Right-hander Micah Bucknam (Dallas Baptist) tallied a career-high eight strikeouts over four innings in his first career Cape League start and Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas) had a go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth to power Yarmouth-Dennis over Orleans, 5-3, on Thursday at Eldredge Park.
The Red Sox's five runs came on four hits, including a two-run home run from Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma), who recorded his second blast of the season. Carmichael and Aloy each posted two RBI and Ethan Petry (South Carolina) continued his fast start with an RBI.
Y-D (8-3) and Orleans (2-9) combined for seven hits as two of the five runs charged to Firebirds pitching were unearned. The two teams combined to hit 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position as the Red Sox played their ninth game decided by three runs or fewer.
Right-hander Trevor Moore (Stanford) continued to display his abilities as a dynamic back end of the bullpen arm as he kept the game tied in the seventh despite bases loaded and got the last nine outs of the game for the win with five strikeouts in three scoreless innings.
Bucknam made his second appearance with the Red Sox against the Firebirds after making his debut of 1 ⅔ innings on June 18 against Cotuit where he received the win. Bucknam struck out six of the first nine hitters he faced and allowed one run and one hit over four innings.
Left-hander Michael Foltz Jr. (George Washington) got the start for Orleans throughout his five-inning outing and matched Bucknam. Foltz was crafty around the zone with his high-80s fastball and induced 11 groundouts while allowing one unearned run with one hit and one strikeout.
Both teams struggled to generate offense in the early innings until Orleans struck first in the bottom of the third inning. Mike Mancini (James Madison) got a pitch over the heart of the plate from Bucknam and drove it over the right field wall for a solo home run and his first career Cape League blast.
After the Firebirds took their first lead in a game since Sunday, the Red Sox responded quickly in the top of the fourth inning after Carmichael reached third following an error and a passed ball. Petry lofted a high fly ball into foul territory and brought home Carmichael with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1.
The Red Sox and Firebirds combined for just two hits going into the top of the sixth when a swirling fly ball from Will Tippett (South Carolina) landed in front of a diving Hudson Shupe (Gonzaga). Carmichael blasted a 1-0 pitch from right-hander Matt Ager (UC Santa Barbara) over the bullpen in left field to propel Y-D ahead 3-1.
Right-hander Nolan Sliver (Kennesaw State) dealt with damage in his second inning of work in the bottom of the sixth when Orleans cut into the Y-D lead. A throwing error from Charlie Saum (Stanford) on a pickoff attempt to third base deflected off Roch Cholowsky (UCLA) and allowed him to score. Right-hander Toran O’Harran (Stanford) entered and stranded a runner on third to maintain Y-D’s lead at 3-2.
Moore inherited runners from O’Harran on second and third with no one out in the bottom of the seventh. Moore walked the bases loaded and Orleans tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but back-to-back strikeouts from the standout reliever ended the threat and kept the game knotted at 3-3.
The Red Sox loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning with one out for Aloy, who entered the at-bat hitless on the day. The standout shortstop was down in the count, 1-2, before driving a two-run single into left field to score Phoenix Call (UCLA) and Brady Neal (LSU).
Moore continued to dominate throughout the eighth and into the ninth as he got the nine-out win, including the final out, which was a web gem diving grab by Call in center field. Call sprinted back to just shy of the warning track and made a sensational over-the-head grab to give Y-D a 5-3 win.
Photo by Sophie Solarino
