Orleans got back in action at Eldredge on Tuesday after a leaguewide day off on Monday. The Firebirds were looking for revenge against a Whitecaps team that had taken them down at Stony Brook just four days ago.

The Birds’ longshot hopes to make the playoffs hung in the balance. An Orleans loss and a Chatham Anglers win would spell mathematical elimination. Luckily, the dangerous Jacob Lee would not be starting for Brewster.

The Firebirds congregated in front of the dugout ready to take the field. As they mingled, they tossed a football and joked with one another. Ryan MacDougall (Dayton), usually the team’s primary catcher, had donned a first baseman’s mitt. He’d make his first start there this summer.

Before the main event began, Assistant General Manager Nancy Nickerson was honored with the July 2026 Legacy Edition Tribute Bat from DK Baseball Clinics. An Orleans community legend, Nickerson has been an essential part of Firebirds operations, placing Birds players with host families in the area and working with General Manager Sue Horton for over 20 years. Accompanying Nickerson to receive the award was Assistant Coach Ryan Hanigan — who was the first player Nancy hosted on the Cape in 2002.

As a tribute to Nickerson’s impact on the Orleans community, the Firebirds had their best offensive performance of the season on Tuesday. They shocked a Whitecaps staff that had been one of the best on the Cape in 2026, putting up a massive 15 runs on 14 hits. 23 runs were scored between the two teams. Four homers left the yard. The Birds backed Tyler Myatt’s (Tennessee) multi-homer night with a mix of small ball, situational hitting, and baserunning aggression — the very definition of a team win.

One of the unsung heroes of Tuesday’s win was Brendan Buecker (Monmouth). Coming off his junior year where he’d hit .289 with 28 RBIs, he’d joined the Firebirds more than halfway through the summer. Against the Whitecaps, he had a three-RBI night with a steal, while also spending the whole game behind the dish.

“We put a lot of pressure on their defense tonight,” Buecker said. “We started off early, and just kept it rolling. Hitting is contagious.”

Joining a catching trio with Ryan MacDougall and Charlie Lapp (RPI), Buecker said he admires his fellow backstops.

“They’re two really good dudes,” he said. “You come to [Orleans] expecting to meet good guys, and that’s exactly what we’ve got. It was awesome seeing Ryan play out of position tonight and come up with a big play in the ninth.”

Jake Echols (GCU) delivered the first pitch at 6:31 PM. In his third Birds’ start, he was looking to build on his best outing yet which came last week against Harwich. The righty delivered on his mission to attack hitters — needing only ten pitches to strike out the side.

The Birds were up against Otto Espinoza, who was making his first Brewster start. Orleans hitters teed off on him immediately. Two hits, a walk, a hit by pitch, and a wild pitch gave the Birds a two-run lead. A third run would have scored, but Adam Haight unleashed an amazing throw from left field to get AJ Beltré (USD) out at home.

Echols cruised through the second, already collecting a fourth strikeout. The catcher Brendan Buecker walked and showed off some surprising speed to swipe second.

The lanky Echols fanned another Whitecap in the third. He had faced the minimum nine hitters, needing only 38 pitches. In the top of the fourth, Garrett Larsen (Yale) made a full-extension diving play in right to take Brewster’s first hit away. Sadly, the no-hitter dream was dead as Cash Strayer singled through the right side. Still, Echols was through a fourth inning with very minimal trouble.

Eight Orleans’ hitters came to bat in the bottom of the inning. The first three bunted for hits. Buecker ripped a two-run single to left, scoring two. Larsen laid down another great bunt along the third base line. An errant throw from the ‘Caps third baseman advanced Larsen to third and Adam Magpoc (SDSU) in to score. Some perfectly executed small ball had the Birds up 5-0.

Echols began to unravel in the fifth. Two hits, two walks, and an error knocked him out of the game. Two runs were now on the board for Brewster. Elai Iwanaga (UCLA) replaced him, ending the inning via strikeout, but not before the third and fourth Brewster runs came across.

“Echols was really good tonight,” Manager Kelly Nicholson said. “He might have gotten fatigued in the fifth, he was up to 75 pitches and it’s late in the summer. He’s made good improvement.”

The Firebirds answered right back. Myatt’s eighth homer of the season went towering over the right field fence and into the Orleans bullpen. Three hits and two walks later, the Birds had compiled a five-run fifth. Situational hitting was finally becoming a strength for Orleans.

Grant Garman (Hawaii) had the sixth. His first hitter got the best of him. The big lefty Dane Harvey hit a moonshot to right, admiring the ball down the line before flipping the bat in the direction of the Orleans dugout. Owen Jenkins followed suit. The righty went deep to the opposite field, also taking his time to round the bases. A few Firebirds had words for the Brewster hitters as they rounded. Home plate umpire Jeffrey Merzel conferenced with both managers, issuing an official warning for unsportsmanlike conduct to the ‘Caps. Garman finally retired the next three hitters. It was a 10-6 slugfest at Eldredge.

Myatt immediately made Brewster pay for their excessive celebrations. For the second inning in a row, he blasted a leadoff bomb — this time going 350 feet with a back-side homer to left. As he rounded third in front of the opposing dugout, he kept composed, high-fiving Ryan Hanigan and cooly crossing home. He’d allowed his actions to speak for themselves. With nine blasts this summer, he’s beginning to run away with the Cape League home run title.

“Since last year, Kelly’s told me ‘You’re going to hit a lot of home runs, so be a professional about it,’” Myatt said. “You see MLB guys do that all the time, but we’re not there yet, so we have to keep it classy. That stuff can easily come back to get you.”

Though Myatt and the rest of the team know that playoffs likely aren’t in the cards, they’ve come up with a new motto to finish the season with pride.

“We said ‘let’s all be selfish’ when talking before the game,” he said. “If you’re selfish in baseball, you’re going to perform well as a whole team.”

Myatt knows that baseball isn’t forever. Because of that, he wants his legacy to be greater than just his performance on the field.

“Baseball isn’t my identity,” he said. “It’s only part of what I want to be known for. I want to be known for what I carry with me on the field — being humble and faithful at the end of the day. As some people say, ‘It’s already written.’ The Lord already knows what you’re going to do.”

Drew Harrison (Southern Mississippi) took the seventh. He struck out three batters in total, but also gave up two runs as Dane Harvey came through again with runners in scoring position. 11-8 Firebirds.

In the bottom of the frame, Larsen’s third hit and steal put him in position for Rowan Kelly (UCSB), who drove him in. The Birds had widened the lead back to four.

Harrison silenced the ‘Caps in the eighth. It was the first clean frame for Orleans pitching since the third. The Birds kept adding on. They scored three more in the home half thanks to more situational hitting, aggression on the bases, and errors from Brewster. 15 runs was the most Brewster had allowed all season.

AJ Beltré came in for the ninth. Casey Cumiskey (SNHU) made a leaping grab to steal a hit at short. MacDougall flashed the leather at first for a nice play. Beltré’s only strikeout ended the game. Orleans had outlasted Brewster, putting an exclamation mark on a complete team win.

Always one of the last to leave the field, Kelly Nicholson took some time to reflect before heading home.

“That’s what this group is capable of doing,” Nicholson said. “Buecker hasn’t been here very long and he’s swinging it well. Cumiskey’s average is slowly climbing, and he’s having way more quality at-bats. I’m super proud of him. Some Division II guys get a little intimidated, but he belongs up here, and he could play at any one of those Division I schools.”

In many ways, Myatt’s second homer was representative of the style of baseball that Nicholson wants his team to play.

“That’s the way we hit homers here, and we talked about that,” Nicholson said. “We’re going to celebrate with humility and class, and respect everybody.”

Though rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast, the Birds will attempt to play against Y-D at Red Wilson Field on Wednesday. Just five games remain before the season will come to a close.