By: Alec Henden

BREWSTER, Mass. – After one inning of play Saturday afternoon a familiar theme emerged for the Orleans Firebirds. They were trailing by three runs and were left searching for answers squarely staring a third consecutive loss in the face.

For a team that had very little go their way of late, it would have been easy to pack it up and view a three-run deficit as insurmountable.

But thanks to the increased offensive production of Shay Whitcomb (UC San Diego) and some stellar relief work the Birds were able to escape Stony Brook Field with a doubleheader split against the division rival Brewster Whitecaps.

“You come on the road and you get a split it’s never a bad thing,” Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson said. “We would’ve liked to have played better in that fifth inning (game two) and it got away from us in a hurry.”

Whitcomb shined in the first game as he went 3-for-3 at the plate with two doubles and a game-tying home run. His emergence as a potent middle of the order bat was the key cog missing in an Orleans offense that could get guys on but often struggled to slug.

“It’s been kind of a similar situation for me the last few days,” Whitcomb said. “I was just trying to stay relaxed and getting a pitch that I can hit hard.”

Nicholson has noted Whitcomb’s potential all summer and has claimed he’s the best division two player in the nation. Whitcomb has proven his bat and glove play against any competition with his fantastic summer on the Cape.

“He appears to be seeing the ball very well,” Nicholson said. “He can bounce around and play third, short, second. He’s a very good player and very good young man.”

Lefty Isaac Esqueda (USC) battled through a difficult first inning where he surrendered a three-run home run to T.J. Collett (Kentucky).

Esqueda settled in nicely to throw four innings and pick up the victory in the first game as he did enough to keep his team in the game. Even more impressively considering he didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday.

“I was trying to pitch to contact and trust my defense,” Esqueda said. “I was trying to keep my pitch count down and help my team out a little bit more.”

The Birds bullpen received a huge lift from reliever Chase Wallace (Tennessee) who threw three shutout innings to pick up the save. Wallace has been used a lot this summer and has been impressive in late inning high leverage situations.

“He’s going to go back to Tennessee next spring and set himself up well for June’s draft,” Nicholson said. “He threw three superb innings today.”

Game two Justin Showalter (James Madison) made his 2019 Cape League debut and was mostly effective and found a groove in the middle innings of his outing. Showalter pitched at the tail end of last season for the Birds and will serve as an additional arm throw the season’s stretch run.

The Birds now return home for their final meeting of the regular season against Brewster. Orleans has guaranteed at worst a season split with the Whitecaps and will look to secure the season series with a win Sunday evening.

Short Hops:

The Birds will send right-hander Dawson McCarville (Grand Canyon) to the mound for Sunday evening’s game against the Whitecaps. It will be McCarville’s first start of the summer as he’s been exclusively used out of the bullpen this season.

Orleans remains six points ahead of Brewster and moved to four points ahead of Harwich for the final two postseason spots in the east division. The Birds also trail Yarmouth-Dennis by four points for the second position.

Outfielder Jacob Hurtubise (Army) had a nice afternoon starting in both games, but shined in the second game. Hurtubise hit an RBI-triple as well as making things happen on the base paths with his speed.