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Orleans Defeats Chatham to Move On
August 7, 2009
By Tyler Maland
Catcher Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) set the tone early, taking a vicious and unexpected hit but holding on to the ball for a crucial out in the second inning. The rest of the Firebirds followed suit for the rest of the game, accepting every attempt at a comeback Chatham had to offer but holding firm for the win.
Gary Brown (CS Fullerton) scored the first Orleans run in the first inning on an RBI single by Jeremy Gould (Duke), and knocked in the second run with a squeeze bunt in the second. Orleans stuck to the small-ball it’s utilized all season, converting three sacrifice bunts and trying two squeezes.
Gould hit a one-out double in the third inning, and Olt followed him with an opposite field shot over the right field fence to put his team ahead 4-0. The always-savvy third baseman’s bat has been slowed by injury throughout the summer, but his fourth home run of the season and his first since June 21st gave Firebirds starter Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) what he needed to work with.
Gaynor threw six full innings and started the seventh for Orleans, allowing six hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out five and walking just one. Chatham had runners on third base in the second and fifth innings, but Gaynor escaped both innings unscathed.
In that second inning, Anglers first baseman Dean Green (Oklahoma St.) led off with a double and reached third on a groundout. Chatham tried to squeeze the run home, but Green got caught off third base after the bunt and was run down by the catcher Koch. Just in front of the third base bag, the 6’4”, 220-pound Green planted his foot, lowered his shoulder and checked the running Koch in an attempt to knock the ball free. Koch hit the ground hard, but took the blow and held onto the ball to make the out. The umpires did not eject Green from the game despite a protest from the Orleans coaching staff and a discussion amongst themselves.
The Anglers plated their first run in the sixth inning when Matt Duffy (Tennessee) reached on an error and was doubled home by Mike Murray (Wake Forrest). With a runner in scoring position and one out, though, Gaynor again got out of the jam by retiring the next two batters.
Gaynor’s day ended when Chatham started the seventh with a walk and a double to put runners on second and third. Matt Hiserman (San Francisco) came out of the bullpen, and gave up a sac fly to his first batter, Tom Belza (Oklahoma St.). The reliever did his job in limiting the damage, though, and after an infield single he was able to get the next two batters to end the inning.
Hiserman started the eighth, and this time he left the game after runners reached second and third on an error and a double with one out. Tommy Kahnle (Lynn) was the last man out of the pen for the Firebirds, and gave up an RBI groundout to Matt Perry (Holy Cross) before striking out Brian Harris (Vanderbilt) to end the inning.
Kahnle pitched perhaps the most important 1.2 innings of the Firebirds’ season, and he brought his electrifying fastball along for the ride. He did not throw a breaking ball or off-speed pitch, and topped out at 99 miles per hour. The sophomore-to-be celebrated his 20th birthday by getting the save and allowing just one hit.
Brown went 2-for-2 with a walk and the RBI sacrifice bunt, and Gould was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Olt was 1-for-4 with the 2-run homer.
Murray and Belza each had two hits and an RBI for Chatham. Green had two doubles, and Addison Johnson (Clemson) also had two hits.
Logan Verrett (Baylor) made the start for Chatham, and allowed six hits and four earned runs in just three innings, getting the loss.
Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) kept Chatham in the game by combining to pitch six innings of shutout ball for Chatham.
But the Firebirds refused to give up the game-tying run, and will advance to play Bourne in the semi-finals, a three-game series in which the Braves will have home field advantage. Cotuit defeated Wareham 5-2 on Friday, and will take on top-seeded Y-D.
Bourne finished on top of the Western Division at 25-17-2, but Orleans won all four of their match-ups this season. The Firebirds outscored the Braves 28-7 in those four wins, the last of which was an 11-1 decision on July 18th. Orleans’s success against Bourne stems further back than this season; it won each of its last two championships, in 2003 and 2005, over the Braves.
Jorge Reyes (Oregon St., 1-2, 1.06) is expected to take the hill Saturday for Orleans, which has now won four straight.