Brewster’s winless streak snowballs to nine after 13-2 loss to Chatham

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CHATHAM, Mass. — The contrast was stark.

After a three-run home run sealed Chatham’s 13-2 run-rule rout of the Whitecaps at Veterans Field, a bubble machine rained down on the Anglers’ raucous dugout, celebrating the team’s first playoff berth in five seasons.

Across the field, Brewster’s dugout was silent, which has become a common scene during the team’s nine-game, 13-day winless streak.

“I have no words,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame. “I have no idea how to explain how you can put seven All-Stars on the field on a regular basis and get your a-- kicked every day.”

Shevchik is a seasoned manager who has helmed the Whitecaps for 10 years and Keystone College for 22, but he said this is the first time he’s suffered a losing streak this long and this puzzling.

“I’m kind of dumbfounded. I’ve never been in this situation,” Shevchik said. “The last thing I want to do, though, is project any kind of negative energy onto our guys. You don’t want to show that you’re quitting, and we’re not. We’re going to fight with this team right to the end.”

Just a few weeks ago, Brewster and Chatham were neck and neck in the East Division standings, both firmly in playoff position. But while the Anglers have hung around the .500 mark, the Whitecaps have plummeted, slipping closer to the bottom of the standings with each loss.

The Anglers led Tuesday night’s contest from start to finish. It started in the second inning, when Chatham shelled Brewster starter Darien Smith (Southeastern) for six runs.

Smith made his first start for the Whitecaps since late June, when he was released ahead of the MLB Draft. He went undrafted and rejoined Brewster on July 24, throwing one scoreless inning against Hyannis on July 26.

Coming into Tuesday’s start, Smith’s biggest issue had been a lack of command — he had walked nine batters in his 10 2/3 innings on the bump. Against Chatham, the righty threw plenty of strikes. The Anglers just hammered them.

He worked a smooth first, but things snowballed after he loaded the bases with one out. A swinging bunt turned into an infield hit, scoring the first run, and a base hit followed to make it 2-0.

Then came the knockout blow: a grand slam off the bat of third baseman Chayton Krauss (Dallas Baptist), who crushed a 2-2 pitch into the trees beyond left-center.

“He made a couple bad pitches,” Shevchik said. “There was the proverbial swinging bunt that goes five feet and he can’t make the play. I feel like every big inning has that sh--ty swinging bunt somewhere in the mix. I don’t know, you can call it bad luck, you can call it whatever.”

A web gem in the top of the third stifled a potential response, when Chatham right fielder Ahton Larson (LSU) tracked a Brody Donay (Florida) fly ball back to the warning track and timed his jump perfectly to rob a home run.

The Anglers added a seventh run in the fourth on a base hit by Ike Irish (Auburn), who played in Brewster last summer. Irish, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, made it 8-0 with a triple down the right field line in the sixth.

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Nick Dumesnil (pictured) hit a two-run homer in Tuesday's 13-2 loss to Chatham. Photo credit: Julianne Shivers.

Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) put the Whitecaps on the board with a two-run shot to left-center. He’s been one of the few bright spots through Brewster’s rough patch and is now tied with Daniel Cuvet (Miami) for the team lead in batting average (.314).

“He’s gone through some patches, some ups and downs, and nothing about him has changed. His demeanor hasn’t changed, his work ethic hasn’t changed,” Shevchik said.

The rest of the lineup, though, has gone cold. Brewster notched just five hits in the game and only two of them — Dumesnil’s homer and a seventh-inning double from Drew Faurot (Florida State) — went for extra bases.

Chatham, by contrast, couldn’t stop hitting, scoring four more in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win by run-rule.

Brewster will have an off day Wednesday to regroup before a final playoff push that will stretch from Thursday’s home game against Orleans to Sunday’s regular-season finale in Harwich.

“We still have games to play,” Shevchik said. “These guys just can’t quit. No matter what the scenario is, you cannot quit.”

Title photo credit: Julianne Shivers.