HYANNIS, Mass. — Brewster Whitecaps catcher Jacob Lee (Virginia Commonwealth) had a chance to flip the script early on in his team’s Thursday night matchup against the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.

The Hawks right-handed starting pitcher Raymond Olivas (UC Santa Barbara) prohibited the first seven Whitecaps he faced from reaching base, but cracks in the armor began to appear after center fielder Michael Torres reached base on a dropped third strike.

By the time Lee stepped into the box, his teammates had already scored their first run of the game, the tying run stood on third and the go-ahead on second.

The backstop had to battle, but on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, he shot a hit up the middle of the diamond, ricocheting off the glove of second baseman Taylor Kirk (UCLA) and bounding into left field. Both runners scored in the process, giving the Whitecaps a lead they would never give up.

Brewster (18-7-2) kept pouring it on, scoring in five different innings to defeat Hyannis (12-15) 10-6 on the road at McKeon Park — and from start to finish Lee was in the middle of the action. The native of Chesterfield, Virginia, drove in six runs, the first time he’s done so since May 15, 2025, against UMass for the Rams, and was behind the dish for RHP Gaines Estridge’s first start of the summer. The catcher helped guide his battery mate to a five-inning, one-earned-run outing where he picked up his second win in as many overall appearances.

“He just keeps getting better and better,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said. “He’s starting to figure some things out; the chase rate is going down a little bit to where it was at the beginning of the summer. He’s getting himself into good counts — and, I mean, when’s the last time somebody had six RBIs in a game on the Cape?”

Lee’s RBI chances were created by his teammates getting themselves on base.

It was a process that started in unorthodox fashion, as Torres took advantage of a strike three so nasty even Harbor Hawks catcher Andrew Lamb (Southern California) couldn’t grab hold of it.

Torres made his way over to third on a stolen base and another wild pitch, crossing the plate after left fielder Terrence Kiel II (Texas A&M) sent the first Whitecaps hit of the game over the head of Hyannis shortstop Charlie Bates (Stanford).

“One of the big things that’s going unnoticed is we’re able to create runs,” Shevchik said. “We’re stealing a lot of bases, we’re running crazy, and then we’re having situational hitting. It’s really hard to go station to station and score 10 runs; you’ve got to be able to mix in a couple of stolen bases in there.”

A walk from second baseman Jay Abernathy (Oklahoma), a flyout that sent Kiel to third and Abernathy stealing second set the stage for Lee to record his first two RBIs of the game, flipping control of the game into the hands of the Whitecaps.

The extended scoring in the top of the third also provided a break for Estridge, who, from the mound, witnessed two runs — although only one was earned — cross the plate the frame prior.

The righty was focused on finding a mental reset for the bottom of the third, and luckily for him, he found it.

“It helps when you score three runs as an answer,” Estridge said. “When you got guys in the dugout that are as good as our team, then you always know you’re in the ball game. Just put up a couple of zeros and help us get a win.”

Estridge did just that, with only one walk coming between him and ending his day with nine straight batters retired. Quick innings, like his six-pitch fourth, helped him go as deep in his start as he did after pitching a scoreless inning of relief just two days beforehand.

The rising senior started his evening off strong, too, retiring the first three batters he faced, making the second inning his only hiccup.

He allowed a leadoff home run to Lamb, and his next challenger, right fielder Henry Zenor (USC Upstate), ended up on second base after a single and a fielding error by Zenor’s counterpart, Cash Strayer (Florida). Zenor eventually scored on a dribbler down the third base line that third baseman Holden Pantier (Georgia Tech) attempted to wish foul.

Estridge didn’t believe he operated with his best stuff, striking out just two Harbor Hawks, but made do by pounding the zone and inducing weak contact more often than not.

“This kid’s a Friday starter at school,” Shevchik said. “He’s pretty experienced, he knows what he’s doing. If anybody can work out of any jams, it’s him. … I was pretty confident that he was going to go out there and do well.”

Estridge wasn’t the only Air Force Falcon to appear for the Whitecaps on Thursday. Left-handed pitcher Sam Hentges pitched two clean innings of relief before righties Luke Wiltrakis (Arizona State) and James DeCremer (Arkansas) closed out proceedings — but not before facing trouble.

Wiltrakis allowed a pair of leadoff walks in the eighth, but limited the damage to one run. DeCremer, however, gave up a triple, two singles and a walk. A Pantier error didn’t help him, but when it was all said and done, DeCremer had three earned tacked against him.

“We took for granted that we had a seven-run lead or whatever the heck it was,” Shevchik said. “We got to do a better job down the stretch. Games can flip upside down in a matter of a couple of at-bats. They were two hitters away from tying things up. We have to do a better job of locking in for nine innings and play through nine innings. The effort level from inning one has to be the same in inning nine, no matter what the score is.”

Fortunately, the slip came after Lee and the Whitecaps offense scored seven runs between the fifth and ninth innings, making the end of the game a teachable moment rather than a disaster.

The batch of runs kicked off with Lee recording his third RBI of the day as he reached on an error. He once again came through in the sixth with a single into left field, driving in two. He capped off his day in the eighth with an RBI hustle double that got passed Bates at shortstop.

“I was just trying to move the ball,” Lee said. “Three hits I had today, one was hit pretty hard, but the other two weren’t hit that great. They weren’t the best, but it’s just trying to move the ball in that situation and just let the game play out.”

The 10-run outpouring from Lee and his teammates was the most Brewster has scored since July 4, when it beat the Harwich Mariners 13-0 and also its sixth straight game with six or more runs.

The Whitecaps have developed into a high-octane group after scoring six runs or more just four times in the first month of the season. And while the development is more significant than simply the power of friendship, it’s no coincidence that the offense has improved as the squad has gelled together.

“It was nine individuals at the beginning, and now it's a little bit more cohesive,” Lee said. “I don’t think it was ever a problem with our hitting philosophy or the hitters. It was just unfamiliarity.”