove in 2 runs to make it 5-2. They tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to make it 6-3. Orleans, who had made a habit of late comebacks, cut the deficit to 2 when Eddie King Jr.’s (Louisville) single scored Fenwick Trimble (James Madison) from third. But the Firebirds stranded one and then went 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.

    Trimble went 3 for 4 with a home run. Matt Halbach (UC San Diego) and King both were 2 for 4. The Firebirds stranded 6, including 2 in the eighth inning. Greysen Carter (Vanderbilt) had his toughest outing of the season, giving up 5 earned runs on 5 hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

    Game 2: Firebirds 4, Braves 3

    Orleans held off a late Bourne rally on Saturday at Doran Park to force Game 3. After going 0 for 5 in Game 1, Jo Oyama (UC Irvine) started the game with a double, which was followed by a Fenwick Trimble single that made it 1-0. Eddie Micheletti Jr. (George Washington) drove in Trimble to add to the early lead.

    The Braves pushed one across in the bottom half of the inning, but the Firebirds restored their 2-run lead on Trimble’s sacrifice fly. Ivran Romero (Stetson) and Henry Weycker (Coastal Carolina) matched one another for four scoreless innings that stretched from the third to the seventh. Oyama took Brady Afthim (UConn) deep following a pitching change, which extended the Firebirds’ advantage to 4-1.

    Bourne didn’t go quietly. Sam Petersen’s ground rule double scored a run and a Hugh Pinkney (Rutgers) sacrifice fly pushed Derek Bender (Coastal Carolina) across to cut the Firebirds’ lead to 4-3. Sean Matson (Harvard) earned the save by getting Nuu Contrades (Arizona State) to hit into a 5-3 game-ending putout.

    Romero pitched six strong innings for the Firebirds, allowing 6 hits but just one run to go with four strikeouts.

    Game 3: Bourne 5, Firebirds 2

    Bourne clinched the title at Eldredge Park on Sunday. The Braves, who at one point trailed 2-0, turned the tide with a 3-run sixth and added a run in the eighth. Oyama had a pair of home runs — his second and third in two nights. But the Firebirds were scoreless across six innings, including the ninth. Anthony DeFabbia (Stetson) got Orleans to go down 1-2-3 in the title-clinching inning.

    Oyama was the only Orleans player with a multi-hit game, and no batters reached by a walk with men on base. Evan Truitt (Charleston Southern) lasted 3 1/3 innings, giving up just one earned run and 5 hits.

    Derek Bender was 3 for 4 from the sixth spot in the order. He had 3 RBIs in the win. Trystan Levesque (Rhode Island) and DeFabbia combined to hold the Firebirds to just 4 hits, with no walks and 8 strikeouts. DeFabbia, meanwhile, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, not surrendering a hit in the process.

    CAPE BASEBALL LEAGUE

    6 Firebirds Are Chosen for All-Star Team

    By

    ORLEANS — The Firebirds had six players named to the Cape Cod Baseball League’s East Division All-Star team on Monday: Jo Oyama (Southern Cal), Jack Penney (Notre Dame), Matt Halbach (UC San Diego), Sean Matson (Harvard), Derek Clark (Northwood), and Jonathan Gonzalez (Stetson).

    The game will be played on July 22 at Whitehouse Field in Harwich. Gates open at 1:30 p.m., followed by an autograph session and homerun derby before the game at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10; children 12 and under get in free.

    Oyama, the Firebirds’ leadoff man, is second in batting in the league with a .348 average. He leads the team with 32 hits, 17 runs scored, 5 doubles, and 5 triples in 25 games.

    Southern Cal’s Jo Oyama heads for second base during the Firebirds’ game at Brewster on July 11. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    Penney is hitting .275 and is tied for the team lead with 11 RBIs. Halbach’s .279 average is fourth on the team.

    Matson has been a key cog out of the bullpen; he’s yet to allow a run in 15 2/3 innings pitched. The rising junior has given up just eight hits, walked two batters, and recorded 20 strikeouts. He has a 3-0 record and four saves.

    Clark’s 1.33 ERA in 27 innings pitched ranks second league-wide, trailing Cotuit’s Camron Hill. He’s compiled a 4-1 record with 29 strikeouts in 9 appearances out of the bullpen. Gonzalez has a 2-1 record and a 2.07 ERA in 17 1/3 innings.

    The team has climbed above .500 at 15-14 and overtook Harwich for second place in the East Division standings. The Firebirds are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

    Henry Hunter, who plays collegiate ball at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, waits for a pitch during the Firebirds’ game at Brewster on July 11. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    Firebirds 12, Mariners 0

    A 6-run third inning was sparked by a Jack Penney double to center field that drove in two. Justin Rubin (Virginia), who arrived on July 2, extended his hit streak to six games.

    Irvan Romero (UC San Diego), Chase Hungate (Virginia), and Sam Hliboki (Vanderbilt) combined to blank the Mariners on just one hit.

    Firebirds 4, Braves 2

    Daniel Avitia rebounded from his worst start of the season by giving up just one earned run in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Orleans used six pitchers including Clark, who picked up his third win of the season. He struck out 4 and didn’t allow a hit in 1 1/3 innings. Sean Matson earned the save, pitching 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts.

    Gatemen 5, Firebirds 4

    Bobby Boser’s walk-off single ended Orleans’s 3-game winning streak on Saturday night at Spillane Field. Orleans twice trailed by 2 runs but rallied in the top of the ninth, with Justin Rubin’s putout at first scoring Jake Casey (Kent State) and Fenwick Tremble’s fielder’s choice pushing Jo Oyama across. But the Firebirds stranded the potential winning run at second base.

    Firebirds 6, Kettleers 5

    Orleans came from behind to beat the league’s top team on Sunday night at Eldredge Park. The Firebirds trailed 5-0 entering the home half of the fifth, where they scored 4 runs, led by Eddie King Jr.’s 2-run homer. Penney’s single scored Oyama and Jake Casey to cut the deficit to 5-4, and Rubin tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth before the Firebirds loaded the bases. King, who walked for the 13th time this season, pushed across the winning run on the fifth pitch of the at-bat.

    Jonathan Gonzalez had his longest outing of the season, pitching 4 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs — 2 earned. Chase Hungate pitched 3 innings in relief before Matthew Watson (UT Corpus Christi) came in to pick up the win.

    Firebirds 4, Whitecaps 1

    Orleans made it back-to-back wins at Eldredge Park on Monday night. Drew Faurot had a 2-RBI night for the Firebirds, who never trailed. Orleans scored in three straight innings before Matson came on for his fourth save of the season, striking out three in two innings.

    Clark pitched 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, no walks, and one earned run to improve to 4-1. Oyama had his 11th multi-hit game of the season while Eddie Micheletti Jr. went 2 for 2 at the plate.

    Upcoming games

    July 20 vs. Hyannis, 6:30 p.m.
    July 21 vs. Chatham, 3:30 p.m.
    July 23 vs. Yarmouth-Dennis, 5:30 p.m.
    July 24 at Yarmouth-Dennis, 4:30 p.m.
    July 25 vs. Wareham, 6:30 p.m.
    July 26 at Falmouth, 6 p.m.

    CAPE BASEBALL LEAGUE

    The Firebirds’ Broadcasters Dominate the Field

    Four of the last 9 Jim Nantz Award winners got their chops in Orleans

    By

    ORLEANS — Every year elite undergraduates from across the country come spend a summer with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League. But not all of them are here to play ball.

    Syracuse student Ian Nicholas, left, and Dylan Pescatore, who goes to Arizona State, call the Firebirds game against Harwich on June 18 at Eldredge Park in Orleans. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    In addition to its on-the-field roster, the organization selects two student broadcasters to serve as the summer’s voices of the Firebirds, providing play-by-play commentary for each of the team’s 44 regular season games. It’s a competitive gig: the team got some 70 applications for the two posts this year, many from students at the nation’s best broadcasting schools.

    This year’s picks are Ian Nicholas, a rising junior at Syracuse, and Dylan Pescatore, a rising senior at Arizona State. Coincidentally, the two got their broadcasting start together at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, when Nicholas was a freshman and Pescatore a sophomore. They’ve been best friends ever since.

    Firebirds President Bob O’Donnell said that he hadn’t known the two were old high school pals until the very end of the hiring process but said he hit a “home run” by hiring them.

    Nicholas said that before games Pescatore mingles, talking with players to find new storylines, while Nicholas focuses more on the stats: “It works for us.”

    The Cape League is seen as a premier destination for aspiring broadcasters, with the other nine teams running similar internship programs. But the success of the Firebirds’ announcers stands out.

    Former Firebirds’ broadcasters have gone on to gain national recognition. Four of the last nine recipients of collegiate broadcasting’s highest honor, the Jim Nantz Award, given each year to the top student broadcaster in the country, have been former Firebirds broadcasters.

    Carlo Jiménez, the Firebirds’ broadcaster in 2021, became the most recent honoree, winning the award in May shortly after graduating from the University of Southern California.

    Arizona State’s Scotty Gange called Firebirds games in 2019 before winning the award in 2020; University of Missouri’s Nate Gatter announced at Eldredge Park in 2015, two years before his win; and 2014 winner Kevin Fitzgerald from Syracuse served as a voice of the Firebirds for both the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

    O’Donnell admitted there’s an element of luck to the recent run of winners. But he said it’s also a result of the way candidates are selected. The process involves reviewing résumés and game tape and interviewing candidates.

    “We look for a kid who’s very relaxed,” O’Donnell said. For him, “ ‘relaxed’ means someone who is comfortable with their knowledge, with their skillset, and they want to go out and use it.”

    Nicholas and Pescatore at a football game in 2019 at New Canaan High in Connecticut, where they both were students. (Photo courtesy Ian Nicholas)

    But past Firebirds broadcasters said the hiring process alone doesn’t explain the success of the program. Gatter said his experience with the Orleans team was formative.

    “I’ve been broadcasting games for a little over nine years,” said Gatter. “I don’t think I have ever improved more in two months than I did on Cape Cod in 2015.” He now broadcasts a variety of sports for ESPN’s SEC Network covering the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA.

    Gatter said internship coordinator Elaine Brickman and then-head of media and marketing Stu Murray were important influences. Murray provided feedback and ideas, he said, while giving Gatter the freedom to develop his own technique.

    “They provide infrastructure without dictating style,” Gatter said.

    Murray is no longer with the team, but the hands-off approach has remained. “This is where they are supposed to experiment and try out things and stand on their own two feet,” O’Donnell said.

    This year, the commentators are receiving a little more technical support, thanks to a partnership with production company Pack Network, which provides the broadcasting equipment and offers advice about decisions such as where to place cameras.

    But even before that, the Firebirds’ production crew was well staffed and provided valuable assistance to the announcers, said Jiménez. “That made it easy for me to just worry about broadcasting,” he said.

    That doesn’t mean the job isn’t demanding. Jiménez said an average day as a commentator on the Cape meant preparing for the night’s game in the morning, getting to the game three hours early to speak to the players and find storylines, broadcasting the game, and then staying up late to begin researching and preparing for the next day’s game. “It’s a grind. You get lost in it,” he said, adding that it “helped me be a better broadcaster.”

    Nicholas and Pescatore, who are now one week into the job, said they came in aware of the Firebirds’ broadcasting tradition.

    “We’re just trying to continue the legacy,” Pescatore said. “We know who came before us.”

    “It’s an honor to be mentioned with names like those,” Nicholas said. “The fact that we work for an organization that picked four individuals who are super dedicated to their craft and naturally very talented means a ton.”

    “It definitely still puts a little pressure on us for the next year or so when we still have eligibility for the award,” Pescatore said. “But it gives us that confidence that people who were in our position have done it and we can do the same thing.”

    At a Friday evening home game against the Cotuit Kettleers, Nicholas and Pescatore stood at their broadcasting station behind home plate wearing headsets, red Firebirds-branded polos, and khakis and neglecting the chairs behind them so they could see over the short brick wall between them and the field.

    “Does it get any better than a Friday night from Eldredge?” Nicholas boomed. “Dylan Pescatore and I don’t think it does!”

    Over the course of the game, the pair showed their range. There was excitement, like in the top of the fifth inning, when second baseman Jo Oyama threw out a Cotuit runner at home, prompting Nicholas to declare, “And Oyama says, ‘You’re not going home!’ ” There was insider information, like when Pescatore explained early in the game that Oyama, who is from Japan, is planning to bring his parents to the Cape this summer to see him play for the first time in three years. And there was humor, as when after the elementary school students’ rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” Nicholas said, “I don’t think any Grammy-nominated performances were in there.”

    As for being relaxed, Pescatore and Nicholas appeared to have that down. Between innings they sang, joked about players’ names, and ribbed each other about mistakes. Then when the next frame was set to begin, Nicholas counted down: “5 … 4 … 3 … 2 ….” A pause. “Back for Firebirds baseball.”

    CAPE LEAGUE BASEBALL

    Firebirds Scramble to Make Playoffs

    A win at Chatham keeps their hopes alive

    By

    ORLEANS — The Firebirds halted a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at Chatham on Monday. They were scheduled to play Bourne on Tuesday and at Yarmouth-Dennis on Wednesday.

    The win carried extra importance, with the Anglers chasing the Firebirds in the standings. Orleans is currently holding down the fourth and final playoff spot in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s East Division — led by Yarmouth-Dennis.

    Firebirds infielder Nate Furman is from Brookhaven, Pa. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    The Firebirds are 14-19-4 overall and 4-5-1 over their last 10 games. The regular season schedule ends next week against Wareham on Aug. 2.

    CCBL All-Stars Nate Furman, Luke Keaschall, and Travis Honeyman continue to spark the team at the plate. The trio have combined to drive in 33 runs this season, while Keaschall and Honeyman have each hit four home runs.

    Donye Evans has picked up two losses in his last two starts, including against Chatham on July 21, after being the ace on the mound in his first four outings. Bryce Warrecker, with a league-best 1.73 ERA, has picked up the pitching staff.

    Chatham 6, Orleans 3

    Orleans slumped to a 6-3 loss on July 21 at Veterans Field. Johnny Castagnozzi went 2 for 3 from the bottom half of the order and scored twice for the Anglers. Donye Evans managed three innings on the hill for Orleans, surrendering three runs, including a two-run homer off the bat of Guy Garibay Jr. Orleans led 1-0 after the first inning, but Chatham scored two in the third and three in the fourth to take a 5-1 advantage. Orleans put up two more runs but couldn’t force a late rally.

    Harwich 9, Orleans 4

    Harwich put up five runs in the first four innings of action en route to a 9-4 win on July 22 at Whitehouse Field. Sean Sullivan pitched 4 1/3 innings for the Mariners, blanking the Firebirds before giving up a two-run double to Austin Knight in the top of the fifth. Orleans clawed to 6-4 before Harwich posted three runs in the sixth, which pushed the game out of reach.

    Orleans 5, Chatham 2

    Drew Metzdorf stepped up in his Firebirds debut at Eldredge Field on July 25 with a double that drove in two runs and gave the hosts a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning. Tommy Hopfe then added an insurance run with an RBI. Ben Shields pitched four scoreless innings, surrendering no hits with six strikeouts.

    Upcoming games:

    Friday, July 29 vs. Yarmouth-Dennis, 6:30 p.m.

    Saturday, July 30 at Hyannis, 6 p.m.

    Sunday, July 31 vs. Brewster, 6:30 p.m.

    Monday, Aug. 1 at Brewster, 4 p.m.

    Tuesday, Aug. 2 vs. Wareham, 6:30 p.m.

    FIREBIRDS PROFILE

    A Designated Hitter Who ‘Plays the Right Way’

    Luke Keaschall is happy to be back for a second summer with Orleans

    By

    EASTHAM — Luke Keaschall recognized his passion for baseball early on.

    The 19-year-old infielder from Watsonville, Calif. is playing for the Orleans Firebirds for the second year this summer. Though most days are spent at Eldredge Park, he is living in Eastham with a host family.

    Keaschall grew up playing alongside his older brother, Jake, to whom he attributes his passion for the sport. “My brother loved baseball,” says Keaschall. “I learned to love baseball from him.”

    The Keaschalls are a ranching family. Luke’s father grew up on a farm in Nebraska surrounded by cattle, pigs, and acres of corn. His mother used to own horses, and his grandparents now live on a ranch near Keaschall’s home in Corralitos, Calif.

    Luke Keaschall, the Firebirds’ designated hitter, follows through at Eldredge Field. (Photo courtesy Orleans Firebirds/Raj Das)

    For Keaschall, though, baseball has always been the dream. “I’ve known that for a long time,” he says.

    He graduated in 2020 from Aptos High School, where he wrestled and played baseball. For the past two years, he has played Division I ball for the University of San Francisco. He was named West Coast Conference Co-Freshman of the Year and First Team All-WCC, earned Freshman All-American Honors, was a key starter throughout his sophomore season, and was listed as the No. 31 MLB Draft prospect for the class of 2023.

    This fall, Keaschall will be transferring to Arizona State University, where he will take the field as a Sun Devil and continue to study business.

    In the meantime, Keaschall is happy to be back on the Cape this summer as a Firebird.

    Last year, he was playing summer ball in Gaithersburg, Md. when he was offered a spot on the Firebirds’ roster. He played 20 games for Orleans, posting a .320 batting average.

    “I was just super excited to be here,” Keaschall says. “To be in this environment with these types of players — I was on cloud nine.”

    This season he’s the designated hitter, currently posting a .268 batting average. He leads the team with four home runs and 15 RBIs. He was named to the league all-star team.

    “Luke plays the game the right way,” says Firebirds Manager Kelly Nicholson. “A high-energy young man who can really hit! He has an extremely bright future ahead of him.”

    Keaschall is staying with Robin and Bob Rowe of Eastham this summer, along with teammates Tommy Hopfe of Bakersfield, Calif. and Alex Amalfi of Ashland.

    “They take great care of us,” says Keaschall. “They feed us every away game, they’re always there to talk. They’re just great people. I’m very fortunate to be with them.”

    He enjoys the family’s private beach access on Eastham’s bay side as well. “I mean, you can’t really beat that,” says Keaschall.

    Free time is sparse, however. “We’re at the field from 2 to 10 p.m. almost every day,” says Keaschall. “And that’s for a home game.”

    Keaschall likes the home games because of all the fans. “We probably get more than anyone else,” he says.

    Of the full schedule, Keaschall says that it’s what he signed up for: “It’s definitely a lot, but I love it because it’s baseball.”

    When they aren’t competing, the Firebirds are often involved in community events. Keaschall works baseball clinics at Nauset Middle School twice a week, playing with younger kids and signing the occasional baseball or T-shirt.

    “It’s fun,” says Keaschall. “You can see the smiles that it puts on people’s faces. It makes it all worth it.

    “There’s just so much about the game that I love that makes me want to keep playing,” says Keaschall. “I want to play baseball forever.”

    FIREBIRDS PROFILE

    Cape Baseball Is All Fun for Connor Burns

    The Californian is one of the top defensive catchers in the country

    By

    ORLEANS — Californian Connor Burns, one of three catchers for the Orleans Firebirds this summer, has a grueling schedule. He’s up early every day to head for Nauset Fitness, where he spends the morning lifting weights and doing mobility exercises.

    Those hours at the gym are among Burns’s only time not at the field. In the early afternoon, he reports to Eldredge Park Way for stretches, drills, batting practice, and mental exercises in preparation for that evening’s game. He’s rarely home before 10 p.m.

    Yet the word Burns uses to describe his summer here: “Fun.”

    “I’m really thankful to be out here, playing against the best,” he says.

    Connor Burns throws to first during an Orleans Firebirds game. (Photo courtesy Connor Burns)

    A rising junior at California State University, Long Beach and a native of Chino Hills, Burns started playing when he was three.

    “I loved it off the bat and just kept going with it,” Burns says of the sport. “And I never looked back.”

    He played high school ball, travel ball, and scout ball throughout his teen years. Now, he’s one of the best.

    “I hated playing against him because he’s a really good catcher,” says Bryce Warrecker, a Firebirds pitcher and rising junior at California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, who has played college ball against Burns. Now, as teammates and friends, the two have developed a strong pitcher-catcher bond. It helps, Warrecker says, that both have “West Coast baseball minds,” meaning they are used to the same types of pitches and calls.

    Burns was the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 and was also second in voting for the ABCA Rawlings Gold Glove Award, which is given to the best NCAA Division I defensive player for each position. Firebirds Manager Kelly Nicholson describes him as “one of the best, if not the best, defensive catchers in the country.”

    “Even to an untrained eye, watching Burns catch in games just has a different feel,” according to the Firebirds website. “He sucks up fastballs at the bottom of the strike zone. … He smothers balls in the dirt, rarely letting a wild pitch trickle more than a few feet away from his dwelling.”

    During his time on Cape Cod, Burns has learned a lot. “It’s a little tougher than a college season,” he says. “You really have to be focused in.”

    Burns likes the daily schedule of games — it means more opportunities to perfect his game and learn from failures, he says. He adds that so much time together has brought him closer to the other guys on the team.

    Burns is living in Eastham with three teammates and Joan Lockhart, their host mom for the summer. During his rare free time — the Firebirds have an off day about once every two weeks — Burns has enjoyed minigolf and going to the beach.

    His plans for the future? “Hopefully, professional baseball in some way,” he says. “But if for some reason baseball didn’t work out, I’d hope to stay on the baseball field, but on the business side of it.”

    Cape Cod Baseball offers a little preview of that future. It’s awesome, Burns said, “playing with guys who hopefully will make it to the big leagues one day,” he said. “Or we’ll make it together.”

    CAPE BASEBALL

    Firebirds Sweep Doubleheader Against Falmouth

    By

    ORLEANS — The Orleans Firebirds swept the Falmouth Commodores in a doubleheader on Sunday, June 19 at Guv Fuller Field.

    Brock Rodden, an infielder from Checotah, Okla., at bat for the Orleans Firebirds in their June 18 game against the Bourne Braves. (Photo by Allen Gunn)

    Orleans picked up a 3-2 win in the first game to end a three-game skid with losses to Brewster, Yarmouth-Dennis, and Bourne earlier in the week.

    Nate Furman hit a two-run double down the third-base line in the top of the sixth inning to give the Firebirds a one-run lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Kyle Carr and AJ Blubaugh then combined to shut down the Commodores.

    The Firebirds made it two-for-two with a 3-1 win over Falmouth in the second game of the twin bill.

    Orleans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game 2 after three innings, courtesy of Travis Honeyman, who drove in a run with a sacrifice.

    Back-to-back doubles made the score 2-1, but Kevin Sim gave the Firebirds an insurance run with a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning to make it 3-1.

    Shane Telfer and Chris Clark pitched two scoreless innings in relief to ice the victory for Orleans.

    The Firebirds were scheduled to play Harwich Mariners on Tuesday and Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox on Wednesday this week.

    Upcoming Firebirds games:

    Friday, June 24 at Bourne, 6 p.m.

    Saturday, June 25 at Harwich, 5:30 p.m.

    Sunday, June 26 vs. Cotuit, 3:00 p.m.

    Sunday, June 26 vs. Cotuit, 6:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, June 28 vs. Cotuit, 5:00 p.m.

    Wednesday, June 29 vs. Chatham, 6:30 p.m.

    Home games are played at historic Eldredge Park, which opened in 1913 and is the Cape Cod Baseball League’s oldest ballpark. For more information about the Firebirds, see orleansfirebirds.com. —Allen Gunn

    GOING TO THE SHOW

    Bobby Dalbec Remembers His Firebirds Baseball Summers Fondly

    The big Red Sox infielder credits the Orleans coaches

    By

    ORLEANS — If you saw a college kid driving around town in a yellow Jeep during the summers of 2014 or 2015, it might have been Bobby Dalbec, now a Boston Red Sox infielder.

    Dalbec, who played for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) in both seasons, reflected on his time on the Cape during a phone interview with the Independent last Thursday. He was preparing for batting practice before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

    “I had a great host family,” Dalbec, now 26, said of Paige and Rodie Thompson, the Orleans couple he stayed with. “It was a sick house, great roommates, all the good stuff. They had a yellow Jeep Wrangler and I would drive around town.”

    Dalbec said he didn’t venture far into the Outer Cape towns, staying mostly around Orleans. But he said he did travel to the Cape Cod Mall on a few occasions.

    The Thompsons had a permit that allowed Dalbec and his roommates to go off-roading with the Jeep onto the outer beach in Orleans and park at the ocean. Dalbec and his teammates didn’t have a lot of time for leisure activities, though, with games almost every day in the summer and practices and weight training mixed in.

    During Dalbec’s first summer with the Firebirds, he played mainly third base in 35 games, hitting .228 with five home runs and 21 hits overall. He participated in the league’s home run derby and all-star game that year.

    The following summer of 2015 was an even better season for Dalbec and the Firebirds. He had a batting average of .315 with 12 home runs, 30 RBIs, and 29 hits overall in only 27 games. He didn’t participate in the home run derby or all-star game that year because he left to play for Team USA. He did earn a spot on the CCBL All-League Team that year.

    Bobby Dalbec, wearing number 34 for the Orleans Firebirds, in action during the 2015 summer season. (Photo Ryan Fitzgerald)

    Playing for the University of Arizona Wildcats that year, Dalbec batted .319 with 15 home runs. With the Red Sox so far this year, he has 11 home runs and 40 RBIs but is hitting just .214.

    The Firebirds had some talented players on the roster in both 2014 and 2015, but the latter team included some heavy hitters.

    “We had a big squad,” Dalbec said. That team, finishing with a 31-12-1 record, included Bryan Reynolds, now an all-star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates; Kyle Lewis, an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners; Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy; and Willie Abreu, an outfielder currently with the Colorado Rockies organization.

    “We had lots of guys that made the big leagues,” Dalbec said. “The coaching staff made it fun and really motivated us.”

    Dalbec stands six-foot-four and weighs around 220 pounds. He grew up wanting to hit home runs and has always been a power hitter.

    “I was watching Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, all those guys,” he said. “I always loved hitting the long ball.”

    Former Firebirds hitting coach Benny Craig was a big influence on Dalbec while he was in Orleans, helping him with his swing on a daily basis.

    “I continued to hit with him in the off seasons,” Dalbec said. “I still talk with him frequently. Working with him has helped me in my career.”

    The work has made a difference. Dalbec hit a home run in his second career major league at bat with the Red Sox last summer. He hit his 11th home run of the 2021 season on July 31 — a 413-foot blast to center field at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay.

    Dalbec said he still talks with Kelly Nicholson as well, who has been the Orleans Firebirds manager for the last 20 years.

    Nicholson recruited some more power hitters to the Firebirds this season; the team has been leading the CCBL in home runs. Dalbec continues to follow the Birds on social media. “I know they got a kid DeLauter who’s pretty good,” he said.

    He’s talking about Chase DeLauter (James Madison U.), who’s currently tied for the league lead in home runs with nine. The player he’s tied with is his Firebirds teammate Tyler Locklear (Virginia Commonwealth U.).

    “Whatever recruiting pipeline Kelly uses, it tends to bring some boppers,” Dalbec said.

    Eldredge Park, the Firebirds home ballpark, includes left and right field corners that measure just over 300 feet, while dead center field is an intimidating 435 feet.
    Dalbec remembers the field fondly — most of the Cape League fields, in fact.

    “The environments are really cool,” he said. “You’re playing at these middle school back fields the whole time, but people want to win.”

    The major leaguer attended Legend High School in Parker, Colo. before college in Arizona. His two summers on the Cape were an introduction to the Northeast. In 2016, he was selected by the Red Sox in the MLB draft. His salary this year is $575,000.

    “It was cool,” Dalbec said. “I remember going to Sox games on off days, and now I leave tickets for some guys that I was with.” He recently left some tickets for Firebirds pitching coach Matt Troupe.

    “It’s cool to be able to do that,” he said. “I’ve dreamed of being in that position.”

    CAPE LEAGUE

    Four Firebirds Make All-Star Lineup

    Orleans defeats first-place Bourne, 10-5

    By

    ORLEANS — The Orleans Firebirds had four players named to the 2021 Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Team. Outfielder Chase DeLauter (James Madison U.) and utility player Peyton Chatagnier (Ole Miss) were honored, while pitchers Hayden Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and Nick Wallerstedt (Arizona State U.) also made the cut.

    The Firebirds (11-13-4) have plenty of star power in their bats this year, as the team leads the league in home runs with 31 and has scored 149 runs through 28 games, averaging 5.3 runs per game.

    Third baseman Tyler Locklear (Virginia Commonwealth U.) holds the individual league lead in home runs with nine, while DeLauter is in second place with eight.

    That great hitting hasn’t translated into enough wins to keep the team above .500, however. The Birds are currently in second-to-last place in the East Division, six games behind the first place Brewster Whitecaps.

    The pitching staff for the Birds has allowed 145 runs this season, which might be part of the problem. Compare that to the Bourne Braves (21-5-3), the league’s best team, which has allowed only 93 runs.

    But it was the Birds who outplayed the Braves at both the plate and on the mound on Monday night with a convincing 10-5 victory over the first-place squad.

    Orleans pitcher Nathan Florence (U. of Hartford) threw four shutout innings to start the game for the Birds, while Locklear added his ninth home run of the season and the team led 3-0.

    Orleans first baseman Trae Harmon hit a three-run shot over the left field fence to put the Firebirds up 6-0 in the sixth. Up until that point, no team had gone up six runs against the Braves this season.

    The Braves made an effort at a comeback, narrowing the lead to 6-4 in the top of the seventh. But some well-timed hitting allowed the Birds to score another four runs in the bottom of the inning.

    Orleans All-Star Nick Wallerstedt entered the game as a closer in the eighth inning and allowed one run before finishing off the ninth. Wallerstedt has pitched 14.2 innings for the Birds this summer, mainly as a closer, and allowed just two runs while totaling 18 strikeouts.

    The win against Bourne was a huge one for Orleans. At press time, the Firebirds had just eight games left in regular season play. The team will need to make up some ground in order to earn a spot in the playoffs.

    CAPE LEAGUE

    Firebirds Beat Hyannis, Lose to Y-D and Falmouth

    By

    ORLEANS — The Orleans Firebirds got a taste of bad summer weather on the Cape last week. Their July 8 game was called after the sixth inning because of an immense fog bank rolling in at McKeon Park in Hyannis, but Orleans took home an 11-6 victory over the Harbor Hawks.

    Then the Firebirds’ games on July 9 and 10 against the Brewster Whitecaps and Falmouth Commodores were canceled due to bad weather and field conditions.

    On Sunday, the Birds finally got back on the field with a game at Red Wilson Field in Yarmouth against the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. They fell behind early, couldn’t regain momentum, and lost 6-2, dropping to 7-6-2 on the season.

    The Birds again found themselves on the losing end of a 1-0 game against the Falmouth Commodores on Monday night.

    The game was one of the better pitching efforts from the Birds, with Dawson Netz (U. of Arizona) and Hayden Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) combining to pitch five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. But the Commodores eked out a run on a grounder in the bottom of the seventh, which turned out to be the decisive margin.

    The Firebirds managed to get runners on first and third base in the top of the ninth, and it looked like some late-game heroics might be in store. But Orleans’s Julio Marcano (New Jersey Institute of Technology) couldn’t connect at the plate and recorded the final out of the game.

    With a record of 7-7-2, the team fell to second-to-last in the East Division. The Birds were scheduled to play at home against Falmouth on Tuesday and another home game is set for Saturday, July 17 against the Y-D Red Sox.

    With two game cancellations, Orleans outfielder Chase DeLauter (James Madison University) allowed Lyle Miller-Green (George Mason University) of the Chatham Anglers to tie his league lead in home runs at six.

    CAPE LEAGUE

    Firebirds Hit Seven Homers in One Game

    By

    ORLEANS — Something was in the air on the night of Friday, July 2 because the Orleans Firebirds managed to hit seven home runs in a 19-6 rout of the Brewster Whitecaps.

    Outfielder Chase DeLauter (James Madison U.), catcher Garret Guillemette (U. of Southern California), and third baseman Tyler Locklear (Virginia Commonwealth U.) hit two homers each, while shortstop Payton Chatagnier (U. of Mississippi) added a grand slam for the Firebirds. The victory margin was the largest of the year for the team.

    After a day off, the Firebirds had two home games in a row on July 4 and 5. On the 4th, the Birds picked up another win, 8-3, over the Chatham Anglers, this time with home runs from DeLauter and Chatagnier.

    The Whitecaps got revenge on the Birds on Monday the 5th with a 5-2 victory. At press time, the Firebirds were scheduled to play another home game against the Bourne Braves on Tuesday. The Braves had the best record in the league at 9-1-2.

    The Firebirds currently sit in the middle of the East Division with a 6-5-1 record, but the team’s batting tops the league. Outfielder Rhylan Thomas (U. of Southern California) leads the league with a .450 average, and DeLauter leads all players with five home runs.

    Locklear is tied for second in home runs with four, and is first in RBIs with 14. The team has combined to hit 15 home runs, best in the league.

    The Firebirds’ next home game after Tuesday will be on Saturday, July 10 at 7 p.m. against the Falmouth Commodores. —Ryan Fitzgerald

    © 2025 The Provincetown Independent, all rights reserved.

    terms of service