FALMOUTH, Mass. – The Falmouth Commodores were down 10-6 to the Orleans Firebirds going into the bottom of the seventh, but Dylan Carey (Nebraska) walked to load the bases.
The Commodores still had some fight in them to put up five runs in the bottom of the seventh to clinch an 11-10 lead. A fog delay was called during the inning before it was completed, and ultimately the call went in favor of Falmouth to grant it the victory over Orleans, per the Cape Cod Baseball League official scorer.
“We’re pretty sure we won the game,” Falmouth bench coach John Schiffner explained postgame during scoring deliberations. “Reverting back to the old baseball rule of the official game has ended after five innings, or four and a half innings with the home team ahead, and this is pretty much the same thing. The game has stopped now and we finished the five innings. We’re ahead. This is like a walk-off.”
The first and second innings were led off with hits in the away and home portions of the innings. The Firebirds recorded three hits and the Commodores recorded five hits to give them an early lead of 3-2.
The game tied at 3-3 when Khadim Diaw (Loyola Marymount) scored off a single from Jack Gurevitch (San Diego). Falmouth starting pitcher Francis Ferguson (Eastern Nazarene) picked up his third strikeout on Isaac Wachsmann (Xavier) to round out the top of the third.
The first three-and-done inning was secured by the Falmouth defense in the top of the fourth with two flyouts and a strikeout. Orleans responded with a 1-2-3 inning itself in the bottom half of the inning.
Bases were loaded in the top of the fifth and a single from Daniel Bucciero (Fordham) granted the Firebirds the lead. Orleans pulled further away with a three-run homer from Wachsmann to make it 8-3.
Ferguson was relieved by Edward Hart (Duke) after the Firebirds punched in five runs. Hart got a crucial strikeout and Jayson Jones (Oklahoma State) got the flyout to end the offensive burst from Orleans.
Scott Mudler (Oklahoma) snagged a run for the Commodores to start working at the Firebirds’ lead as the fog began to roll in. Falmouth closed in more on Orleans with two more runs, going into the top of the seventh sitting at 8-6.
The seventh inning was intense. The Firebirds punched in two runs to be comfortable at 10-6, but the Commodores rallied it out and overcame three different pitchers on the mound to defeat the lead, 11-10, before the fog decided the game's fate.
The Commodores (7-13) have an off day on Tuesday but will return to action on Wednesday at McKeon Park to take on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks (10-8) with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.
You can get live game updates on Instagram and X @FalCommodores or tune in to the live radio broadcast featuring Braden Schenck and MJ Newsom on YouTube @FalmouthCommodores.
Photo credit: Nate Gardner
