Almost exactly a year ago, the Brewster Whitecaps dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Yarmouth-Dennis on Opening Day. This year, the opponent was the same and the scoreline just as tight — but the result flipped. In a hard-fought battle, Brewster opened the 2025 season with an optimistic win.
The usual Opening Day shine was missing as clouds loomed and rain left the field slick, but the Whitecaps arrived with something to prove. Armed with a new, talent-rich roster, they looked to leave last season behind and reassert themselves in the Cape.
For much of the afternoon, though, it seemed Brewster might not have the offense to overcome last year’s win leader, Yarmouth-Dennis. But a seventh-inning rally — sparked by four straight walks and capped by Josiah Ragsdale’s (Boston College) clutch two-out, two-RBI single to right — delivered the tying and winning runs in a gritty 3-2 victory for the Whitecaps (1-0, 1-0 Eastern Division) over the Red Sox (0-1, 0-1 Eastern Division) on Saturday.
“Early on, you’re going to win more games like this than anything else, right?” Head coach Jamie Shevchik noted. “Very rarely do you go out there and just put up 15 hits and 10 runs, right? You win and lose games out here like the way that we want — a walk, a walk, a walk and then a base hit, right? It’s all about timely hitting.”
That formula held true thanks in large part to the arms on the mound. Early on, the game unfolded as a classic pitchers’ duel. Brewster’s Jacob Dudan (NC State), who had mainly pitched out of the bullpen at college, looked every bit the seasoned starter on the mound. He cruised through his first three innings, striking out a batter in each frame. Dudan’s mid-90s fastball kept the Red Sox lineup chasing, generating plenty of swing and miss.
Trouble quickly brewed for Dudan in the fourth inning. Will Baker (Georgia Tech) ignited the rally with a leadoff single and boldly stole his way into scoring position. After a groundout moved him to third, Avery Ortiz (Oklahoma State) delivered a sharp single to right field, breaking the deadlock with the game’s first run.
Despite the pressure, Dudan kept his composure. After giving up a single and a walk, he found himself in a bases-loaded jam but showed his bullpen polish by striking out AJ Soldra (Seton Hall) to escape the inning. That strikeout marked his fifth and ended his night, as he finished with four strong innings, allowing just one run.
“He's a power arm. He's going to Team USA,” Shevchik explained. “He’s probably going to be NC State's Friday night starter next year. So the whole idea was to try to get as many innings out of him as possible before he goes to USA.”
Brewster was kept off the scoreboard early thanks to a strong outing from Hunter Watkins (Oklahoma State), who held the Whitecaps hitless until the fourth inning. He matched Dudan’s effort through the early frames, with Daniel Cuvet (Miami) finally breaking through with a single — Brewster’s first of the game. But it wasn’t exactly a momentum-shifter, as it ended up being just one of only three hits for the Whitecaps on the day.
The sixth inning marked a turning point for both sides. Ortiz led off with a double for Yarmouth-Dennis, and Chase Brunson (TCU) followed with a single to shortstop Carson Kerce (Georgia Tech). After a pitching change brought in Haiden Leffew (Wake Forest), the lefty induced a double play on the first batter he faced. It limited the damage, but not entirely, as a run still came across to give Yarmouth-Dennis a 2-0 lead with time starting to run out for Brewster.
That momentum didn’t last long. In the bottom half, Brewster finally found the breakthrough it had been searching for. Cody New (CBU) walked three straight batters to load the bases, putting pressure on reliever Bo Rhudy (Kennesaw State) to contain the rally. With two outs, Drew Rodgers (Georgia Tech) drew a crucial walk to bring in Cuvet, cutting the deficit in half and giving Brewster a much-needed spark.
All eyes then turned to Ragsdale, who had already singled earlier in the game and, despite a rough slide into third that left him with a banged-up nose, was now the one with a chance to shift the momentum in Brewster’s favor.
Banged-up and all, Ragsdale rose to the moment. His soft single to right field not only tied the game but also gave Brewster the lead in the sixth inning.
“Just trying to have a competitive at-bat,” Ragsdale explained. “Just keep passing the torch. And, you know, I got the little flare single to win us the game, so I’m glad.”
It was the clutch hit Brewster had been searching for all day — the hit the Red Sox had struggled to find — and it sent the Whitecaps into the seventh with renewed energy and a crucial advantage. Despite the Red Sox racking up eight hits and three walks by that point, Brewster took the lead with just its third hit.
That lead held firm thanks to Leffew, who quietly delivered a stellar performance in the final three innings, allowing only one hit and no earned runs. His effort put the exclamation point on an impressive Brewster pitching performance that limited Yarmouth-Dennis to just two runs.
“We gave up a couple hits here and there, but we didn't create any damage,” Shevchik remarked. “If you noticed, I mean, there weren't a whole lot of walks… I mean, look how we won: three consecutive walks and then a base hit, right? That's it. It's hard to manage that way, but we've got to limit the damage as much as we possibly can.”
