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Will Atwood gave the Cardinals five strong innings tonight

Cardinals Rip 11 Hits En Route To 5-3 Win Over Falmouth

Orleans keeps playoff hopes alive

August 4, 2007

Orleans, Massachusetts – Timely hits have generally not been a catalyst to the Cardinals’ success this season, but they certainly help win ballgames and Orleans utilized them this evening to knock off Falmouth, 5-3.

Back-to-back doubles from 3B Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) and SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) drove in two runs for the Cardinals in the sixth to tie the game at 3-3.  D’Arnaud hit a shot to deep center-field that would have been a home run in several parks.  However with the center-field fence a whopping 434 feet from home plate, the ball landed over Falmouth CF Chris Hopkins (Oregon State)’s head to score RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL).  Crawford followed with a double down the left-field line to bring in the tying run.

Those runs spoiled an otherwise solid start by Falmouth RHP Aaron Shafer (Wichita State).  Shafer, making his first appearance against the Cardinals this summer, pitched six innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits.

“I thought Shafer was pretty good and had some nice stuff but he was leaving a lot of his off-speed up in the zone and we were just putting the barrel on it and knocking it around the field,” Raben said.

Orleans continued to pick up timely hits in the seventh.  CF Ollie Linton (UC Irvine) occupied second base with one out and broke for third with Raben at the plate.  The lefthanded hitting Raben alertly drove an outside pitch through the hole created by the third baseman covering the base.  Linton raced around third to score as the Cardinals took a 4-3 lead. 

“I know it doesn’t sound like you can think about all of it in a split second but when I saw him stealing and I had an outside pitch, I just went with it.  The ball got through the hole and it worked out for us,” Raben said.

1B Nate Freiman (Duke) followed Raben’s at bat with a triple to score the right-fielder which extended the Cardinals lead to two runs.

The bullpen made sure Orleans would keep the lead.  RHP Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt) pitched two shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one.  He was relieved in the eighth by RHP Kyle Kamppi (Ga. Southern) who also pitched a scoreless inning. Kamppi has now pitched 17.0 innings this summer allowing just two runs.

“Christiani kept the ball down in the zone, got groundballs and did a terrific job.  He is who we thought he was.  He attacks the zone and has a lot of sink to his fastball and is a terrific pitcher,” Manager Kelly Nicholson said about his right-hander from Vanderbilt.

RHP Ryan Perry (Arizona), who has emerged in the closer's role for the Cards, came in to shut the door on Falmouth in the ninth.  Perry worked quickly, throwing just 12 pitches and retiring the side 1-2-3 for the second Cardinals win in a row and his fourth save of the season.

Going relatively unnoticed was Orleans starter LHP Will Atwood (S. Carolina).  Making just his second start of the summer, the CCBL All-Star pitched five innings allowing only a two-run blast by Falmouth 1B Jeremy Farrell (Virginia).  Atwood left the game trailing and did not receive a decision.

The only facet of the game the Cardinals struggled with was defense for the second night in a row.  After committing a season-high seven errors last night in their game against Brewster, the Cards had four defensive miscues tonight.  Fortunately for Orleans, the errors only led to one unearned run. 

“It was nice to have more hits than errors tonight.  Our bullpen did a really good job.  Christiani threw well and Kamppi threw well.  Perry obviously dominated the ninth inning.  Will Atwood gave us five solid innings.  I was really proud of us offensively.  Our guys did an outstanding job and had 11 hits against a really good pitching staff.” Coach Nicholson said about his team’s performance.

The Cardinals win coupled with a loss by Chatham tonight keeps Orleans' playoff hopes alive at least one more day.  The Cards now trail the Athletics by six points in the Eastern Division standings in a race for second place and the second playoff spot.  Orleans needs to win their remaining three games to have any chance at catching the A’s.

“Not to be boring but we just need to go out and pitch, play defense, and put the ball in play.  We need to play a little better defense but I’m not overly concerned because I know that we are a good team defensively,” Coach Nicholson said regarding what his team needs to do in order to keep their playoff chances alive.

Their quest will continue tomorrow night as they travel to Harwich.  Orleans is 2-1-1 against the Mariners this summer.  The last game between the clubs ended in a tie after the game was called after seven innings due to fog.  The first pitch is slated for 5:30pm and will match LHP Pat McAnaney (Virginia) for the Cardinals against RHP Josh Zeid (Vanderbilt).

W – Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt), 3-3

L – Erik Bird (Nebraska), 2-1

SV – Ryan Perry (Arizona), 4