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Orleans Drops Two to Y-D
By Tyler Maland
July 19, 2009
Y-D is now in first place in the Eastern Division with 39 points and a 19-12-1 record, while Orleans falls to 17-13-1 and will try to get a game back from the Red Sox Monday at 5:00 p.m. at the Dennis-Yarmouth High School Field. The teams started the day tied with 35 points at the top of the East.
GAME 1: Orleans 1, Y-D 5
In Game 1, Orleans managed just one run off of Mario Hollands and none against reliever Chase Dempsay (Houston). Hollands improved to 3-1 with the win, and pitched 5 innings, giving up just one run and four hits while striking out four.
Y-D was first on the board in the third inning, when Jake Schlander (Stanford) reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to third on a passed ball, and came around to score on a short chopper that was bobbled and ruled an error by Firebirds third baseman Riccio Torrez (Arizona St.).
The Firebirds tied the game in the fourth when Alex Hassan (Duke) doubled and came around to score on a wild pitch, but Y-D struck again in the fifth on an RBI single by Jonathan Jones (Long Beach St.). Orleans starter Jimmy Reyes (Elon) got the first two outs of the fifth, but surrendered a double to Blake Kelso (Houston) before Jones knocked him in for the go-ahead run.
Y-D scored again in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Steve Chatwood (San Diego), and plated two more off of Orleans reliever Daniel Ottone (Western Carolina) in the seventh.
Reyes lasted 6.1 innings, scattered six hits and surrendered three runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out three. Ottone came in after Reyes had retired the first batter in the seventh, and gave up three hits, one walk and two earned runs.
The sidearm-throwing Dempsay pitched two innings of no-hit ball to earn the save for the Red Sox. Y-D’s first two hitters, Kelso and Jones, combined to go 4-for-7 with three runs. Austin Wates (Virginia Tech), who started the day third in the league in hitting at .349, went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Hassan went 2-for-3 for Orleans, which mustered just four hits in the game. Danny Muno (Fresno St.) singled, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball in the second inning, but was stranded there when a hit up the middle by catcher Hampton Tignor (Florida) was snagged in the air by a diving Kelso to save a run.
GAME 2: Orleans 1, Y-D 2
Jorge Reyes (Oregon St.) entered Game 2 with a stingy 0.66 ERA but an 0-1 record, and was again unable to earn his first win of the year despite pitching proficiently. Reyes threw all seven innings of the shortened game, scattered five hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out 11 and walking none.
The two runs that Y-D provided for their starter Austin Ross were just enough. Ross pitched an impressive six innings and allowed just three hits and no runs while striking out five.
Orleans started the seventh inning down 2-0, but put the pressure on Red Sox closer Tyler Burgoon (Michigan), who hadn’t allowed an earned run in 16.1 innings pitched. After Burgoon got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Kevin Muno (San Diego) reached base on a bunt single and moved to second on a throwing error. Steve Selsky (Arizona) followed with a clutch pinch-hit single to right field that scored Muno and brought the winning run, catcher Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount), to the plate. Koch hit a ball off Burgoon deep down the right field line but foul, before striking out looking to end the game.
Y-D scored first in the fourth inning, when Tyler Hanover (LSU) got his team’s first hit of the game off of Reyes with one out. Hanover stole second base before Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) hit him home with a single to right field.
The Red Sox scored again in the sixth when Orleans third baseman Ross Heffley (Western Carolina) muffed a ground ball and then overthrew first base to score Hanover from second base. Hanover went 2-for-3 in the game with both of the Red Sox runs, and was the only player with two hits off of Reyes.
The 6’2” right-hander was dominant from the start of the game, when he had the rare four-strikeout first inning, as one batter reached on a third strike passed ball. Reyes’s 11 K’s were a single-game high for Orleans this season, and all the more impressive that they came in the shortened seven inning game.
The Firebirds nearly took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but second baseman Devin Lohman (Long Beach St.) was thrown out at the plate by Y-D right fielder Jonathan Jones after a Gary Brown (CS Fullerton) single to right field.
The Firebirds and Red Sox entered Sunday’s double-header first and second in the league in team ERA, and four talented starters showed their stuff on the mound. It was Y-D’s defense, however, that may have been most impressive and prevented at least two Orleans runs from scoring, from Kelso’s diving catch in Game 1 to Jones’s outfield assist in Game 2.
Kevin Muno (2-for-3) was the lone Orleans batter with two hits in Game 2. The Firebirds will hope to get the offense rolling again at Y-D on Monday.