HARWICH, Mass. — It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Not for a team that made magic routine — turning deficits into walk-offs, blowouts into statements, and ordinary nights into history. But on a chilly August night in game three, tied in the ninth with the season hanging by a thread, one swing, one throw, one heartbeat would decide everything.

Brewster had fought all night, just as they had all season. Down 4–1, they roared back to take a 5–4 lead, only to see Harwich tie it. Game three. Win or go home. Against perhaps the only team in the Cape who could rival them. One run was all it would take.

This was the team that opened the year 6–0. That unleashed a 14–0 blowout. That sent a ball soaring into the All-Star Game seats. That closed the regular season with a walk-off by their MVP. The script had always bent their way — surely tonight would be no different.

And for a while, it seemed it wouldn’t be. Team MVP Adam Magpoc (San Diego State) gave them the lead. Dalton Wentz (Wake Forest), the club’s heartbeat, ripped an RBI double. It felt like destiny.

But not every story ends the way it’s supposed to. The good guys don’t always win.

Ninth inning. A bunt. A slow chopper to third. A hurried throw — wild and past first base. The Harwich runner rounded third, charging home. The throw never came. The Mariners spilled from their dugout in celebration. Brewster’s dugout stood frozen.

Spencer Seid (Georgetown) set the tone with seven strikeouts, a four-run sixth gave Brewster the lead, but errors became their undoing — the tying run in the sixth, the dagger in the ninth. Harwich 6, Brewster 5. The ‘Caps fought to the final pitch, but in an instant, the season that felt like theirs slipped away.

“I think we ran out of time,” Shevchik said. “When there's no clock in baseball, we ran out of time. I think it's probably the best way to put it.”

From the first pitch, this felt like the thriller it became. The first two games ended early — Harwich by eight in game one, Brewster by four in game two — but the opening frames made clear neither team would go quietly.

Brewster leaned on Seid, knowing how vital starting pitching had been. Edwin Alicea (South Florida) held Harwich to one run over five innings in game two, Troy Dressler (Wake Forest) had done the same to Brewster in game one. What Seid delivered would be crucial.

He had the strikeout pitch working early, escaping jams with runners in scoring position and carrying a scoreless third. Just before his fifth and sixth strikeouts came a pivotal offensive moment: after two scoreless innings, Magpoc singled, stole second, setting up Wentz. Two nights earlier, Wentz’s RBI double had scored Magpoc — and he did it again, hammering a shot to left-center to put Brewster ahead 1–0.

But no lead felt safe against Harwich. In the fourth, after Seid’s seventh strikeout opened the frame, a single and two walks loaded the bases. His brilliant start teetered on collapse. Jamie Shevchik called on Kyle Kipp (Boston College), Brewster’s pitcher of the year, unscored upon all season, to take the mound.

Kipp didn’t look like himself. Two wild pitches in one at-bat skipped past the backstop — the first tied the game, the second handed Harwich the lead. A walk, then Nico Brini’s (Wofford) sharp single sent momentum crashing to Harwich.

Back out for the fifth, Kipp tried to steady the ship — but Matt Conte (Wake Forest) ripped a double to left, putting a runner in scoring position for the first time all season. Sam DeCarlo (Washington) followed with a grounder to right, driving in Harwich’s fourth run — the first earned run Kipp allowed, and the three-run hole Brewster hadn’t overcome all season.

Still, Brewster wasn’t done. Maddox Mihalakis (Arizona) lined a single with one out in the sixth, and then came a break: Brody DeLamielleure’s (Florida State) grounder back to pitcher Olin Johnson (North Carolina) bounced away on the throw to second, allowing everyone to be safe. From there, Carson Tinney (Texas) was hit by a pitch, Colton Coates (LA Tech) drew a bases-loaded walk, and Michael Anderson (Penn State) did the same — walking on four pitches. Suddenly, Brewster was one run shy of tying, Magpoc coming to the plate.

Down 0–2 early, Magpoc fought off pitches to reach 1–2. Brewster’s go-to all season, they needed him now more than ever. Then, with a sharp crack, he lined a single to left. One run scored — then another — and Brewster surged ahead, igniting a furious, momentum-shifting four-run sixth inning.

“Every kid is special,” Shevchik said. “If you're here at the end, you're a special kid. But, you know, my heart is with those kids who have been here from the beginning… They're the guys that you get closest to.”

Zach Bates (Illinois) stepped in to steady the ship in the bottom half. After two quick outs, he seemed in control. But a two-out walk to Brinni was followed by Jake Coonin’s (Princeton) soft grounder to third that bounced past Mihalakis into left — a costly error that put two runners in scoring position. Just like the fourth, a wild pitch from Bates scored Brinni, tying the game and ripping momentum from Brewster once more.

Bates bounced back in the seventh, but Harwich brought in ace Christian Rodriguez (Florida). He struck out three in the seventh and two more in the eighth, leaving Brewster no margin for error. Mitch Dye (Illinois) held firm in the eighth, stranding a runner, but the ninth offered no relief. Two more strikeouts pushed Rodriguez’s total to seven, and Brewster’s offense wilted.

It began with a single and a walk, and suddenly Dye was struggling to find the zone. Patrick Fultz (Wright State) laid down a bunt straight to third. Mihalakis fielded cleanly, but the throw to first sailed over Anderson’s head and down the line. The runner came home. Game over. Season over. No walk-off hit, no magic moment — just an error that ended it all.

Yet even in defeat, this Brewster team left a legacy beyond the scoreboard. A championship was the goal, but what they truly built was a community that captivated all season. Many will hear their names called in next year’s MLB draft, but what they’ll carry forever is Brewster—the place that tested them, shaped them, and launched their dreams.

“A lot of these fans and people at Brewster fell in love with this team, not because they were good or bad, but because of, I think, who they were as kids,” Shevchik said. “And that's the—that's the best part… I just hope the organization was proud of this team, and I hope we were. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants championships, but I just hope they see the little things that I think we were able to accomplish.”

Title photo credit: Casey Bayne.