BOURNE, Mass. —Things change fast on the Cape—but not always in the way you expect. Since Brewster last faced Bourne on June 20th, the Whitecaps have made 36 roster moves. Between arrivals, departures, and a constantly shifting depth chart, the team that delivered a 14-0 rout that night to improve to 6-0 is now barely recognizable. Only five of the 15 players who appeared in that game are still on the roster.

That’s life in the Cape Cod League—teams don’t just evolve week to week; they transform overnight. So when Brewster and Bourne met again on Thursday, it wasn’t a true rematch. It was two new teams clashing under old names.

Brewster learned that quickly. Gone were key bats like Josiah Ragsdale (Boston College) and Daniel Cuvet (Miami), who combined for five hits and five RBIs in the June win. Without them—and without much offensive spark—the Whitecaps couldn’t recreate the magic. This time, it was Bourne that took control. What started as a pitchers’ duel quickly unraveled, as Brewster (15–11) went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and fell to the Braves (12–13), 7–2.

The ’Caps remain the league’s most unpredictable team. Just a day earlier, they cruised to a nine-run win with three homers. That came on the heels of two frustrating losses—one by five runs, the other nearly a no-hitter. Before that? A five-game winning streak. Consistency is hard to come by in the Cape, and no one knows that better than head coach Jamie Shevchik.

"It's hard to build team chemistry," Shevchik said. "You're putting guys in the game that you've never seen play before. Threw a pitcher in there today that I've never seen…It's hard. I wish we could get to the point where you have your guys and then you roll with those guys. It seems like every time I feel like we're getting closer to that, we lose somebody."

That constant turnover was on full display Thursday. Take Landon O’Donnell (State College of Florida), who took the mound in the eighth wearing No. 46—the same number Douglas Bauer (Ohio State) wore in Brewster’s 14-0 rout of Bourne just weeks earlier. Same jersey, different arm. Just like Shevchik said: another new pitcher he hadn’t seen before. It’s the Cape in motion—always changing, never standing still.

The challenge of building chemistry showed early in the game as well, when Spencer Seid (Georgetown) made just his second appearance—and first start—for Brewster. He ran into trouble immediately. A single and a double to open the first forced him to pitch from the stretch right away. Though he limited the damage to just one run, the tone was set early.

From there, traffic on the bases became a theme. In the second, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Seid struck out two to escape, but after two more walks in the third—pushing him to about 60 pitches—Shevchik had enough of the long, stressful innings. Not wanting his blood pressure to spike, he turned to Alex Philpott (South Carolina) to calm things down and get out of the jam.

Both Philpott and Seid, primarily relievers in college, combined to pitch six innings Thursday. With the constant roster turnover, by mid-July traditional pitching roles become murky—starters are rare, innings are scarce, and finding rhythm is a constant challenge.

“Probably going to see more of what we did here today,” Shevchik said. “Just rotating through the bullpen to keep those guys fresh and working. If you get into the playoffs and potentially play nine games in nine days, you're going to need all those guys, and you need them fresh. Even the guys struggling or giving up runs—you’re going to need them when you get into the structure.”

That juggling act was on full display against Bourne, where a steady rotation of relievers kept the bullpen fresh but made consistency difficult.

Still, Brewster showed life. In the third, Scott Newman (Georgia) and Cal Fisher (Florida State) singled, Brendan Lawson (Florida) was hit by a pitch, and Dalton Wentz (Wake Forest) brought in a run with a sac fly. An inning later, Alex Sosa (Miami) and Carson Tinney (Texas) singled, and Newman grounded out to tie it 2–2.

Newman was the bright spot in the loss. He reached base three times, notching two hits and a walk—his only out was the RBI groundout. He was also the only Whitecap who didn’t strike out. Four others went hitless.

But the momentum stopped there. Brewster stranded runners in scoring position in the first, second, and fourth innings—missed chances that have defined many of their losses. When the ’Caps win, it’s usually thanks to early offense and timely execution. When they lose, it’s often because they let chances slip—and the opponent eventually capitalizes. Thursday followed that script.

“We had a couple opportunities to kind of make a little bit of a dent, and couldn’t do it,” Shevchik said. “From an offensive standpoint, we just couldn’t move the baseball around. It felt like a day that I thought we were gonna score runs—especially at the start—and it just became stale.”

Philpott, sharp early, stumbled in the fifth. A single, RBI double, and another RBI single gave Bourne a 4–2 lead. Brewster never recovered. In the seventh, Matthew Jenkins (Florida) couldn’t record an out, allowing four straight baserunners. Brady Louck (Arizona State) entered in relief but gave up two more runs, stretching the deficit to 7–2.

Brewster’s last hit of the night came in the sixth. After that, they didn’t threaten much—aside from a leadoff walk in the fifth (followed by three strikeouts) and a pair of ninth-inning walks (which led to two more strikeouts). Just another twist in the rollercoaster that is Brewster’s summer.

Every slow offensive night raises questions—especially with recent setbacks like Carson Kerce (Georgia Tech) sidelined by injury and Shevchik noting that Sosa will be leaving soon. Yet despite the roster turnover and uncertainty, Shevchik remains quietly confident. Having been around long enough, he knows this group still has untapped potential and hasn’t hit its peak.

“I just think that if some guys who have been struggling can get moving, there’s still time,” Shevchik said. “Tinney, if he can get moving…I feel like he’s getting closer and closer. And if Newman can start hitting the way he is… A new catcher is coming in a couple of days…and another position player is coming in a couple of days. I’m hoping that’s the end of the stream, and then, even if it’s just for a week or 10 days, we roll with those guys and are ready for the playoffs—that’s where we want to get to.”

Title photo credit: Casey Bayne