Orleans Pitching Stifles Y-D

(photo courtesy of Zach Foley)

By Kieran Wilson

The Yarmouth-Dennis offense ran into some trouble on Friday night when they faced off against the Orleans Firebirds at Eldredge Park. Orleans’ two pitchers held the Red Sox to just one run on six hits, with their starter, Daniel Avitia, pitching six shutout innings.

Red Sox pitching was not as sharp, as they gave  up 10 runs on 11 hits to fall to Orleans 10-1. This game drops their record to 10-7-1, although their retain a small one point lead over Harwich for first place.

Both teams were scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Y-D starter, Jackson Kent, hit Eddie King, Jr. with one gone. King, Jr. stole second and then advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Will King. Kent then walked Joichiro Oyama to put runners at first and third, and a sacrifice fly by Andy Blake scored King, Jr. from third, giving Orleans an early 1-0 lead.

A walk to Jake Penney, a double by Johnny Olmstead, and another walk to Owen Carapellotti loaded the bases for Orleans with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Designated hitter Jake Hyde sent a double into the right field gap, which scored two, and put Orleans up 3-0. 

Connor O’Hara was Y-D’s first reliever of the night, and after a scoreless 1 ⅓ innings, he walked Hyde and struck out Jake Casey to start the sixth inning. Joichiro Oyama moved Hyde to second base with a sacrifice bunt, and Andy Blake singled home Hyde, putting Orleans up 4-0.

The Red Sox offense finally broke through in the seventh inning after Brady Day doubled and Enzo Apodaca brought him home with a single up the middle, making the score 4-1, but that would be the only run the Red Sox scored.

New arrival, Max Banks, from Chapman University, entered the game in relief for Y-D in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, his Red Sox career got off to a rough start, after he gave up a leadoff walk and then a two-run homer to Johnny Olmstead, which extended the Firebird lead to 6-1.

Then, Banks recorded a walk, a strikeout, and a walk, to give Orleans runners at first and second with only one out. Banks’ night was over after that, and Jackson Roberts came in to replace him. Roberts walked the next batter, gave up a sacrifice fly to Andy Blake with the bases loaded, and then threw a wild pitch which scored another run, giving Orleans an 8-1 lead. 

The Firebirds tacked on two more in the eighth inning after a triple by Penney, a single by Olmstead, and a double by Jake Casey, putting the final score at 10-1.

After the game, manager Scott Pickler did not seem rattled by his team’s loss: “[Tomorrow’s] a new day. We’ve got a new pitcher going and we’ll see what happens. You’re gonna have games like this. These guys have battled all year and we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

Y-D will look to get back on track as they face off against the fourth place Breewster Whitecaps on Saturday, July 1, at 4:45 at “Red” Wilson Field.