YARMOUTH, Mass. — The Brewster Whitecaps were on the receiving end of a gut punch that evolved into a thrashing on Friday. An early deficit turned into a 9-0 home loss to the Chatham Anglers, the team’s largest shutout defeat of the season. Yet, the day wasn’t over.

The Whitecaps were forced to pick up the pieces and drag themselves on a bus for the nearly 30-minute ride to Red Wilson Field, where they were set to take on the East Division-leading Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox thanks to a rainy week on Cape Cod complicating the schedule.

Manager Jamie Shevchik told his players they had to “flip the energy around” heading into opposing territory, and catcher Jacob Lee (Virginia Commonwealth) took that to heart, making himself the sparkplug.

Lee, who watched game one from the bench, rocketed a 1-1 pitch down the left field line in the first inning, registering the first Whitecaps extra-base hit of either game, and scoring second baseman Will Baker (Georgia Tech), who walked beforehand. In an instant, the previous game’s struggles were forgotten, and Brewster (25-10-3) rode the newfound momentum to an 8-4 victory over Y-D (27-10-1), pulling back within four points of the division lead with two games left to go after what Shevchik described as “our two worst games of the summer.”

“This was more than just any ordinary win,” Shevchik said. “You lose three games in a row for the first time all year long, and you’re limping into the playoffs. They would have clinched today. We would have taken it easy the next two days; you could have dropped two more. Imagine going into the playoffs losing five games in a row.”

The Whitecaps' back-to-back losses heading into Friday’s second game were the first time the team dropped two in a row since June 14-15, the second and third games of the season. They also came against the two worst teams in the East Division by record, as the Orleans Firebirds — who they suffered the first loss to — sit in last place, one spot behind the Anglers.

Shevchik still believed in his squad heading into Y-D, however, mentioning between games that he was still thinking about the playoffs. He implored his entire team, not just Lee, to fight. And while Lee might’ve led the way, his lightning-bolt double resulted in an offensive fire.

Designated hitter Holden Pantier (Georgia Tech) launched his first home run of the summer later in the first frame, scoring Lee. His blast bounced off the top of the wall in left field and ricocheted over — Pantier later exited the game after aggravating a nagging bruise in his right wrist area on a slide. Shevchik said he’ll give Pantier “the next couple of days off” and see how he feels afterward.

Pantier’s home run was one of just four the Whitecaps connected on, as first baseman Dane Harvey (Ohio State), center fielder Tryston McCladdie (Clemson) and shortstop Jake Lambdin (Duke) all rounded the bases. Harvey’s shot was his fifth of the season, but the latter two joined Pantier in getting the first out of the way.

“Everybody here has pop, it’s just finding it consistently,” Lee said. “Holden hit 30 home runs at (Walters State Community College)... it was good for Jake to come back and get one, and then T-Mac, running hard, he just plays the game hard, he’s got homers in there.”

While all the blasts increased Brewster’s chance of winning, Harvey’s, a two-run shot in the sixth inning that also scored Lee, gave the team a 5-3 lead after Y-D managed to touch up Whitecaps right-handed starter James DeCremer (Arkansas).

DeCremer allowed a single and two doubles that resulted in two runs crossing the plate in the first. In the second, a leadoff hit-by-pitch came around and scored on a single, tying the game.

The righty faced trouble in his third frame of work as well, as he, once again, hit the leadoff man. DeCremer erased the threat with a double play started by Baker, attacking Red Sox first baseman Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt) with changeups and getting him to roll over in a 1-1 count.

“Anytime we throw a changeup back-to-back, or in a count like that, in a situation like that, what you're looking for is a ground ball to shortstop for second,” DeCremer said. “And that’s what happened.”

Despite escaping the third scot-free, DeCremer’s outing wasn’t extended to a fourth frame.

It wasn’t the start he wanted, but an understandable performance given the unique circumstances of the doubleheader.

“It was tough, you’re in the sun for a while,” DeCremer said. “Conserving energy, staying locked in for that long, you just do the best you can.

“Cheering on the guys, staying in the moment, being a good team guy, it makes you feel good, and you stay locked in. That’s my way of staying in the game.”

After DeCremer departed, the bullpen delivered six innings of one-run baseball — another impressive bounce-back after giving up 12 earned runs in 8.2 innings of work across the Whitecaps' previous two outings.

The only trouble came in the eighth inning, when right-handed reliever Zach Kmatz (Oregon State), the reigning CCBL Pitcher of the Week, found himself on the hill with runners on the corners and two outs. Sensing the moment, Shevchik took the opportunity to talk to his young pitcher on the mound.

“Zach moves so fast when he's out there that things tend to speed up on him,” Shevchik said. “I just wanted to remind him that the runner at third base meant absolutely nothing. Let’s just assume that he's going to score right here, and let's roll into the ninth inning with a two-run lead.”

Shevchik’s prediction — mostly — came true, as a passed ball brought in the runner from third before Kmatz worked out of the inning. McCladdie and Lambdin’s solo shots increased Brewster’s lead, and Kmatz pitched with precision in the ninth, allowing only one baserunner as he earned his third save of the summer.

The groundout that ended the game was the exclamation point on a statement win from the Whitecaps, righting the ship just as it looked as if the systems had potentially gone haywire.

Beating Y-D not only puts Brewster back in the win column, but also gives it a shot, albeit an outside one, at clinching the No. 1 seed in the East. In order for that outcome to come to fruition, the Whitecaps will need to finish the season with wins over Orleans and the Harwich Mariners, while the Red Sox will need to drop two straight to the Bourne Braves and Anglers.

It’s possible, but the team will need to be perfect to even have a chance.

“We shot ourselves in the foot this week,” Lee said. “(But) it’s something we're striving for and we're playing for till the end of the year.”