FALMOUTH, Mass. — The Whitecaps have become the best team in the Cape Cod Baseball League. At finding new ways to lose.

Friday night’s 9-8 loss to Falmouth was another heartbreaker, perhaps even worse than Thursday night, when Brewster squandered a three-run lead to Orleans in the ninth.

The Whitecaps erased a 7-4 deficit with a miraculous four-run rally in the top of the ninth, only for the Commodores to tie it in the bottom of the ninth and walk it off in the 10th.

“For a second there, I thought everything turned around for us,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame. “For a second.”

The ninth-inning madness began when Falmouth reliever Gavin Wilhelm (Washburn) issued three consecutive one-out walks to load the bases.

J.D. Rogers (Vanderbilt) drove in the first run by grounding into a fielder’s choice, scoring Blake Binderup (Texas A&M) from third. Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) battled out of an 0-2 count to work another walk, re-loading the bases.

Kaeden Kent (Texas A&M) took advantage, roping a two-run single to center to knot the game at seven. The next hitter, Dallas Macias (Oregon State), grounded a single into right field to give Brewster its first lead since the fourth inning.

The clutch hits delivered a jolt of energy to the reeling Whitecaps, who have been looking for anything to go their way during this winless skid, which dates back to July 19. But again, the positive momentum was short-lived.

Brewster closer Will Ray (Wake Forest) induced a flyout for the first out, but ran into trouble when Falmouth designated hitter Trent Caraway (Oregon State) smoked a double to the wall in dead center. Caraway advanced to third on a throwing error from Kent, a critical mistake that set up the tying run.

Falmouth catcher Karson Bowen (TCU) chopped a grounder to third and Shelton — pinched up to the edge of the infield grass — mistimed his scoop. The ball skipped off his wrist and into left field, and Caraway scored easily.

Ray got out of the inning and sent the game to extras knotted at eight. With the Whitecaps locked in a tight race for playoff positioning, Shevchik understood that a tie — worth one point in the standings — was meaningless for Brewster, which trailed both Harwich and Orleans by two points at the time.

So Shevchik opted against a small-ball approach in the 10th inning, wary that Falmouth could come back with small ball to tie the game in the bottom half. Instead of bunting the automatic baserunner to third, the manager rolled the dice with three lefty hitters — Drew Faurot (Florida State), Shelton and Cooper Vest (BYU).

“We need points, we’re going to do anything,” Shevchik said. “A tie doesn’t help us. If at the end of the year it does, so be it, but we’re playing to try and get a win.”

The move backfired. Falmouth reliever Nick Gravel, a righty who pitches for Shevchik at Keystone College, struck out Faurot, popped up Shelton and induced a routine grounder from Vest.

The Commodores took advantage in the bottom of the 10th. A bunt single from Jack Bell (Texas A&M) put runners on the corners, and Patrick Roche (Boston College) chopped a 3-2 pitch for a walkoff single.

Falmouth took control in the fourth and fifth innings after a back-and-forth start. Brewster scored the first run — a leadoff blast from Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) in the top of the first. Then, after the Commodores took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half, the Whitecaps jumped back in front after a run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI single from Helfrick.

But Falmouth built a 7-3 advantage on two-run homers in consecutive innings — from Donovan LaSalle (Oklahoma State) in the fourth and Jayson Jones (Arkansas) in the fifth. An RBI single from Macias made it 7-4 in the eighth, before chaos ensued in the ninth.

In his second start with the Whitecaps, Evan O’Toole (Oklahoma State) gave up four runs in 4.0 innings, walking a pair and striking out a pair. Kellan Oakes (Oregon State), Boston Flannery (North Carolina) and Andrew Koshy (Maryland) all made appearances out of the bullpen before Ray pitched the ninth and tenth.

One silver lining came when Dumesnil broke the team’s single-season record for stolen bases after stealing third in the top of the eighth. The outfielder is now 26-for-27 on steal attempts this season. The previous record holder, Andy Burns, went 25-for-29 in 2010.

“For him to get the stolen base record, to solidify himself in history, that’s really cool,” Shevchik said. “He only does that, though, because he was here early and he stayed the entire summer. That’s a rarity for many players, but he only accomplishes this because he got here and stuck it out.”

Brewster’s playoff prospects took a blow Friday night, with the combination of the loss to Falmouth and Harwich’s 5-3 win over Orleans. To sneak in, the Whitecaps must win out and Harwich or Orleans must lose out. But at this point, Shevchik said he’s done scoreboard watching.

“If we have a meaningful game on Sunday [at Harwich], we have a meaningful game,” he said. “But I’ll find out if it’s going to be a meaningful game after tomorrow’s results. We’ll figure out what we’re gonna do then.”

Title photo credit: Julianne Shivers.