Another evening of baseball descended upon Eldredge Park. A nearly cloudless sky stretched from foul pole to foul pole. The Birds 10th game of the season featured perfect weather, but frustrating results.

Though the Birds got out to another early lead versus the Hyannis Harborhawks, this time it wasn’t enough. Bub Terrell (Auburn) homered twice and amassed all four of the team’s RBIs. Despite his legacy game, Orleans arms collapsed late in the game, leading to a four-run ninth for the Hawks and a 6-4 loss.

For the second day in a row, pre-game activities were trimmed for the Firebirds. A still-damp field wasn’t fit for infield practice. A representative from Louisville Slugger brought an array of bats for the Birds to sample. Rayner Heinrich (Tarleton State), Casey Cumiskey (SNHU), and Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) experimented with new lumber in a brief batting practice session.

After showing bats to the Firebirds on Wednesday, the same representative will travel to show his wares to the Bourne Braves on Thursday. After that, he will travel to Fenway on Friday for the second game of a Sox-Yankees rivalry series, hoping to make some sales to MLB clubs many Birds may someday play for.

Cumiskey leaned against the dugout railing once again. On another day where he wasn’t in the starting lineup, he took the downtime to reflect on the life of a ballplayer. Playing six games a week in the summer after a full college season is certainly no easy feat.

“It’s a grind for sure,” Cumiskey said. “It takes a lot to get ready to play every day — even when I’m not starting. Whether it’s trying to stay healthy, getting to the field early, or spending long periods away from family — it’s a life full of sacrifices. Especially if you make it to MLB.”

The anthem came and went. The flare of the sun glinted off cameras in left, center, and right field. It reflected off the Birds’ polished home white jerseys. Casey Euper (Pepperdine) was due to make his second home start, this time against the Hyannis Harborhawks.

The crowds were growing larger and larger at Eldredge as the summer went on. The hill seemed to swell with increased energy. The ball was sure to carry on such a night.

Terrell drew a line in the dirt with the knob of his bat. He climbed into the box with Tyler Myatt (Tennessee) on third and Dominic Cadiz (UCLA) on second. Carter Cox tried to surprise Terrell with a low fastball. Instead, Bub hit a 350 foot opposite field tank over the fence in left. It was the third straight game with an early Orleans lead thanks to the long ball. The power potential was starting to show.

Euper wasn’t quite his normal self through two innings. He battled some control issues with the curve in the first, but did not allow any damage. He worked around two more runners in the second.

The lefty shook the dust off in the third. He settled right in with three strikeouts in a row. The first Hawk went down swinging. The next two were caught with the bat on their shoulder.

The Birds starter kept working around traffic in the fourth, putting up another zero. Cale Stricklin (Charlotte) continued to show his defensive prowess, vengefully gunning down a runner at third after he had stolen second.

Hyannis walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame, but none of the Birds took flight this time. Young fans swarmed foul balls that fell on the hill. Cars rolled past with their drivers yelling “Go Birds!”

Euper’s evening was over after 78 pitches and four innings pitched with five strikeouts. His three walks allowed was the main reason for his short leash. Euper was replaced by Jake Echols (FSU), who allowed a homer to the first batter he faced in Kyle Alivo — but did not allow the next three Hawks to reach.

Bub Terrell’s monster night wasn’t over. The tall lefty doubled up on homeruns, this time blasting a long ball pull-side over the right field fence. Terrell’s second homer was 101 miles an hour off the bat. The Birds regained their three run lead.

“It was a great feeling,” Terrell said of his multi-homer game. “There were a lot of fans here tonight, and I’m glad they got to see that. I’m in a new state, far from home, using a wood bat, and I thought it’d take some time for me to get running. I saw some pitches well tonight.”

Recent Georgia Tech transfer Brady Fox took the mound in the sixth. The sun had fully sunk but homers continued to rise. JP Head blasted the fourth homer of the game into the parking lot beyond left field. Stricklin took a foul ball off the wrist. He grimaced and was visited by a trainer and Kelly Nicholson, but stayed in the game.

Eli Iwanaga (UCLA) replaced Fox, working with two outs still in the sixth. He allowed a double, but escaped the sixth. 4-2 Birds.

Iwanaga pitched two outs into the seventh, recording two more strikeouts for one total inning of work. He did leave runners on first and second for Grant Garman (Hawaii) who replaced him. Garman needed only two pitches to induce a roller to Cadiz, ending the inning.

Garman walked one and struck out one in the eighth before being replaced by Orleans’ sixth pitcher Andrew Cutler (George Washington). He K’d two Hawks to give the Birds another chance for insurance, but they wouldn’t add any more runs.

Cutler remained in the game for the ninth but fell apart. He allowed two hits and a hit a batter. The Hawks reduced the Birds lead to only one. It was time for Kelly Nicholson’s seventh pitcher of the day — Brayden Toro (Stetson).

Toro continued the ninth inning meltdown. Two hit batters, two sacrifice flies, and some sloppy defense later, the Hawks were up 6-4. The Birds mounted no response in the bottom of the inning.

“We played matchups really well until the ninth inning,” Kelly Nicholson said. “Cutler finished the eighth with a couple punchouts. We gave away free bases, and we got beat.”

Even with the disappointing result, the ever-positive Terrell still finds it more useful to look on the bright side.

“Our lineup one through nine is pretty deep,” Terrell said. “We’re learning about each other, and we’re going to come together. Tonight I’m going to go home and shower and wash [the loss] off. You can pout about it now, but once you wash it off, you’ve got to move on.”