“It’s always good to get a win, and it’s hard to get wins in the Cape league,” manager Kelly Nicholson said after Orleans defeated the Kettleers, 8-2, the previous night.
Nicholson’s words rang true Tuesday night when the Commodores sailed past the Birds, 14-5, under the lights of Eldredge Park, as the fog hung over the field.
Unfortunately for the Birds, the Commodores came out blaring, pressuring Orleans almost instantly.
Orleans’ starting pitcher was Truman Pauley (Harvard), who stood on the mound prepared to wind up a pitch against Antonio Morales (Wake Forest). Morales took no time to start heating up, as he tripled on a fly ball.
The Commodores seemed to just be getting started, though. Justin Osterhouse (Purdue) followed suit, notching a single — bringing Morales home on the play. With two outs in the top of the first, off a Pauley wild pitch, Osterhouse increased the Commodores’ lead to two.
Orleans was unable to respond in the bottom of the first.
One Commodores player capitalized on that in the top of the second: Bear Harrison (Texas A&M). After a Carl Schmidt (California) double to start the inning, Harrison’s home run added another two to Falmouth’s repertoire.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third when BC’s scoring drought appeared to be ending soon. Winding up rapidly, Michael O’Shaughnessy (Georgia) doubled on a line drive.
“(O’Shaughnessy) is as advertised, and I’m glad that he is on our team,” Nicholson said about O’Shaughnessy’s playmaking abilities.
Fortunately for the Birds, Matt Sauser’s (Central Florida) wild pitch two batters later gave BC its first run of the night, as O’Shaughnessy eagerly ran home.
In the top of the fourth, Ryan Oshinskie (Brown) replaced Pauley on the mound. During his three innings of work, Pauley had four strikeouts and allowed four hits and one home run.
Oshinskie managed to stop the bleeding, reenergizing the Birds’ offense. When Orleans cut the lead in half to just two runs after a Jonathan Mendez (UC Santa Barbara) RBI, a comeback appeared to be in the works.
Things only started looking better for Orleans, as an O’Shaughnessy single brought Abbrie Covarrubias (Southern California) home, with Falmouth only leading 4-3.
After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, it seemed like the Birds were chipping away at the Commodores’ lead.
Until the sixth inning.
The Birds’ inability to shut down the Commodores’ pressure became apparent in the top of the sixth, when any chance of a comeback quickly unraveled.
Despite having three pitching changes in the sixth inning, the Birds were unable to contain the Commodores, as they tacked on another nine runs by the time that Orleans returned to bat.
Falmouth’s first home run of the inning came off a Landon Moran (Stetson) bullet that sailed over the heads of the Birds and over the fence of Eldredge Park. Harrison joined Moran with a run of his own, tacking on another three runs as he scored Morales and Osterhouse.
The Commodores tallied four home runs in the matchup, while Orleans had just one.
That home run came in the bottom of the seventh inning by Chris Barr (Army). While the game may have gone differently than expected, the Orleans fans could still be heard.
With two outs, searching for any way to diminish the run deficit, Barr answered, banging a fly ball to left-center field. In the top of the eighth, Maika Niu (Marshall) wanted in on the action, too, as he tacked on another home run for Falmouth.
While that was the last run for the Commodores, it would not make up for earlier damage caused, as Orleans fell to Falmouth in front of a home crowd.
