CHATHAM, Mass. — Just like that, the Brewster Whitecaps are already nearly 75% of the way through their season. For some teams on the Cape, this final stretch is paramount. A strong performance in the last leg of the campaign can sometimes prove to be the difference between a playoff berth and a long offseason.
For the Whitecaps, this likely won’t be the case. Since the beginning of this year, they have consistently flirted with the top spot in the league. And with only two of the league’s 10 teams able to miss the postseason, no such torrid stretch will likely be necessary for Brewster to qualify for the playoffs. Yes, winning games is still important, but it won’t be the end of the world if it can't finish the year winning 13 if their last 13 contests.
The priority now is to keep giving its new pitchers as much work as possible so that come playoff time, they are right where they need to be. Even if that means dropping a few games in the process, it can’t be avoided.
That philosophy was brought into Friday’s matchup at Chatham. After narrowly besting the Anglers (12-13-3) in their last meeting, 2-0, the Whitecaps (15-12-1) never came close to pitching a similar shutout this time around. On a night where the ‘Caps intended to work as many arms onto the mound as possible, they were given ample opportunity to do so amid a 7-3 letdown. Aided by costly missteps from Brewster’s pitchers, the Anglers jumped out to a seven-run advantage through the first three innings. Still with plenty of time to fight back, Brewster’s offense was too little too late. It showed a spark in the top of the ninth by plating a trio of runs, but quickly fizzled out.
“I’m watching a team like Chatham who is fighting pitches off, going the other way with balls, almost refusing to strikeout, and we’re not. We have to be better,” Shevchik said postgame. “I know it's hard when you’re down by seven runs in the first three innings, but we have to do a better job of coming out of the gate and being ready to play from the beginning.”
The Whitecaps’ skipper has a point. In each of Brewster past four games before Friday, they had found themselves down by at least a run at the end of the first inning. But not showing up early in games is nothing new for Brewster this season — the worst instance coming against these same Anglers back on July 2nd. As Brewster’s arms floundered right off the hop, Chatham shoved the ‘Caps into a seven-run hole before they even had a chance to step up to the plate that evening.
Though this time it took a little longer, the Anglers once again put the game all but out of reach by building a 7-0 cushion early on.
Tasked with his second start of the season after allowing just one earned run in his last, James DeCremer (Arkansas) looked to buck Brewster’s trend of sluggish starts with a tone-setting inning. Instead, his efforts only extended it further. On the second pitch he faced, Chatham leadoff man Jackson Freeman (Northwestern) slammed a right-field homer over the fence — a small taste of what was to come.
After DeCremer gave up back-to-back hits to open the second, a sac fly combined with two more singles grew the Anglers lead to three. The sequence spelled the end of a forgettable six hit, three earned run night for the newly committed Razorback.
In the interest of shifting momentum — and swapping in another arm — Shevchik turned to Nate Brittain (Wake Forest) on the bump. Although the ‘Caps continued to surrender more runs under his watch, they weren’t all his fault. Held back by multiple fielding errors around him, only one of the four runs Chatham scored in the frame counted as earned against Brittain — just one of the five relievers who made an appearance for the Whitecaps that night.
In his second appearance, Edwin Alicea (South Florida) promptly walked his first batter he faced in the third before sending the A’s down in order in the fourth. Through two innings of work, Camden Wimbish (NC State) slightly rebounded from his recent struggles by notching a team-high three strikeouts. From there, Chris Knier (Florida State) and Jack DeTienne (Xavier) split the final two frames. DeTienne’s brief appearance marked the fourth pitcher in the last four games to make his debut with the team.
“I think we’re in the position to do that still, but we’re running out of time,” Shevchik said regarding throwing as many pitchers as possible into games to get them experience. “Now, it’s about lining up the chess board to figure out who those pieces are gonna be. When do you use this guy or that guy? The tryout phase is almost over.”
While Brewster shuffled through its bullpen at will, the Anglers only had to call upon two arms on the mound Friday night. The last time the Whitecaps traveled to Chatham, they had no answer for starter JT Quinn (Georgia), who torched them to the tune of nine strikeouts. Friday, Duke Stone (Mississippi State) and Mason Bixby (Texas Christian) proved just as formidable.
Anytime it seemed Brewster was starting to find any sort of momentum with a hit, the duo immediately shut it down by stranding the ‘Caps’ runners via poor contact outs or Ks. The two both finished the day with just three hits to their name and eight punchouts apiece despite Brewster’s frivolous three-run burst to close the ninth inning.
“They were really good. The last two arms that we’ve faced here in Chatham I thought were really good, too, but I can’t say that about yesterday (against Bourne),” Shevchik said. “So, again, it’s coming down to inconsistency with our offense and starting pitching.”
Right now for Brewster, it’s a Friday night and you have a boatload of homework in front of you. It’s going to suck, but you know that if you get through it there will be plenty of opportunities to make noise and party on Saturday. In this scenario of course, Saturday represents the postseason. But that time will come eventually. For the next week or so, it's time to buckle down and do some homework by sorting yourself out.
Photo credit: Casey Bayne
