With Chris Barr (Army) hopping off the plane just a few hours before the first pitch, it wasn’t exactly clear just how long it would take him to adjust to Orleans, MA and the world of Cape Cod Baseball.

Thankfully, for the Firebirds, it didn’t take Barr too long, as he sealed a tenth inning walk-off against the Cotuit Kettleers on Saturday night’s season opener under the lights of Eldredge Park.

In the Birds’ 5–4 win over Cotuit, the team’s opening day dominance continued—marking the seventh of the last eight opening days that they have won.

“To get the first win out of the way is like the greatest thing ever, especially on opening day,” Barr said. “Definitely not nice weather all day, it was kind of a show and go, we showed up at 5:30 for a 6:30 game, got suited up and ready to play, and came up in the last inning to win it.”

It didn’t take too long for the scoring to begin. In fact, most of the action occurred early in the game.

After a Jackson Natili (Cincinnati) RBI single brought Camden Johnson (Wichita State) home, the Kettleers seemed like they were only getting started. Anderson French (Virginia Tech) followed suit, nailing an RBI single that scored Natili on the play.

Robbie Lavey (George Washington) rapidly responded for the Birds, diminishing the Kettleers’ lead to one off a RBI single that brought Michael O’Shaughnessy (Georgia) home in the bottom of the first inning.

Sebastian Gonzalez (Hawaii) would replace Firebirds starter Cal Scolari (San Diego) on the mound after 2.1 IP.

Two innings later, the score was tied thanks to a Dawson Bryce (Charlotte) RBI single.

The next four innings were largely silent for both teams, as both Gonzalez and the Kettleers’ Zane Coppersmith (Stetson) limited successful batting opportunities. Piecing together three consecutive 1–2–3 innings, Gonzalez ended his outing with six strikeouts on the night.

The matchup’s scoring drought persisted until a Javar Williams’ (Wake Forest) single provided the Birds with an answer in the bottom of the seventh. Stealing second for the second time in the opening game, Williams had optimal positioning to run home.

“My goal coming in this summer was to steal a lot of bags,” Williams said. “I tried to start off early, and it makes a big difference when you start off hot.”

After O’Shaughnessy grounded into a fielder’s choice to French, Williams was able to run home, giving the Birds a 3–2 edge over their opponent.

“I told them we have seven guys in the lineup tonight that have the green light,” manager Kelly Nicholson said when asked about his team’s steals. “Speed never slumps and it's a game changer. We got some guys that can run, really run. We are going to be the ‘Runningbirds’ this summer.”

After nine innings in rainy, far from perfect weather conditions, no winner had prevailed.

As an extra inning rolled around in Orleans and the Kettleers took a 4–3 lead in the top of the tenth, tensions rose.

With two outs on the board, it seemed like the Firebirds would need just about a miracle to seal the game. And Barr was just that.

“Feels great, right? Who wouldn’t want a walk-off,” Nicholson said. “Game one and you get down to two outs and Chris Barr comes in from doing his Army thing in Texas, probably hadn’t swung a bat in three weeks, but there isn’t someone that you would want more in that situation than Chris Barr.”

After his walk-off, Barr kept it plain and simple going into tomorrow night’s matchup against Yarmouth-Dennis: “Two is a streak.”