How can you outdo yourself when you’re already on a six-game winning streak?
Making it seven with the league’s highest run total since 2013 will do the trick.
Orleans blasted Hyannis 17-3 Saturday night for its most impressive victory yet, which is saying something. While the start of the streak featured pretty typical margins, the Firebirds won numbers and five and six by 13-2 and 9-1 scores.
Fourteen by Y-D was the highest run total in the league this summer until the Firebirds upped the ante. No team had scored at least 17 since August 2, 2013, when Falmouth beat Bourne 18-3. Orleans also had a 17-run game that season on June 21.
Here’s some of the damage
- Every Orleans player who batted – including two subs – had at least one hit
- Orleans racked up 19 hits
- Every run scored, remarkably, was earned
- The Firebirds had six extra-base hits and two home runs
- There were 54 plate appearances by Orleans; Hyannis had a more typical 38
- The Firebirds scored 13 of their runs off a pitcher – Michael Brettell – who came in with a 3-0 record and a 0.73 ERA
- Hyannis didn’t even help much, making two errors that didn’t matter much and walking only four batters
- For good measure, Orleans pitchers didn’t allow a hit after the fifth inning
Orleans started its onslaught with a three-run first inning. Hyannis actually answered back with a run of its own, but the Firebirds scored six in the second and the rout was on. Two more in the third and two in the fifth looked like the finishing touches until Orleans added four more in the top of the ninth, which has to be among the worst cases of “away team that’s winning in the top of the ninth getting unnecessary offense” in history.
Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt) led the parade with two home runs – his first two of the summer – and six RBI. Niko Decolati (Loyola Marymount) had four hits, scored three runs and drove in two. Steve Passatempo (UMass Lowell) went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) had two hits.
Orleans is hitting .375 as a team in its last three games.
As for the pitching, Hyannis had little chance to make the game a slugfest. Chandler Day (Vanderbilt) scattered six hits and allowed three runs in five innings. Graeme Stinson (Duke) was dominant in relief, striking out seven in three scoreless innings, though he did hit three batters. Parker Kelly (Oregon) struck out the side in the ninth. h
Falmouth 6, Cotuit 3
The Commodores couldn’t quite match Orleans’ big night but stayed hot in their own right with their fifth straight win. Alec Bohm (Wichita State) went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI. His second home run broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh. Bohm on a five-game hitting streak and is batting .424 – best in the league – with three home runs and 12 RBI. Mitchell Miller (Clemson) earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. John Cresto (Santa Clara) homered for Cotuit. The Commodores improved to 10-7 and are tied with Bourne for first place in the West.
Bourne 6, Wareham 4
The Braves kept pace with Falmouth thanks to a win over the Gatemen. Andrew Fregia (Sam Houston State) had two hits and two RBI to lead the offense. Scott Schreiber (Nebraska), Richard Palacios (Towson), Jared Triolo (Houston) and Jameson Hannah (Dallas Baptist) drove in one run each. Daniel Bies (Gonzaga) earned the win with five strong innings of relief. Luis Alvarado (Nebraska) picked up the save.
Y-D 7, Brewster 4
As hot as Orleans is, Y-D remained just a point back in the East with a win over Brewster. A four-run seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Red Sox on their way. Alex McKenna (Cal Poly) went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Carlos Cortes (South Carolina) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. John Rooney (Hofstra) allowed three runs in six innings for the win. With Brewster threatening in the eighth – the final inning due to darkness – Riley McCauley (Michigan State) recorded the final out for his league leading sixth save.
Chatham 3, Harwich 2
Chatham rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth and won on a walk-off walk to snap a three-game slide. Harwich has lost five straight. Mason Koppens (Northeastern) drew the winning walk to force in Cody Roberts (North Carolina). Before the late rally, Jake Palomaki (Boston College) also drove in a run for the Anglers. Josiah Gray (Le Moyne) was credited with the win in relief. Starter Jeff Belge (St. John’s) struck out eight in 4.1 innings.
What to Watch
Some of the league’s top starters so far will be in action tonight, as Tyler Baum (North Carolina) goes for Harwich and Kyle Bradish (New Mexico State) gets the ball for Falmouth. But the best matchup should be in Wareham, where Justin Montgomery (California Baptist) takes his 0.00 ERA into battle against a talented Y-D team and starter Hogan Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette), who struck out nine in five innings last time out.
Don’t you associate certain teams with certain schools?
Here in Orleans, the team with which I’m most familiar, I always think of players from Arizona, Vanderbilt, Loyola Marymount, and Duke. Of course we always seem to get a couple from UNC, but so do half the teams in the league. And if a player comes from Hawaii. we’re almost certain to get him.
You can always count on Chatham to have players from BC and UCLA, and of course UNC, but if a player from Maine hits the league, he’ll likely be an Angler.
Brewster seems to recruit its players from the Pacific Northwest, schools like Washington and Oregon.
Y-D always has Stanford players (as does Hyannis), but they also consistently get players from Cal St. Fullerton and Florida.
Harwich has a pipeline from Virginia, but it also occasionally gets a player or two from Northeastern and Notre Dame.
When I think of Wareham, I think of Georgia Tech, LSU, and Louisville. Bourne always seems to have guys from UConn, East Carolina, Ohio State, and William & Mary. Falmouth recruits from Wichita State, Texas A & M, Oregon State, and Jacksonville State. If a guy comes from New Mexico, he’s almost certain to be a Harbor Hawk, but Hyannis also always has players from Dallas Baptist and Clemson. Cotuit is the place for guys from South Carolina and Arkansas.
What are some of the feeder relationships that pop into your head? (You can tell I’m having a slow day at work today.)
Falmouth and Oregon State is my big one – Jacoby Ellsbury, Joey Wong, Darwin Barney. I feel like Falmouth was in on the Beavers before they became a powerhouse.
Chatham seems to get UNC’s best pitcher – Andrew Miller, Matt Harvey, Zac Gallen, though Harwich has Tyler Baum this year.