By: Alec Henden

HYANNIS, Mass. – For a team locked in a pennant race, the Orleans Firebirds don’t have the benefit of playing without urgency. They remain right in the middle of the league, but have strictly quality opponents remaining on the schedule.

The remaining positive is that they won’t have any more long trips to face West Division opponents. Monday night’s makeup game against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks was the last time Orleans will head west, and they ended its season-long domination of the West Division with a bang.

Behind another strong outing from a starting pitcher and some unlikely offensive performances, the Firebirds defeated Hyannis 4-2 at McKeon Park on a dreary Cape Cod evening.

“Everyone did their job tonight,” infielder Eddie McCabe (Georgetown) said. “We know that if we can get a lead for our pitching staff they’re going to do their job. We have the best staff in the league and that’s no surprise we have confidence in them.”

Orleans (17-12-3) received strong production from the bottom half of its order, as McCabe reached base four times and scored three times batting in the seven spot. While nine-hole hitter Zach Daniels busted out for his first Cape league home run.

Daniels has struggled with the bat most of the summer but had shown promising flashes in other aspects due to his athletic ability. His confidence showed with his plate appearances against Hyannis.

“I’ve told Zach that he’s the best athlete on the Cape,” Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson said. “When he’s up at the plate I tell him to ‘take a nice deep breath and see it and attack the baseball.’ He had a great first at-bat and on his second at-bat (the home run) he had a really good take on a slider. Then on the next pitch, whack! That’s what he’s capable of.”

Starting pitcher Austin Love (North Carolina) excelled in his final start for the Birds throwing five shutout innings. Love worked around traffic on the bases to keep the Harbor Hawks off the scoreboard by missing bats in key situations.

“I felt like I had all three of my pitches tonight and even tried to throw a cutter which I hadn’t thrown in a game before,” Love said. “I was out of the ‘pen a lot this year at school which made me during those tough situations which really helped me out.”

Hyannis (7-26-1) mounted a comeback in the seventh an opposite-field two-run homer from All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman (Memphis) to get his team back in the contest.

It was the first runs Orleans had allowed at McKeon Field through the first two meetings.

Angelo Smith (Michigan) and Connor Pellerin (Tulane) combined to throw the final 2 2/3 innings to secure the victory for Orleans. Both Smith and Pellerin were coming off rough outings in the loss to Falmouth on Saturday.

“It’s always nice to see guys respond,” Nicholson said. “Their presence was way better."

The Firebirds now head back on the road for a matchup with the Harwich Mariners. Orleans was rained out last time they played at Whitehouse Field, with a makeup for the original rainout taking place with a doubleheader Eldredge Park on July 24.

Short Hops:

- Monday night was Love’s final appearance on the summer as he finished his Cape season with a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings while recording 21 strikeouts and 11 walks.

- Pellerin locked down the save on his 20th birthday. The right-hander is yet to allow an earned run this summer and has become an effective late-inning arm.

- Orleans catcher Rob Emery (San Francisco) predicted Daniels’ home run the pitch before he went yard. Nicholson said the Emery noticed a great take earlier in the at-bat that Emery saw as a positive sign.