FALMOUTH, Mass. — Just over a week ago, Falmouth was fighting for first place in the West Division with Hyannis. The Commodores lost, but the defeat didn’t feel massive at the time.

But just five games later, Falmouth was hanging onto a playoff spot by a thread. The ‘Dores’ four-game losing streak, including 12-3 losses to Wareham and Brewster, had plummeted them down the West standings and in danger of missing the postseason.

Something needed to change. An influx of new arms proved to be the right remedy. In were Jeremy Urena (FIU) and Everrett Garber (Bucknell). Out were Connor Linn and Matt Sauser.

Both took the mound on Thursday, allowing Falmouth to finally exorcise its demons. The Commodores (12-14-1) narrowly downed the Firebirds (12-13-2) 3-1 on Thursday. In their first appearances with the ‘Dores, Urena and Garber tossed a scoreless seven innings to propel them back into the win column despite continued offensive woes.

“You get to get the team rolling again,” Urena said. “Hopefully we keep the streak going.”

Falmouth also entered with previous success against Orleans. But since Falmouth’s 14-5 and 7-3 wins, it’d been nearly a month. Both teams had changed tremendously. Falmouth’s top three starters — Kaden Echeman, Grayson Saunier and TJ Coats — had departed. Meanwhile, Orleans had climbed to a respectable .500 record.

The major issue during Falmouth’s schneid was its starting pitching. Versus Brewster, Jaden Wywoda allowed five runs over 2.1 innings and Laif Palmer surrendered another five at Wareham.

Despite it being his debut, Urena finally ended that trend. He used his sinker to retire seven hitters in a row after an Anthony Potestio leadoff single to start on the right foot. Potestio reached second with one out in the first, but Urena induced two straight groundouts. He took that and ran, producing a 1-2-3 second.

That was where Wywoda imploded versus Brewster. Urena changed that standard. He again faced the minimum in the third, as Bear Harrison gunned down Michael Crossland at second to end the frame. Through three, he’d allowed just two hits and zero runs on 39 pitches.

But Falmouth’s offense struggled early on. It did receive another major boost after getting Adrian Lopez back on Wednesday. Maika Niu, who led the league with a 1.052 OPS, returned versus Orleans after missing the last four games. Manager Jarrod Saltalamacchia also replaced Jack O’Reilly as third base coach after a baserunning snafu on Thursday.

The changes didn’t spark anything initially.

Firebirds starter JT Raab was clinical, as the ‘Dores didn’t even record a hit through four innings. Lopez and Niu showed they still had rust to shake off with strikeouts in an eight-pitch first. The Commodores followed by producing two quick outs after Kent Schmidt moved into scoring position in the second and regressed even more with three third-inning flyouts.

Raab then got three more quick outs in the fourth, continuing his dominance.

The Commodores were once again doing nothing to support their pitchers. Still, they kept dealing. Urena was replaced by Garber in the fifth, who entered off a 9.43 ERA with the Bison in 2025.

But Garber wasn’t that same pitcher on Thursday. He segued with Urena seamlessly. He said postgame his offspeed pitches didn’t have their normal life, so, like Urena, he relied on his sinker to toss four scoreless frames.

Garber hurled a nine-pitch fourth, then shook off two two-out walks in the fifth to keep the game scoreless.

Unlike Falmouth’s last nine games, Thursday’s contest was shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel. Neither team even had two runners on base at once until the top of the fifth.

But that was when things changed. Justin Osterhouse notched Falmouth’s first hit with a leadoff double in the fifth. Falmouth immediately took advantage. Georgia Tech’s Ryan Zuckerman continued to stay hot after his first homer on Tuesday, lining an RBI single up the middle to make it 1-0.

The ‘Dores weren’t done. It doubled its lead in the sixth when Zuckerman’s GT teammate, Schmidt, mirrored him by scoring Lopez from second on a single to center.

With its recent skid, Falmouth desperately needed the lead to stick. Garber finished his phenomenal day by allowing just two hits in the sixth and seventh with help from right fielder Antonio Morales gunning down Alejandro Garza at second.

“It's honestly relieving, to be honest,” Garber said of his debut. “I'm just blessed to be here, and that's great being out there.”

More stellar pitching and a massive insurance run allowed the Commodores to eke out their win.

Jakob Schulz entered and immediately allowed a Garza RBI single before he ended the threat with two straight strikeouts.

With the Commodores’ lead narrowed, they needed a spark to ease the pressure on their pitchers. Osterhouse came up big. He belted a solo homer to right, his first on the Cape, to make it 3-1 and re-establish Falmouth’s advantage.

Joe Sabbath (Rhode Island) grabbed the momentum and promptly closed the game out with a scoreless ninth.

Falmouth was as low as it could be entering its bout with the Firebirds. But with phenomenal pitching from the newest Commodores, they finally catapulted themselves up the mountain again.

Noah Nussbaum is the beat reporter for the Falmouth Commodores. You can read all of his articles on the Commodores here.