By Joe Catapano

Jaxx Groshans (Kansas) went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in his first game with the Firebirds since June 26, but even his return couldn’t spark the team’s first three-game winning streak of the season.

Orleans was 0-3 this summer with an opportunity to win three straight games, and the fourth meeting bred the same result. Yarmouth-Dennis scored three unearned runs in the first inning — a frame that has plagued Orleans against the Red Sox all season — to beat the Firebirds for the third consecutive meeting, 5-2.

“That’s a quality opponent right over there and they’re well-coached,” assistant coach Ryan Erickson said. “It’s about throwing strikes, playing good defense, putting the ball in play and running the bases intelligently. They beat us in three of those four categories today.”

Groshans spent two weeks on an international trip with Kansas, forcing him to miss 16 games for Orleans. Before his departure, the catcher and part-time outfielder hit three home runs with 6 RBIs. In his second year with the Firebirds, Groshans was ecstatic about reuniting with his summer club. The excitement instantly translated on the field.

After a out-out double by Y-D’s Noah Campbell, another ball found outfield grass off the bat of Andrew Daschbach. Groshans fielded ball before hitting catcher James Free II with his perfectly-aimed throw to the plate. The strike nailed Campbell at the plate to keep the game scoreless.

The tie wouldn’t last long, though.

The first inning has proved costly in all three Firebirds losses to the Red Sox. Y-D has outscored Orleans 14-0 in the first frame over the last three matchups. That trend continued Tuesday night at Eldredge Park in front of 1,313 fans.

A two-out error by second baseman Carter Aldrete (Arizona State) extended an unsteady first frame for Firebirds starter Levi Stoudt (Lehigh). The throwing miscue plated the game’s first run before a single capped off a three-run inning.

“We had a ground ball that would’ve gotten us out of that inning but we didn’t convert,” Erickson said. “We always talk to our guys and tell them it’s always about us. It’s just a focus on us.”

Stoudt bounced back to work a scoreless second inning, but conceded two earned runs in his third frame. The Red Sox, leading the CCBL in batting average, hit five doubles in the first three innings alone.

Red Sox scoring from that point on was nonexistent, as Stoudt battled through three more frames to achieve a five-inning start. Adam Erickson (Stony Brook) and Erik Miller (Stanford) each tossed two scoreless innings to keep Y-D at just five runs after a fast start.

Orleans recorded 10 hits — three more than its opponent — but left several chances unfulfilled. A second-and-third, two-out situation in the bottom of the fifth presented the first real opportunity for the Firebirds. Pat DeMarco (Vanderbilt) was caught a little to far off third and was picked off to end the frame. In the sixth, Spencer Steer (Oregon) and Logan Wyatt (Louisville) led with a pair of singles, but a double play put a strain on the inning.

Thanks to Groshans, though, Orleans managed to score a pair of runs. He had singled home a run fourth earlier in the game in his second at-bat, a line drive to left field. Groshans executed again, bringing home his second RBI of the night to cut the Orleans deficit to 5-2 after the double play in the sixth.

“Before I left here my swing was a little on edge. I was thinking too much, starting to press a little bit and second guess myself,” Gorshans said. “Going over to Taiwan, I actually got my swing back in order. I just wanted to take it back here.”

While the bullpen shined again for Orleans, the offense couldn’t climb back from the early 5-0 deficit, only receiving runs from the pair of Groshans hits. The Firebirds got the game-tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t push across any more runs.

“Baseball happens. That’s just the way it goes,” Groshans said. “You just have to fight until the end and and be a dog about it.”