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Orleans Takes Two from Bourne in Pivotal Double-Header

By Tyler Maland

July 13, 2009

Orleans, Mass. –

THE MATCHUP

The double-header between the Orleans Firebirds and the Bourne Braves figured to be a clash of two of the best teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League, with the top record in the league on the line.  West-leading Bourne came in winners of eight of ten, with a 13-7 record good for the best record in the league.  Orleans entered Monday’s games with a 13-9 record, the fewest losses in the Eastern Divison and a spot in the three-way fight with Chatham and Y-D for first place in the East. 

This was to be the second meeting between the two teams after two rainouts earlier in the year.  In the one game they did get in, Orleans traveled to Bourne on July 6^th and won convincingly, 9-3, behind the arm of Jimmy Reyes (Elon).

The July 13^th matchup was as even a statistical and positional face-off as could be.  In some respects, it was a battle of the power hitters: Bourne’s Kyle Roller (East Carolina) and Stefen Romero ( Oregon State) had combined for eight home runs and 26 RBI’s, while Orleans’s Jarren Matthews (Rutgers) and Alex Hassan (Duke) had three home runs and 28 RBI’s of their own.  It also may have been a matchup of the two best leadoff hitters in the league: Orleans’s Gary Brown (CS Fullerton) came in with a .347 average, six stolen bases and 12 runs in just 11 games, while Bourne’s Pierre LePage (Connecticut) had a .264 average, 12 runs and 12 stolen bases.

The Firebirds and Braves started the day equally proficient on the mound as well.  Bourne entered Game 1 with a Cape League-best 2.57 team earned run average, with the Firebirds second with a 2.63 ERA.  Game one featured two stalwart starters, with Orleans's left-hander Jimmy Reyes (2-1, 2.22) again taking the mound against Bourne right-hander Eric Cantrell (George Washington, 2-0, 2.25).  In Game 2, Jorge Reyes (Oregon State, 0-1, 1.17) made his second start of the year against Alex Wimmers (0-0, 3.00).

Orleans came in on the upswing, having scored a total of 18 runs in its last two games (both wins), while Bourne looked to bounce back from a 10-2 defeat at the hands of Brewster Sunday night.

GAME 1: Orleans 6, Bourne 2

Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) bashed a go-ahead two-run double over the head of the center fielder to put the Firebirds ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, and Orleans saw three more runs cross the plate in the frame as a 2-1 deficit became a 6-2 comeback win.  Jimmy Reyes (3-1) got his second win over Bourne and pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs without walking a batter and striking out two.

The seven-inning day game featured a pitcher’s duel as expected before Orleans’s breakout sixth inning.  Starter Eric Cantrell had retired 12 straight batters before the start of the sixth, and Reyes was equally impressive, allowing just three runners to reach second base the whole game.

One of those runners was LePage, who doubled to right center field to start the game.  The speedy leadoff hitter moved successfully up to third on a fly out to right, and subsequently scored on a groundout to third by Robert Segedin (Tulane) to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.

The Firebirds put five baserunners on in the first inning, but managed just one run when Jeremy Gould (Duke) hit an RBI single to left field.  Cantrell managed to coax a pop-up and a groundout to end the inning and escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

Catcher Chris Wallace (Houston) broke the 1-1 tie in the top of the 5^th inning with a deep solo blast off of Reyes to left-center field.  It was Wallace’s second home run of the year and was the biggest hit of the game for Bourne, but its lead would not last for long. 

After giving up the go-ahead double to Torrez, reliever Justin Poovey (Florida) sandwiched a fly-out between two walks to load the bases with two outs.  Gary Brown then singled in one run with a ground ball up the middle, and Danny Muno (Fresno St.) hit a two-run single to left-center to score the fifth and sixth Firebirds runs.

The right-handed Cantrell (now 2-1) lasted 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs (two earned) while walking three and striking out two in the loss.  Hassan led off the sixth with a single down the left field line, and Michael Olt (Connecticut) reached after Hassan on an error by the shortstop.  Cantrell was pulled from the game after Gould sacrificed the runners over to second and third, and Torrez was the first batter that Poovey faced.

Hassan went 2-for-3 with a run scored, and came in to pitch the final two outs of the game, striking out one batter and getting the other to ground out.  “Alex is just a good baseball player,” said Firebirds field manager Kelly Nicholson of Hassan, who is back for his second summer in Orleans and batted .342 for Duke in 2009 while leading the team with eight saves.

Danny Muno went 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and the two sixth inning RBI’s.  Torrez also finished the night 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI’s. 

LePage had two of the Braves’ four hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.  Wallace finished 1-for-3 with the solo home run.  Poovey’s final line was 0.2 innings pitched with three hits, three earned runs and two walks.

(Box Score - Game One)

GAME 2: Orleans 2, Bourne 1

And you thought game one was dramatic.  Orleans put together its second comeback win of the day, grabbing a 2-1 walk-off victory when Steve Selsky (Arizona) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Firebirds their second win on the day and their fifth in a row.

Selsky led off the final inning with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and to third after two more walks loaded the bases.  Orleans center fielder Kevin Muno (San Diego) approached the plate with a chance to drive in the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded, but Muno’s heroics would not be needed; a wild pitch by Bourne reliever Kevin Munson (James Madison) allowed Selsky to cross home plate uncontested.

Jorge Reyes was tremendous on the mound for the Firebirds.  The 6’2” right-hander from Warden, Washington pitched 6 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out seven.  It was Matt Packer (Arizona) that got the win, his second of the season, for Orleans.  Packer pitched the seventh inning, giving up a leadoff single before retiring the next three Bourne hitters and keeping the Braves off the board.

Bourne starter Alex Wimmers was equally impressive.  Wimmers finished with 5 innings pitched, giving up just two hits and one earned run while walking three and striking out six.

Pierre LePage again reached base with a hit in the first at-bat of the game, and again came around to score, this time on a passed ball, to give Bourne a 1-0 lead.  LePage finished 1-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt.

Not to be outdone in the leadoff spot, Gary Brown went downtown in the third inning with his first home-run of the season, a deep blast to left-center field that tied the game at one.  Quite predictably, Brown raced around the bases for what might have been the quickest home-run trot of the season.  He had the only two Orleans hits in the game, and finished 2-for-3 with a walk.

“He’s electric out there,” said Nicholson after the game.  Brown has now scored 13 runs, one less than team leader Olt, despite having played only 13 of Orleans’s 24 games because he arrived late from the College World Series.

Though it was Munson’s wild pitch that ended the game, it was Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) that allowed Selsky to reach in the bottom of the sixth and picked up the loss for Bourne.  Harrold (0-1) finished with 1.2 innings pitched, no hits, one earned run, two walks and two strikeouts.

Bourne entered today’s games having won eight of ten and being the hottest team in the league, but has suddenly dropped three games in a row and three straight to Orleans.  The Braves will travel to Falmouth for a 7:00 pm contest Tuesday night.

Orleans, on the other hand, has now won five in a row and nine of eleven.  Its record stands at 15-9, good for 30 points and the highest winning percentage in the Cape Cod Baseball League, though the YD Red Sox won Monday night to maintain their slim lead in points (31) with a 15-11-1 record.  Orleans hosts Cotuit Tuesday night for a 7:00 pm game at Eldridge Park.

(Box Score - Game Two)