By: Alec Henden

ORLEANS, Mass. – Through 25 games of action in the 2019 Cape Cod Baseball League season, a few trends have emerged. The East Division has shown its superiority over their west counterparts with five fairly even teams battling out for four postseason spots.

The Orleans Firebirds find themselves squarely in the middle of the five-team pack. Unable to best Chatham and Yarmouth-Dennis ahead of them early in the season, but performing exceptionally well against Brewster and Harwich who trails them in the standings.

On Wednesday night, the Birds came out in front against another division rival for back-to-back wins in a 3-2 victory over the Mariners at Eldredge Park.

Newly added starting pitcher Jake Eder (Vanderbilt) impressed in his first start of the Cape season. Eder dominated the Mariners, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two. He was effectively pitching to contact and letting his defense work behind him.

The tall left-hander previously pitched a scoreless inning against Yarmouth-Dennis at Eldredge before making his first start on Wednesday evening.

“He comes at you with an effective four-pitch mix,” Orleans pitching coach Mathew Troupe said. “You couple that with his presence on the mound, he’s a big kid, and that release point is really jumping much closer to a hitter than people realize.”

Troupe was impressed with the way Eder and catcher David Avitia (Grand Canyon) worked together with pitch selection. The Firebirds have the team’s catchers call the pitches in order for them to learn the process instead of dictating from the dugout.

“I want it that way,” Troupe said. “The next step is professional baseball and they have to get used to understanding the game and how to call it.”

Outfielder Max Troiani (Bentley) had another good night at the plate after a recent dry spell at the dish. Troiani went 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in a key run with the bases loaded.

“My first at-bat he threw me three changeups in a row and I didn’t see them well,” Troiani said. “I knew he’d come back with it my second at-bat and I saw it down, which was big for me. On my base hit I just poked out to right on a high and in fastball just kind of muscled it out there.”

Following an answer from Harwich in the top half of the sixth, the Birds waited little time in taking the lead for good. Infielder Eddie McCabe (Georgetown) made a great two-out read from third base to score on a wild pitch.

“Q (Orleans assistant coach Jamie Quinn) just told me if I had an opportunity to go get it,” McCabe said. “Luckily, the ball got all the way to the backstop I just saw it and was able to score.”

Orleans wraps up their four-game homestand Thursday night with the front half of a home-and-home with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. The Birds have defeated last place Hyannis in their two previous meetings.

Clinging to the one-run lead late, Orleans turned to reliever Connor Pellerin (Tulane) to shut the door. Pellerin breezed through the ninth retiring the Mariners in order with two strikeouts.

It was Pellerin’s first save of the summer as he showcased his late-inning potential with his hard fastball and wipeout breaking ball.

“That was absolute smoke,” Troupe said of Pellerin’s dominant effort. “I’ve seen tremendous strides from him throughout this whole summer. We got him back on track, got to talk about some approaches to the game and mentality we made one little adjustment and he’s taken it and run with it.”

With a tight division battle ensuing, the Firebirds will need to take advantage of a weaker opponent and have shown a strong track record of performing well against West Division foes.

Short Hops:

-Right-hander Owen Sharts (Nevada) will get the ball against Hyannis looking for redemption. Sharts struggled in his previous start against Wareham allowing nine earned runs in two innings of action. He was able to right himself with a scoreless inning against Chatham on Monday.

-Former Harwich Mariner Jacob Hurtubise (Army) was stellar defensively against former team Wednesday night. Hurtubise robbed former teammate Daniel Cabrera (LSU) of extra bases on a diving catch into the right-center gap.

-Following Wednesday night's win, Orleans now moves to 4-1 against Brewster and Harwich but are 0-7 against Y-D and Chatham who are ahead of the Firebirds in the standings.