KINSTON, N.C. (May 12, 2026) – The Down East Bird Dawgs were unable to find their footing in a lopsided 9-1 home opener defeat Tuesday night, as the Québec Capitales erupted for five runs in the fifth inning to break open a scoreless pitching duel and hand Down East their third loss in four games.

The first four innings belonged to the pitchers, with Bird Dawgs starter Rolando Heredia-Bustos and Capitales starter Adam Shoemaker matching zeros. Québec broke through in the fifth when two runs scored on a Down East error before Chavez Young punctuated the inning with a three-run home run, putting the Capitales ahead 5-0.

Shawn Mannering (0-1) struggled in relief, surrendering four earned runs in just one inning of work to take the loss. Heredia-Bustos had kept Down East in the game through four innings, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts before handing the ball off.

Québec tacked on two more in the seventh on a two-RBI single to right field by Torin Montgomery to extend the lead to 7-0.

Down East avoided the shutout in the seventh when Danell Figueroa hit an RBI groundout to score Trotter Harlan, cutting the deficit to 7-1.

Young added another run on a single in the eighth, and Antonio Valdez capped the scoring with a run on a fielder's choice in the ninth to close out the 9-1 final.

Shoemaker turned in a dominant outing for Québec, tossing four scoreless innings on two hits with seven strikeouts. Emile Boies (1-0) earned the win with two hitless innings in relief.

The Bird Dawgs (1-3) look to bounce back Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. against the Québec Capitales (2-2) in a School Day game at Grainger Stadium.