BREWSTER, Mass. — The rain was falling over Stony Brook Field during the fifth inning on Sunday evening, and it had no intention of letting up, forcing Brewster Whitecaps right-handed starter Tate DeRias (Baylor) to persevere through the mist and mud.
The visiting Bourne Braves had the righty on the ropes. With one out, they had the bases loaded and had already brought a run across the plate, cutting the Whitecaps' lead to just one.
Rather than succumb to the building pressure, DeRias bore down and got out of the mess.
He needed a double-play ball, and induced one in an 0-1 count to Braves shortstop Ryker Waite (Vanderbilt), who sent the pitch bounding through the wet infield grass to his counterpart Conner Cunningham (Murray State). A feed to second and a flip to first later, and DeRias was able to unleash a celebratory scream.
Brewster (24-8-3) escaped the jam and didn’t let Bourne (18-13-3) record another base runner, let alone threaten in the same manner, keeping momentum in its corner as it increased its lead to 4-1 before the umpiring called the game before the bottom half of the seventh due to the darkening conditions. If not for DeRias’ tightrope act, the Whitecaps would’ve been fighting against the clock to scratch back.
“If I asked Tate what his best inning was on the year, he’ll tell you that (it was) when he went out there and punched out three guys,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said. “His best inning of the year is when he loaded the bases and minimized the damage to one run in a very tight game.”
DeRias’ back was against the wall from the beginning of the frame — a change of pace after he allowed only two hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch through four scoreless innings.
The rain that started falling an inning prior turned the pitching mound from a tool into an obstacle as mud built up. DeRias lost both velocity and control on the altered surface, walking the first batter he faced before plunking the next two.
The righty claimed the mound was “probably the worst” he had ever pitched on, comparing it to a slip-and-slide.
“I was throwing mid-nines pretty much all day, and all of a sudden, I started throwing 87, 88, because I couldn’t anchor my back foot,” DeRias said. “My cleats were probably like five pounds; they were so caked up. Then my landing foot would slip, and it’s like ‘Dude, I got to figure it out.’”
He appeared to turn the tide against the fourth batter he faced, trading an out for a run on a sacrifice fly, but immediately walked the next. Shevchik continued to display faith in his young arm, however, leaving him in the game, which ultimately led to the inning-ending double play.
“If that was a playoff game, maybe Tate doesn’t go out there,” Shevchik said. “But I think he learned a lot today. … He went out there, he balled out, showed some guts, and I felt like I needed to show him that we had confidence in him.”
When DeRias’ teammates turned the critical double play, he let out an audible yell of “let’s go,” which carried throughout Stony Brook Field.
It was a cry of pure emotion after escaping with the lead intact and bouncing back as a whole from his last start against the Falmouth Commodores, where he gave up four runs in three innings, but it was also more than that.
The CCBL All-Star was set to pitch for Bourne in 2026, but was cut from the roster during his collegiate season, leading to him joining Brewster’s squad, where he’s enjoyed success to the tune of a 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched.
“It was just cool to get out of that inning against those guys,” DeRias said. “It was cool (to say), ‘Hey, I’m still a good pitcher.’
DeRias ended up getting credited with the win against the team that cut him, something that wouldn’t have been possible without his offense, no matter how good he was on the mucky mound.
The bats cracked the scoreboard in the first frame of the game, before the precipitation had arrived, but not before the wind made its presence felt, blowing in from the outfield.
The Whitecaps played to the conditions, shortening their swings and focusing on just putting balls in play. First baseman Dane Harvey (Ohio State) and third baseman Holden Pantier (Georgia Tech) sent back-to-back bloopers into the outfield, scoring second baseman Tryston McCladdie (Clemson), who walked and stole second, and right fielder Cash Strayer (Florida), who was hit by a pitch.
“Wind was blowing straight in today; we adapted and overcame,” Harvey said.
Brewster tacked on its final two runs in the seventh after pinch hitter Dylan Schlotterback (Kansas) doubled down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch, and center fielder Michael Torres (Miami) scored while Strayer was caught in a rundown between first and second after getting picked off.
Right-handed reliever Nate Taylor (Vanderbilt) converted the expanded lead into a victory, earning his first save of the season and recording his second straight perfect outing — six innings total — after giving up five earned runs in a third of an inning in his Whitecaps debut on July 10 against the Chatham Anglers.
“This is why I say you can’t judge anybody by their first appearance, their first outing, their first couple of at-bats,” Shevchik said. “You got to give them some time, and we did that with Nate, and Nate is turning into one of our better bullpen arms.”
Taylor’s perfection has been reflected by the team as a whole, with Sunday representing the final game of a six-game stretch where it won five games. The only team Brewster lost to was the East Division-leading Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox, who it ended up getting revenge against in win No. 4 of the stretch.
“I’ll take that every day,” Shevchik said. “You win five out of six games, you’re playing for a very long time.”
The Whitecaps are now just two points behind the Red Sox for the division lead with five games and one head-to-head matchup remaining in the regular season. A handful of gutsy, Sunday-like performances later, and they could very well tick off another box from their preseason list of goals.
