Throughout the summer, pitching has been the Whitecaps’ downfall. The trend has continued into the second half of the season.

As recently as its game Tuesday against Hyannis, the Brewster pitching staff walked eight batters and allowed 11 hits, leading to a 10-8 loss. With the team ERA near the bottom of the Cape Cod Baseball League, Brewster needed a big-time pitching performance.

Enter Jake Clemente. In his fourth start of the season, the University of Florida product delivered the Whitecaps’ best outing of the summer, going seven scoreless while allowing just one hit in Brewster’s 7-0 win over Harwich on Wednesday night. The outing was a pure masterclass, as he was the first Whitecaps starter to pitch into the seventh inning this season.

“My biggest thing today was just to come out and attack the zone,” Clemente said postgame. “Just being able to do that was something that I've been trying to do and trying to perfect.”

Clemente started on fire by doing just that, reaching 96 mph and blowing fastballs by the Mariners’ top of the order. He forced two weak line-drive putouts before a swinging strikeout to end the frame.

He continued his strong showing in the second, retiring the first batter, although some poor defense behind the right-hander put him in a tough spot. Third baseman Daniel Cuvet (Miami) was slow to a grounder, allowing Cam Maldonado (Northeastern) to reach on an infield single.

Then on a throw down to second base as Maldonado attempted a steal, the ball went into the outfield and even past the center fielder, allowing the base runner to go to third. Clemente, though, held Maldonado at third, striking out a batter and then forcing a weak pop-up to the infield.

“He threw some high-leverage pitches right inside the strike zone or around the strike zone,” Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame. “And against a free-swinging team like [the Mariners] are, he pretty much dominated that lineup today.”

The righty’s next innings were just as efficient. A 10-pitch inning in the third was followed by nine in the fourth, as Clemente kept batters off-balance. Through five innings, he had tossed just 56 pitches, throwing strikes 68% of the time.

Clemente’s efficiency was largely due to the philosophy established by Shevchik and pitching coach Brian Del Rosso throughout the season. In college baseball, with the use of metal bats and bigger barrels, pitchers are taught to go for more swing and miss, which comes with the cost of more walks. In Brewster, with wooden bats in play, the staff wants its pitchers to implement a different approach.

“Here, we try to get them to start understanding how to use their fastball. And using their fastballs in certain counts where they're used to using a breaking pitch and shying away from contact,” Del Rosso said. “I think we've had quite a bit of conversation about [Clemente’s] fastball being live, it being a really good one and one he can locate around the plate.”

While Clemente shoved, the Whitecaps' potent offense got going.

After the first five Brewster batters were retired in order, another Gator helped the winning effort offensively. Brody Donay (Florida) gave the Whitecaps an early lead with a 411-foot shot to left field, clearing the scoreboard. The home run was Donay’s sixth of the summer and second in as many games.

The Whitecaps offense went down in order in the third but added another run in the fourth, this time courtesy of two more SEC batters. Kaeden Kent (Texas A&M) reached on a single, then J.D. Rogers (Vanderbilt) drove him home with a double to the right-field gap. Rogers’ RBI double extended Brewster’s lead to two.

In the next inning, Colby Shelton (Florida) ripped a single to right in his second at-bat with the Whitecaps. Drew Faurot (Florida State) continued his hot stretch with another single, making it first and second with no outs.

Nine-hole hitter Blake Binderup hit a comebacker to Harwich’s pitcher, who threw it into center field, allowing Shelton to come around and score while Faurot advanced to third. Dallas Macias (Oregon State) was up next and ripped a ball to the right side of the infield, where the Mariners’ first baseman made an error, scoring Faurot and pushing the Whitecaps’ lead to 4-0.

Later, three runs in the bottom of the sixth blew the game wide open. Rogers stole home on a miscue by Harwich’s catcher. Then with the bases loaded, Cape League RBI leader Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) scored two more on a single to left.

Meanwhile, Clemente continued one of the most impressive performances on the mound in the CCBL this season. He retired 17 straight from the second inning to the seventh, allowing just one batter to reach all game.

Clemente’s terrific performance was a carryover, but also an improvement, from his previous start. Against Yarmouth-Dennis on July 11, he allowed just one hit but his start was cut short due to a high pitch count and lack of command. Clemente walked three batters, throwing 76 pitches.

This time around, he had much of the same swing-and-miss and soft-contact stuff with more command, making for a near-perfect performance.

“I'm just trying to continue to get starts and continue to be able to go out there long in games and help this team win,” Clemente said. “Whatever I can do to get some wins. That's all I really care about.”

Kellen Oakes (Oregon State) entered in the eighth, looking to close out a complete performance. He allowed a bloop single to the second batter after retiring the first. But that was as far as the Mariners would get in the frame.

Parker Detmers (Louisville) closed the door in the ninth, capping one of the Whitecaps' best pitching games of the season just a day after an eight-walk outing. While it was Oakes and Detmers who finished the game, it was Clemente’s outing that led the way and could be a possible stepping stone for the rest of the pitching staff going forward.

“Here's what I want everybody to take away from today,” Shevchik said. “Every pitcher should have paid attention to why he turned seven innings and the success that he had. His stuff is no different than some of these other guys. He just threw a whole lot of strikes and competed.”

Photo credit: Julianne Shivers