Firebirds personnel returned to Eldredge for the biggest matchup of the season on Saturday. Beat the Chatham Anglers at home, and playoff chances stay alive. Surrender this game, and the Birds could kiss their playoff dreams goodbye.

The sun burned bright as Birds’ starters took slow-motion swings in front of the dugout. The bullpen marched across the field to get in ready position for the national anthem.

In order to win, the Birds would have to go through Angel Cervantes. They’d put just one run on the talented righty when they last faced off at Veterans. Cervantes sported a 0.48 ERA in 18 and two thirds innings of work on the season.

Joe Nottingham (Georgia) was the Birds’ chosen stopper. Coming off a three-inning outing against Bourne where he’d only allowed one run, Nottingham was thrust into the starting role. He’d need to deliver as many quality innings as possible to keep the season alive for Orleans.

Facing a Chatham lineup laden with seven lefties, the righty would have to establish control out of the gate. Chatham had just put nine runs on a superb Y-D staff just last night.

Instead of establishing control, Orleans’ arms collapsed under pressure. Nottingham wasn’t sharp — as the same control problems he’d battled all year came back to haunt him. Marcello Mastroianni (Duke) simply didn’t have it, surrendering six runs in the sixth. Solo shots from Tyler Myatt (Tennessee) and Dominic Cadiz (UCLA) were Orleans’ only offensive excitement. They narrowly avoided being mercy ruled in what was supposed to be a close battle against a divisional rival.

As the remaining members of the crowd filed out of Eldredge, Manager Kelly Nicholson recounted the events of the game with brutal honesty.

“You have to take it a little bit personally. I think tonight we were embarrassed by the way the game went,” Nicholson said. “It happens in baseball. It all starts with pitching, and we didn’t get up to a very good start. Alagheband was great, but Marcello [Mastroianni] had a rough inning. We need to learn from it and move on, while also taking away the positives.”

Nottingham ran his blazing fastball up to 95 miles an hour in the first. Still, he stumbled right away. He allowed three runs immediately on three hits and a walk. The early Angler’s rally was punctuated by a Ty Peeples ground-rule double that went 400 feet and would have been a homer at every other park. Only Eldredge’s triangular center field could hold it.

Cervantes took the mound after Nottingham. He brought with him a small companion — a T-Rex figurine named Jerry, which oversees his every start from just behind the rubber. Dominic Cadiz gave his college teammate a warm welcome. He blasted his fourth homer out to left on a mistake slider from Cervantes. Chatham’s early lead was dented.

Nottingham continued to struggle in the second. He walked two more, hit a batter, and allowed a fourth hit. A fourth run scored on a groundout. He was replaced by Luca Alagheband (Harvard), who entered into a bases-loaded situation. He secured a flyout to stop the damage.

Casey Cumiskey (SNHU) made it to second thanks to a throwing error, but nothing else would come in the bottom of the second. Alagheband walked back out for the third. He struck out two Anglers to keep the score at 4-1. The lefty kept the ball rolling, also securing a scoreless fourth.

Myatt came alive again in the home half of the inning. He took Cervantes deep for his seventh blast of the year, going to the opposite field for the second straight day. Orleans’ only two hits had been solo shots.

“It comes down to the work at the end of the day,” Myatt said. “Everyone likes to hit homers in batting practice, but [Hanigan] and I have decided to stop doing that. I’ve been trying to hit line drives at the pitcher and go the other way. It’s helped me to see the ball more and adjust.”

Now the Cape League leader in homers, Myatt reflected on the journey he’s taken to get to this spot.

“It’s a great feeling, especially coming off a bit of a depressing season at Tennessee,” he said. “It’s my dream school, so I can never say it was a bad year, but I feel much more confident heading back there this fall. I’m still trying to hit every ball hard — but at this point in the season it’s more about being a good person and a good player. That’ll mean a lot more than anything else.”

Alagheband had some trouble in the fifth. Three hits in a row resulted in a play at the plate. The runner coming home knocked the ball loose from Ryan MacDougall’s (Dayton) glove, representing Chatham’s fifth run. After the runner scored, he crashed into the home plate umpire, who made the safe call while sitting on the grass. A second run scored on another fielder’s choice grounder. Orleans was in a 6-2 hole.

Marcello Mastroianni relieved Alagheband for the sixth. He struck out his first batter, but then allowed two hits and one hit-by-pitch to the next three hitters. A seventh Chatham run came around. Two more hits scored two more runs. After a walk issued to the leadoff man, the dangerous Bino Watters had his third bases loaded opportunity. He merely hit a sac fly to left, but the damage wasn’t over. A two-run Armani Guzman single punched Mastroianni out of the game and likely knocked Orleans out of the playoffs. Orleans was down 12-2 and would need to avoid being run-ruled. It was an abject disaster at Eldredge.

Evan Holewinski (Kent State) entered with two outs in the sixth. He retired the tenth hitter of the inning. The nightmare come true was finally over.

Cervantes was finished after five solid innings. The Birds fought back to exit run-rule territory. Multiple grounders went the Birds’ way, aided by some poor Chatham defense, leading to the Birds pulling within eight runs of Chatham.

Holewinski had a solid seventh, striking out one to secure a desperately needed clean frame. Charlie Lapp (RPI) got a pinch-hit at-bat in the bottom of the inning, and worked an easy walk.

The righty Holewinski came back for the eighth, working around a little traffic for a second consecutive nice frame.

After three more Birds’ out, Elai Iwanaga (UCLA) got the ninth. He struck out one and allowed one hit.

No magic came for the Birds in the ninth. The disappointing contest had gone on for over three hours. Barring a miracle in the last week, the Firebirds will not make the postseason. The team will make one last long trip to Cotuit to take on the Kettleers.

With a week to play, Nicholson said that the team needs to show that they can finish strong, regardless of the record.

“There’s some pride involved,” Nicholson said. “We have a lot of guys that have a lot of ‘compete’ in their DNA, and that’s all you can ask for.”