WAREHAM, Mass. — The first half of the 2025 campaign has brought a little bit of everything for the Brewster Whitecaps.

Historic win streak? Check. Comeback victories? You betcha. One of the worst losses in franchise history that saw them give up 19 runs? They experienced that, too. Brewster even found a way to lose to then-last place Cotuit, 6-2, as they sabotaged themselves with a season-high four errors.

On Tuesday, the Whitecaps again found themselves with an opportunity to push the league’s worst team further into obscurity. And with so many new additions recently to the lineup — Ryan Martin (Dallas Baptist), Brendan Lawson (Florida) and Cal Fisher (Florida State) just to name a few — the matchup also gave its new bats and arms a chance to continue to break out of their “honeymoon phase” as Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik described it.

While parity is a very real thing in the Cape League, the Whitecaps found a way to take care of business against a Wareham team who needed the win much more than they did. Led by their bullpen’s best outing of the campaign, the Whitecaps (11-8-1) erased a 2-0 deficit and scored five unanswered runs as they dispatched the Gatemen (7-13-0) 5-2. Martin set the pace for Brewster’s bats with a 2-RBI single in the fourth, and Brewster’s bullpen of Lance Davis (Arkansas) and Brady Louck (Arizona State) allowed just one hit, no earned runs and combined for 11 total strikeouts through six combined innings.

It would’ve been easy to overlook the Gatemen heading into Tuesday night. In their past 10 games, they had won just three and now found themselves with the most losses of any team in the Cape (12) — a product of their struggles on the mound. The Gatemen’s pitching staff had allowed the most hits and earned runs of any team up to that point and held a third-worst 4.66 ERA to boot.

Despite all the statistics the ‘Caps had going for them, they went down quietly in the top of the first. The Gatemen, however, started off the contest much louder.

Just three pitches into the ballgame, Owen Proksch (Duke) watched as Brayden Randle (Mississippi) blew a leadoff triple past him. A trio of singles in a row quickly loaded the bases, and the ensuing sac fly brought Wareham up to an early 2-0 advantage.

As Proksch responded to the shaky opening frame with two scoreless ones, Brewster’s bats only made it as far as a walk through the third inning. Even though the Gatemen didn’t boast the most dangerous rotation in the league — tied for the least strikeouts in the CCBL (53) — their starting arm Jordan Stephens (Georgia) proved a challenge at first for the Whitecaps. Then came the fourth inning.

Patience paid off for Brewster in the frame, as Fisher drew a leadoff 10-pitch walk that set the stage for an offensive rally that lasted over an hour thanks to a lightning delay.

With Fisher on base, Alex Sosa (Miami) and Martin each put balls in play on the first offerings they were given, as Martin’s 2-RBI double knotted the game back up. Then, Colton Coates (Louisiana Tech) placed runners at the corners with his seventh hit in eight games as a Whitecap.

“That first arm was very good today that we faced. We couldn’t touch him in the first few innings, but we were patient enough” Shevchik said. “I told the guys in the dugout, ‘This kid’s not gonna throw a complete game. Wait him out.”’

Just as the tide was starting to turn for Brewster, a weather stoppage came at the worst possible time — a familiar feeling for the ‘Caps.

In their first matchup days earlier against Chatham, Brewster was left unsatisfied as fog ended the contest prematurely just as momentum was starting to swing in its favor. This time however, the sudden pause had the opposite effect.

Out of the break, Lance Davis (Arkansas) took over on the mound for Brewster. Already one of its most talented arms out of the bullpen, Davis continued to cement himself as one of the ‘Caps’ best relievers Tuesday night. From the moment he first stepped onto the mound to start the bottom of the fourth, Davis was dialed in.

“I think not playing in the spring you come out here with a little bit of a mission, a little chip on your shoulder,” Davis said. “ After the rain delay it becomes basically like a start, so you have 30 minutes to get your mind right.”

Over the next four innings, Davis sent the Gatemen down in order one blistering pitch at a time. Finding the strike zone with ease, Davis didn’t register a single hit by pitch, wild pitch or even a walk through his 4.0 innings of work. He finished the day with zero hits, zero earned runs and a whopping eight strikeouts in what Shevchik dubbed the best pitching performance he’s seen all year.

Just as Davis appeared refreshed out of the delay, so too did Brewster’s offense.

Still as disciplined as ever in the batter’s box, the ‘Caps worked reliever Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State) into a single and three walks to generate their first lead of the night, 3-2. Taking after Fisher’s patience earlier, Magpoc worked Powell into a nine-pitch at bat. Although he ultimately struck out, another run scored in the process via a wild pitch.

But Magpoc’s impact wasn’t limited to the top of the sixth inning. Just as he’s done since Day 1, Magpoc later used his speedy baserunning ability to pull the game further out of reach for the Gatemen.

In the top of the ninth, Magpoc walked and later stole both second and third before sliding home off a force out to bring Brewster’s cushion up to 5-2. The sequence raised the second basemen up to 11 stolen bases this season — the most of any of Brewster’s currently rostered players.

“That dictated everything that we were going to do with our pitchers,” Shevchik said of Magpoc’s run. “If we went in (to the bottom of the ninth) with a two-run lead, we were a bloop and a bomb away from a tie and we probably would’ve burned an arm.”

As Magpoc added that insurance run, the Whitecaps turned to new arrival Brady Louck (Arizona State) to close out the final two frames. While he wasn’t as flawless as Davis had been, his three strikeouts proved enough for the ‘Caps to hang on for the win and hand the Gatemen their sixth loss in seven games this month.

2025 has truly been a season like no other so far for the Whitecaps and their fans, and Tuesday night’s clash only further reinforced that narrative. The best part? It’s only halfway over.

“I think those middle innings around that delay were really important, but Davis was lights out,” Shevchik said. “We’re lucky we had the right guy in there at the right spot because he gave us a shot to break through.”

Title photo credit: Kayla McCullough.