By: Alec Henden

CHATHAM, Mass. – How teams respond after gut wrenching defeats speaks to the character and determination to turn the page to the next game on the schedule. For the Orleans Firebirds, it would have been very easy to sulk following the painful walk off at the hands of the Chatham Anglers less than 24 hours ago.

It was the second such come-from-behind loss Orleans suffered at Veterans Field with the first setting in motion a six-game losing streak that derailed all of the team’s momentum.

Luckily for the Birds they turned around in a big way with a resounding 10-0 defeat of Chatham for the season’s final game. The game mattered nothing in the standings with the Anglers throwing only position players in order to preserve their pitching ahead of the playoffs.

The victory secured Orleans a co-division title with the Anglers as both team reached 50 points through 44 regular season games.

“I told them today I was extremely proud of them,” Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson said. “A week ago it could have gone south had we not played well.”

Firebirds’ catcher David Avitia (Grand Canyon) exceled at the plate going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk, the Birds’ catchers have come on strong offensively lately as the team’s offense has improved through the season.

With the postseason looming Orleans turned to two recently added pitchers in Hayden Thomas (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) and David Sears (Rhode Island Community College) to get 27 outs. The duo combined to throw a shutout for the team’s league leading eighth of the season to lock up the division title.

Seven weeks of baseball has come and past with the regular season in the rear view mirror. The Orleans Firebirds navigated through the Cape Cod League regular season with the second best record in the east division lead by a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the league.

Now, Orleans changes gears for the postseason where they will face off against a familiar foe in the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Both teams have striking differences, as the Cape’s best offense in Y-D will go up against the vaunted Firebird arms.

Game one at Eldredge Park will feature a battle of two southpaw arms looking to give their respective teams a commanding 1-0 series lead in the short three game series.

Y-D took the season series winning four of the six meetings, but Orleans was able to pick up the final two games in convincing victories. The Red Sox bats were too much to overcome in the early meetings as their potent offense scored more runs than any other Cape League team all season by a sizeable margin.

The slugging of Austin Wells (Arizona) and Noah Campbell (South Carolina) and the pesky table setting nature of Wyatt Young (Pepperdine) can cause havoc for any pitching staff. Orleans will have their hands full containing this impressive trio.

Orleans will send Jake Eder (Vanderbilt) will be the game one starter and he’s been an important addition for the Birds rotation in the latter point of the season. After Eder’s Commodores made a run all the way to the National Championship he came to the Cape looking to put himself in good position to be an important arm for the defending champions. He’s managed a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings pitched this summer in four appearances.

The Red Sox will counter with Erik Tolman (Arizona State) to make the start with his 4.00 ERA in five starts. The Sun Devil has been productive both in the batter’s box and on the mound for Y-D, but expect Tolman to strictly pitch for Friday’s game one matchup.

The two teams have competed in many heated battles throughout the years with the Red Sox typically besting the Firebirds under the direction of manager Scott Pickler.

Short Hops:

Outfielder Max Troiani (Bentley) finishes second in the Cape League in batting average with a .345 clip after going 1-for-1 with a hit by pitch in the season finale off the bench.

The division title for Orleans marks the second in three seasons for the Firebirds. As the Birds finished with 50 points, the same number as Chatham but the Anglers won the season series earning them the number one seed in the east division playoffs.

Center fielder Jacob Hurtubise (Army) has come on strong in the leadoff spot for the Firebirds to the tune of a .313 batting average and .429 on-base percentage. After joining the team late in the season, he’s solidified himself as the everyday center field and table setter.