The Whitecaps came just one out away from ending a 15-day skid.
Whether it was camouflage hats on a Thursday or pregame yoga, Brewster needed some set of fortunes to change the fate of its midseason collapse. Leading 3-0 over Orleans with the Firebirds down to their final out, the Whitecaps looked destined for a season-altering momentum shifter.
But with two outs in the top of the ninth, it all came crashing down. A four spot by Orleans in the top half followed by a baserunning blunder in the bottom half flipped the game on its head. In the end, Brewster (12-23-2) fell 4-3 to Orleans (14-22), putting them on the cusp of playoff elimination.
“We're not out of it until somebody tells us that we're done,” Brewster manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame. “So if you still have a shot, we got to figure out a way to win tomorrow and hopefully the next day and it kind of carries on. With every loss it kind of buries the morale a little bit lower and lower.”
The stakes couldn’t have been more crucial for playoff seeding in Thursday's East Division showdown. Entering the contest, Brewster and Orleans were tied with 26 points apiece, with the Firebirds having one more win with one fewer game. Additionally, Orleans already clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker, leading the series 3-1 with one game to play.
Another Firebirds win over the Whitecaps would only further hurt Brewster’s chances of sneaking into the playoffs. But after leading 1-0 for almost all of the game, Brewster added on two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, further cementing itself in a near-must-win game.
Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) and J.D. Rogers (Vanderbilt) knocked back-to-back singles to start the frame. Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) executed a sacrifice bunt and the Orleans catcher threw the ball over the first baseman's head, scoring Helfrick and moving Dumesnil and Rogers to second and third.
After Kaeden Kent (Texas A&M) was intentionally walked, Drew Faurot (Florida State) hammered a ball to deep right field, scoring Rogers on a sacrifice fly and pushing the Brewster lead to three entering the ninth.
Colby Frieda (Troy) stayed in the game for the ninth after three scoreless innings in relief. He retired the first two batters with just six total pitches. At this point, the Whitecaps had a 99.6% win probability according to Firebirds’ baseball ops intern Mason Wood. But then the nightmare unfolded for Brewster.
Nine-hole hitter Mike Mancini (Vanderbilt) sliced a triple into the right-center gap to keep the Firebirds alive and Hudson Shupe (Gonzaga) drove him home with a single. Ian Daugherty (Oklahoma State) singled and Ben Zeigler-Namoa (Hawaii) belted a double down the line to score one and bring the tying run to third.
While Frieda became shakier and Will Ray (Wake Forest), Brewster’s closer, warmed in the bullpen with seven days of rest. Shevchik explained that despite Ray’s usual role, Frieda’s fastball still had life to it and the Orleans lineup struggled with fastballs throughout the game. By contrast, Ray is more of a pitch-to-contact style.
With Frieda still in the game Bennett Markinson (Northwestern) drove a 1-2 pitch into the right field gap to score two, turning the game upside down. Frieda walked the next batter and Shevchik promptly pulled him for Ray. The Demon Deacon retired the first batter he saw to end the inning but the damage was too far gone.
“I think we’re cursed. Something’s going on,” Shevchik said.
In the bottom half of the ninth, Dallas Macias (Oregon State) pinch-hit for DeAmez Ross (UCF) and flew out to right field. With the top of the order up, Helfrick drove a 1-0 pitch to left field but came just feet short of a game-tying homer.
Down to Brewster’s final out, Rogers reached base with an infield squibber. Then Dumesnil drilled a high chopper in the infield, slowly rolling past the shortstop and third baseman. As the ball touched the outfield grass and Orleans’ shortstop Lorenzo Meola (Stetson) darted toward it, Rogers turned around second and tried for third. But Meola grabbed the ball and flipped it to third baseman Shupe. He applied the tag on Rogers, ending the game.
“If he was safe and there was a passed ball the next pitch, we'd be all congratulating him,” Shevchik said of Rogers making the final out at third. “It is what it is. I'm not gonna say that it was a bad move or a wrong move. We want these guys to be aggressive. We want them to live and learn.”
The ninth-inning collapse both defensively in the top half and offensively in the bottom spoiled a masterful day for Brewster starter Jake Clemente. In what Shevchik said would be his final performance before a possible playoff start, Brewster’s ace finished the day allowing just one hit and no runs with five strikeouts. However, his pitch count limited his availability when he neared the end of the outing, walking three batters.
Clemente lowered his numbers on the season to a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 27 innings. Though without the win in a pivotal moment in his team’s season, the final stretch hasn’t been so enjoyable.
“It was just one of those games where we thought we were gonna pull it out and go on a run,” Clemente said on the Whitecaps postgame show. “But it’s baseball and anything can happen. It stinks. There’s nothing you can really say about it.”
A late-game three-run lead blown away might just be the peak of what has been an abysmal winless stretch for Brewster — one that has lasted 15 days and 10 games. Shevchik, in his 10th year on the job, says he hasn’t been through something quite like this before.
With three games to play, the Whitecaps have some serious work to do. And Thursday’s result hurts even more because of the use of Clemente and Frieda, two of Brewster’s best pitching weapons.
“We kind of went all in today, trying to win this game with the two of our best arms that we had available,” Shevchik said. “And it didn't work out. So now some other guys are gonna have to step up in the next few days.”
