ORLEANS, Mass. — Adrian Beltre — yes, that Adrian Beltre — sat directly behind home plate at Eldredge Park, watching intently. His son, AJ Beltre (San Diego), had played second base for 25 outs, and he’d done a pretty good job at it. Of course, there were the two throwing errors he had, but he’d reached base three times in his five plate appearances on the day.

He was a hitter. He wasn’t a pitcher then.

But he was soon forced into action. Two singles, a throwing error, and two more singles ended Grant Garman’s (Hawaii) night. Soon after, Beltre was stepping to the mound with the bases loaded and a 9-6 lead under his belt. With his Hall of Fame father in attendance, he began his outing with a wild pitch, bringing home Rob Rispoli (UConn) to plate Chatham’s seventh run. The eighth — Bino Watters (LSU) came home soon after, also on a wild pitch from Beltre.

When Cole Johnson (Georgia) smacked a single into right, this game — in which an Orleans win had seemed like a foregone conclusion just an inning ago — was suddenly tied at 9-9. Beltre, coming in to save the game, seemingly let it slip from his grasp.

But it proved to be Orleans’ game to win. That five-run Anglers rally was all for naught in the bottom of the ninth, when Dominic Cadiz (UCLA) grounded his sixth hit of the game to score Rowan Kelly (UC Santa Barbara). The Eldredge Park crowd erupted as the ball snuck through and Kelly crossed the plate, handing Chatham (8-7-2, East) a 10-9 loss to the Firebirds (6-11, East) Friday in the two squads’ first matchup.

That Cadiz single was Orleans’ 21st hit on the night, setting a new season-high in hits allowed for Chatham. It was the first 20-hit game in the Cape Cod Baseball League since July 5, 2025, when Cotuit also smacked 21 hits in a seven-inning 19-3 win over Brewster. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Chatham had allowed double-digit hits to an opponent.

And yet, the Anglers still somehow almost overcame it.

“We had 10 hits, hit a couple of balls really hard right at them,” A’s manager Dennis Cook said postgame. “It's a good offensive night.”

Cook wasn’t all that concerned about his pitchers’ performances. In his eyes, a lot of the 21 hits that Orleans had weren’t squared up. They just somehow managed to find a gap.

But a lot of balls found the gap against Gavin Guidry (LSU). Chatham’s starter entered the game fresh off an 11-strikeout performance against Hyannis. Friday, he only ended up lasting two innings. Despite working with a 1-0 lead, he gave up three runs in the top of the first, struck out one Firebird in his two innings and gave up a game-high seven hits.

It took him 53 pitches to finish those two innings. Postgame, Cook confirmed the start was Guidry’s last appearance in Chatham. It had been a long summer for the righty.

“He was worn out or something,” Cook said postgame. “I don't know. He was dehydrated before the game even started.”

His short start forced Cook to head to the bullpen early, bringing in Terry Hayes Jr. (Mississippi) to make his Cape debut. The first inning was clean for him, with an early single negated by a double play, but things got worse in the bottom of the fourth.

Hayes gave up three two-out singles and a double, and all of a sudden, a 3-2 game had become a 6-2 lead for Orleans. He was replaced by Noah Allen (Alabama), who had a rather similar Cape debut. Just like Hayes, he worked a clean first inning. And like Hayes, he gave up four hits in five batters to hand Orleans an extra two runs in the sixth, making it an 8-4 game.

“Terry probably hadn't pitched in a live game in four months, three months, and Noah was really good,” Cook said postgame. “They just need to get on the mound, pitch and build their pitch count up.”

The A’s offense had come alive in spurts throughout, but save for a sixth-inning homer by Ty Peeples (Florida State), there wasn’t much explosive offense for them until the ninth.

And yet, it was Peeples who inadvertently killed Chatham’s rally in the ninth, bailing Beltre out of his dire situation by lining into a double play to second base. Chase Meyer (Arizona State) came in for Chatham out of the bullpen, given a chance to preserve the A’s hard-earned tie in the bottom of the ninth, and couldn’t pull through.

The double from Kelly, a hit so emphatic it caused him to flip his bat. A chopped ground ball up the middle, Cadiz’s sixth hit of the game. And a trot from Kelly, scampering around third, ending a game in which Orleans had been in the driver’s seat for about 24 of 27 outs.

Fortunately for Chatham, it doesn’t have to wait long to seek its revenge. Just 24 hours will do.

“They hit a lot of balls that found holes, and that's baseball,” Cook said postgame. “Hopefully, tomorrow night, we'll hit a lot of balls.”