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Firebirds Come Back Again on Muno Grand Slam
August 4, 2009
By Tyler Maland
There wasn’t a walk-off hit in Tuesday night’s game, and there wasn’t even a base runner in the ninth inning. Everything else, however, was the quintessential Orleans Firebirds of the last two weeks. They trailed the Chatham Anglers 1-0 until the seventh inning, got a big game-tying RBI single, and then the go ahead hit.
That hit fueled perhaps the most exciting of the seven straight comeback wins. Muno came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the bases loaded. He got ahead of a Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech) fastball and cranked a moon-shot to left field that was as high as it was long for his first homer of the season. Muno has now had the game-tying or game-winning hit in four of the seven Firebirds wins over the last ten games.
Anderson Gardner (SUNY Cortland) played in his first game since being added to the team for its playoff run, and was a key component right away. Gardner went 2-for-3 as a designated hitter out of the ninth spot in the order, and it was his RBI single that tied the game in the seventh.
Gardner was added to the team early in the season as a temporary player and third catcher, but was dropped as contract players filled up roster spots. He was added again in the last week, and judging by his performance Tuesday night, he may fill an important role come playoff time.
Elliot Glynn (Connecticut) started for the Firebirds, and allowed four hits and one run in five innings while striking out six. Glynn walked four, but silenced the Chatham bats when he needed to. He struck out the side in the second and third.
The one Anglers run was scored in the second inning on a solo homer by Jacob Stallings (UNC), his first of the year.
Gary Brown (CS Fullerton) had one hit for Orleans, but it was his athleticism in center field that filled the highlight reel. In the top of the sixth, Stallings hit a single to center with a man on second. It appeared as if the go-ahead run would cross the plate easily, but Brown swiped up the ball and threw a frozen rope to home plate in time to retire the runner and preserve the tie.
He had his second assist of the game in the top of the eighth, when Rick Oropesa (USC) led off with a shot to the right-center gap. Brown quickly fielded the ball at the wall and slung it back into the infield, where it was cut off by shortstop Danny Muno (Fresno St.) and thrown to third in time to get Oropesa.
After committing four fielding blunders on Monday night, the Firebirds defense did not commit an error on Tuesday.
Daniel Ottone (Western Carolina) relieved Glynn and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and walking two while getting the win (2-1).
Since Alex Hassan (Duke) signed with the Red Sox and created a void in the closer’s role, Brett Weibley (Kent St.) and Tommy Kahnle (Lynn) have been getting the late-inning chances. Kahnle, whose fastball reaches 96 miles per hour, got the last four outs of Tuesday night’s game consecutively.
Stallings added a double in the eighth inning and went 3-for-4 for Chatham, a triple away from the cycle. Parker Bangs (South Carolina) went 2-for-4.
Orleans improves to 24-17-2, and is guaranteed a home game in the preliminary round of the playoffs, which will take place Friday. That first round is a one-game series, and based on the current standings Orleans would host Chatham.
With the loss, the Anglers move to 21-22. The two teams wrap up the regular season with a 7:00 p.m. game at Chatham Wednesday night.