Aberdeen Ironbirds

Torsten Boss can get used to these wooden bats. In just his second game after leaving college, the Aberdeen IronBirds' third baseman slugged two home runs to lead the Orioles' short-season Single-A affiliate to a 8-3 victory over Hudson Valley on Tuesday night. It was a somewhat unusual display of power for Boss, the Orioles eighth-round pick in this month's amateur draft. Boss has the ability to go deep but never exceeded the seven-homer mark in three seasons at Michigan State.

Starting their 11th season in Aberdeen, the IronBirds open their home schedule Wednesday night at 7:35 p.m. at Ripken Stadium against the Hudson Valley Renegades, a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate. The Orioles' short-season Single-A affiliate overhauled its coaching staff this season, with Gary Allenson, formerly the manager at Triple-A Norfolk, taking over. Former Orioles pitcher Alan Mills is Aberdeen's pitching coach and former Double-A Bowie manager Brad Komminsk is the batting coach.

Welcome to Chris Zinser as a new reader to my column. Chris works over at the Bayou in Havre de Grace. Over the years he has helped with a banquet, a rehearsal dinner and a baby shower. Thanks Chris and enjoy! St. Paul's Lutheran Church held the Affirmation of Baptism Sunday. Those confirmed were Madelyn Brainard, Shannan Curry, Sarah Frick, Sierra Johnson, Nathaniel Miller and Alexandra Savin. Sierra and Alexandra are Perryville Middle School students. Joyful Noiz, the contemporary group at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, will perform at "Heavenly Waters Coffee House" on June 8. The music and fellowship starts at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Let's get the nastiness out of the way first: The Aberdeen IronBirds are still dead last in the New York-Penn League's McNamara Division, 7.5 games away from getting out of the cellar, and, at 10-23 through Wednesday, they're in a two-way tie with State College for the worst record in the league. The chances of Aberdeen getting anywhere near the .500 mark are pretty slim, and odds are they won't be competing for a wild-card playoff spot, as I predicted prior to the season. When you start the season 2-17, it's hard to claw your way back into contention.

In the final matchup of their three-game road set with Tri-City, the Aberdeen IronBirds held off a ninth-inning blitz from the host-team Valleycats to take a 7-6 victory. The victory pushed Aberdeen to 5-20 on the season, which puts the IronBirds 7.5 behind Hudson Valley at the bottom of the New York-Penn League's McNamara Division. Aberdeen, which had held Tri-City scoreless since the third, surrendered four tallies in the final frame, which allowed the Valleycats to get within one, but with the tying run sitting on third, reliever Angel Cespedes was able to retire the final two hitters to end the game.

Playing in the first game of a five-date road set on Wednesday night, the Aberdeen IronBirds dropped their second straight game, going down 9-1 to the host-team Staten Island Yankees. Through Wednesday's contest, the IronBirds, who snapped a nine-game losing streak on Monday, are 2-11, which puts them at the bottom of the New York-Penn League's four-team McNamara Division, 3.5 games behind the third-place Hudson Valley squad. Staten Island struck the first blow in the home half of the fourth, as the second Yankee hitter of the frame smacked a one-out, solo homer off Aberdeen starter David Baker.

After a fine all-around performance in their season-opener, when the Aberdeen IronBirds gave new manager Leo Gomez a victory in his debut, the Baltimore Orioles' Class A New York-Penn League team hasn't been back in the win column, losing its next three games by a combined four runs. "It's really nice to win that first game," Gomez said after his team's 7-2 win over Hudson Valley Friday. "We did pretty good tonight, pitched the ball well, hit the ball pretty good, and I'm happy with what I saw," Gomez, a former Major Leaguer who spent six seasons with the Orioles, said.

Emerging from the Aberdeen IronBirds' clubhouse before practice Wednesday, Austin Knight and Joe Velleggia had one pressing concern for Friday's season opener: tickets. Every player is allocated two tickets for each home game, but that wasn't going to be nearly enough. "I've got about 20 people coming Friday," Knight, a Boys' Latin alum, said to the IronBirds' public relations director. "I'll pay for them if I need to. " "We asked around, and lot of guys [on the team]

Friday the Aberdeen IronBirds will kick off their 10th season in high style, with a home-field contest at Ripken Stadium against the visiting Hudson Valley Renegades. The match-up's first pitch is slated to be thrown at 7:35 p.m., with the stadium's gate opening at 6 p.m. Before the game gets under way though, the IronBirds' front office has a few events planned for the hometown faithful. Budding country music star Brett Eldredge, of Atlantic Records, is set to sing the national anthem just prior to the game's beginning, and will perform God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch.

Orioles managing partner Peter G. Angelos said he didn't turn down Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s offer to join the club's front office and, in fact, he said no such request occurred. However, if Ripken wanted to return to the organization and accept a position under president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, Angelos said he certainly would listen. "Cal could make a contribution to any ballclub. I just don't see Cal Ripken as being an assistant to anyone in a baseball context," Angelos told The Sun on Saturday.