The Firebirds traversed down the Cape on Friday for their rematch against the Cotuit Ketleers.

Lowell Park in Cotuit is a testament to baseball’s pastoral roots. If Whitehouse Field in Harwich and Stony Brook Field in Brewster are surrounded by trees, Lowell Park is practically consumed by evergreen and deciduous jungle.

Cotuit’s home field is a colonial New England blast from the past. A brick concourse spans the path between wooden buildings and bleachers. The roofs, field fences, tents, and any other accenting architecture is painted a dark green to match the foliage. Lowell Park is one of three CCBL fields with no stadium lights.

For most Birds, Thursday was an off day spent catching up on sleep, relaxing, or otherwise finding a way to recharge. For Rayner Heinrich (Tarleton State), Nate Savoie (Texas A&M), Cale Stricklin (Charlotte), and Brennan Seiber (Vanderbilt), it was the perfect day to catch a Sox-Yankees rivalry game at Fenway. The group sat in the bleachers and was lucky enough to witness a rare Red Sox victory.

Having missed out on two straight games worth of batting practice, the Birds got to work early on the field. Bub Terrell (Auburn) and Tyler Myatt (Tennessee) took turns peppering the pines with baseballs. Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) joined them, displaying his underrated power.

“I like to hit homers in batting practice,” MacDougall said. “It gets you that feeling you need in order to be game ready.”

The deep growl of motorcycle engines suddenly filled the air. On black colored bikes, a procession of military veterans arrived. They circled the field once. Then twice. The final two-wheeler of four waved an American flag. The veterans were honored over the loudspeaker. The anthem brought their valor to life for all spectators to see and hear.

Orleans was up against Jonathan Adelmann from Bucknell. Listed at 6’7” weighing 250 pounds, he appeared to be more mountain than man. The righty had not yet allowed an earned run in Cape League play. He worked with just a two-pitch mix — cutter and slider.

Adelmann had his way with Firebirds hitters through two innings. It was six batters up and six batters down almost as quickly.

It was Jacob Haley’s (South Alabama) turn in the rotation for the Birds. Cotuit surprised him early, loading the bases on two hits and a walk. The pressure was all Haley needed to lock in. He struck out the next two Ketleers and induced a grounder to escape the first.

Haley worked around more runners in the second to keep the game scoreless. He let out a small twirl as he struck out Ryan Tyranski for out number three.

Adelmann stomped back to the hill in the third. Rayner Heinrich showed some will to break out of his early season slump. He lined a single to center, but Adelmann quickly shut the rally down.

Haley responded with a scoreless third. The always reliable Dominic Cadiz (UCLA) singled up the middle to begin the fourth. Terrell followed. He mashed a foul ball 400 feet down the right field line, but K’d on a slider in the dirt. Elijah Ickes (Hawaii) saw 11 pitches from the cleanup spot, but struck out swinging. Cadiz attempted a steal of second, but was called out due to batter’s interference from Ickes.

Kelly Nicholson climbed the dugout steps to discuss the questionable call with Crew Chief Jeffrey Merzel. Nicholson pleaded his case, saying “just let them play” but was shunned back to the dugout.

Haley worked around more weak contact in the fourth. At least three of the Kettleers five hits to that point had been soft squibbers. Haley never relented, and beared down to collect several flyouts and get the Birds off the field.

The sun broke through a thick overcast barrier in the fifth. Adelmann’s day was done after four and one third innings. The sidewinder Chase Van Ameyde took over. With Jonathan Gomez (Farleigh Dickinson) on first, Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) left the yard — this time during the actual game. His second hit of the year and first homer put the Birds up 2-0.

The fifth was bittersweet for the Birds. MacDougall had come through, but Jeremy Sheffield (George Washington) was injured in left field trying to track down a foul ball against the fence. He appeared to tweak his right leg, and went down in a heap. After a visit from an athletic trainer, Kelly Nicholson, and several nearby teammates, Sheffield walked off without assistance.

Luca Alagheband (Harvard) had replaced Jacob Haley in the same inning. He struggled with control, hitting a batter and walking two, but somehow walked away unscathed.

Things fell apart for the Birds in the sixth. Alagheband was removed by Nicholson after two batters and one out recorded. Brady Fox (UMBC) took his place. Fox didn’t have it. He walked two batters and allowed one run on a Dawson Park single. The Birds’ lead was starting to slip.

Grant Garman (Hawaii) took Fox’s place. Jayce Lee’s sacrifice fly tied the game at two a piece. Another Kettleer’s single off the glove of the diving Armani Raygoza (UTRGV) gave the ‘Kets a 3-2 lead.

Garman was pulled in the seventh with two outs. Jayden Stroman (Virginia) took his spot on the rubber. Ryan Tyranski belted a ball to right center — but was robbed by Rowan Kelly (UCSB). In a dead sprint, Kelly leaped and reached over the fence to snag the ball, making a SportsCenter Top 10 worthy play as he got the wind knocked out of him.

MacDougall continued to own the zone. He took a walk to leadoff the eighth, and was pinch ran for by Nate Savoie. The move paid off immediately, as Savoie took second and third base in one wild pitch. Raygoza was awarded first after a pitch clock violation. Darkness was becoming an extreme factor.

Despite runners on first and third with no outs, the Birds squandered their comeback chances. After Kelly struck out on three pitches, Cadiz grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

The game was called after the Birds' eighth inning attempt with the bats due to lack of light. With the loss, the Birds moved to 3-8 on the season. A one run loss could definitely have been much worse, as the Kettleers left 14 runners on base.

Some certain trends have appeared through the first fourth of the season. The Birds live and die by the long ball. It’s been 21 innings since they scored without hitting the ball out of the park. Orleans starters continue to dominate, but the bullpen seems to always have one problem inning per game. Their rough start is more than just a simple twist of fate.

The Firebirds return to Eldredge on Saturday to take on the Falmouth Commodores for the third time this season.