BREWSTER, Mass. — Entering Wednesday evening’s game against Harwich, the Whitecaps were in big need of a win. Winners of just two of its last eight games and just barely holding out of last place in the East Division, Brewster was reeling.
Two games in a row against a team it hadn’t yet seen in the Mariners had the chance to change the ballclub’s recent fortunes.
With a 2-1 lead after one inning, the Whitecaps appeared to be headed in the right direction. But an eight-run fourth inning from Harwich, mixed with 10 walks from the Whitecaps’ pitching staff, quickly got in the way. In the end, Brewster (5-9) fell 13-2 to Harwich (8-6) in seven innings Wednesday night, dropping its fourth straight game.
The 13 runs allowed pushed the Whitecaps' team ERA to 5.73, the worst mark in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
“Maybe we look to make some changes. We got to figure something out,” Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame. “You can't have guys out here that can't compete in the strike zone, can’t have guys out here that can't get guys out. So if they don't figure it out, maybe we got to figure it out for them. Who knows. But we’ll get it rolling, we’ll be alright.”
To start the game, Brewster pitcher Ryan Ure (Oklahoma State) allowed a run in the top of the first after Harwich walked, stole a base, singled and then drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) quickly tied the game with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning. Dumesnil turned on a 1-1 fastball and hammered it to deep center field for his third home run of the season. The shot traveled 411 feet and was 100 mph off the bat.
After the following batter grounded into the second out, Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) reached on a single. The designated hitter reached second and third on two wild pitches before Andrew Fischer drove him in with a looping base hit to take the lead.
In the second, though, Ure lost all command. Out of the six batters he faced in the frame, four walked, scoring the game-tying run and forcing Shevchik to remove him from the game with two outs. The Whitecaps pitching staff has struggled to limit walks — entering Wednesday’s game, Brewster pitchers have walked or hit 25 batters that have turned into runs. Ure continued the trend against the Mariners.
“If we can't throw strikes then we got to kind of look ourselves in the mirror a little bit,” Shevchik said.
Jacob Marlowe (Florida State) entered for Ure and got out of the jam, forcing a lineout to left field. In the third, he allowed a single and ground-rule double to start, but he worked out of danger again by retiring the next three batters in order.
The Whitecaps threatened in the third with second and third and one out, but they left Fischer and Helfrick stranded on the bases.
Grant Cunningham (Washington) came in to pitch the fourth and ran into similar issues as Ure. The right-handed pitcher walked the first two batters and allowed them to advance on a double steal. Then, Harwich center fielder Bristol Carter (East Carolina) drove in two on a single. Henry Godbout (Virginia) doubled to make it second and third and Michael Anderson (Arkansas) walked to juice the bases.
Kellan Oakes (Oregon State) entered in relief and fell into trouble as well. He allowed two singles and then the killer: a grand slam to drop eight runs in the inning and extend the lead to 10-2.
“The game was over in the fourth inning,” Shevchik said. “The air was sucked out of it.”
Brewster again came up empty in their half of the inning, even though Max Kaufer and DeAmez Ross both reached base.
Boston Flannery (North Carolina) started the fifth inning, marking Brewster’s fifth pitcher in as many innings. Harwich added on to its lead, hitting a double followed by a single to stretch the lead to nine. In the sixth, the Mariners added another with a double and then a single — reaching the 10-run-lead threshold necessary for a mercy rule.
Harwich added one more in the sixth and completed the win in a mercy rule in seven innings.
“I’m still optimistic of what this team can be,” Shevchik said. “But we have got to start getting some better production some from some guys that have had success throughout college.”
It was a game in which Brewster was mostly dominated. But the schedule allows the Whitecaps another crack at the Mariners on Thursday night, an immediate opportunity to right the ship.
“When you get beat 13-2, you get a win tomorrow and it kind of forgets everything. You get out there and you get your ass kicked again tomorrow and that totally destroys your morale,” Shevchik said.
Photo credit: Julianne Shivers