Heading into last night, Orleans had lost five of six games, with Saturday’s win over Y-D the only thing that broke up the streak.
Another game with Y-D didn’t yield the same result.
The Red Sox took a lead a lead in the sixth inning, watched the Firebirds tie the game but came back with two runs in the top of the seventh on their way to a 7-5 victory.
Y-D is now 12-11, two games back of 14-9 Orleans. The Firebirds were 13-3 when their rough patch began.
The key runs in the seventh came against the strong Orleans bullpen. A double, a fielder’s choice and a base hit put two on, for Sam Travis (Indiana), who reached on an error to bring the go-ahead run in. A Mason Katz (LSU) RBI groundout plated another run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Orleans loaded the bases for its top hitter, Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt), but Joey Denato (Indiana) induced a ground ball to end the inning. A.J. Vanegas (Stanford) came on for the eighth and struck out four of the seven batters he faced in two scoreless innings.
The Red Sox was led by Zak Blair (Mercyhurst), who had three hits to raise his average to .380. Travis had two hits and an RBI, Tanner Mathis (Ole Miss) had two hits, and Katz drove in two runs. Carlos Asuaje (Nova Southeastern) also had an RBI.
Starter Ben Lively (Central Florida) pitched five strong innings, striking out six. Denato got the win in relief.
What to Watch
A couple of good pitching match-ups tonight. In Wareham, league strikeout leader Sean Manaea (Indiana State) gets the ball for the Harbor Hawks against Wareham’s Brad Kuntz (Baylor), who’s had two good starts and one bad start. That game is at 7 p.m.
In Bourne, Tyler Skulina (Kent State) makes his second start and goes against Cotuit’s Kyle Finnegan (Texas State). Skulina struck out 106 this spring. Finnegan has struggled a bit this summer but has a big arm.