CHATHAM, Mass. — To quote one of the most iconic superhero films of this generation, "Avengers: Infinity War": “We’re in the endgame now.”

With the season's end now fully on the horizon, the Whitecaps arrived at Veterans Field on Wednesday with an opportunity to see their ticket to the postseason punched. Win, and they were in. Unlike last season, Brewster was fully in control of its own destiny — no scoreboard watching required.

But if they wanted to seize their moment, the Whitecaps had to jump a hurdle they had yet to since June 21, 2024: Beat the Anglers in their own house. While it's debatable whether home-field advantage really does much in the Cape Cod Baseball League, it’s clearly given the Anglers an edge when they host the ‘Caps recently. In its past three losses in a row at Chatham before Wednesday, Brewster had fallen by a combined margin of 22-6.

That trend showed itself once again, as the Anglers (15-18-3) spoiled the Whitecaps’ (19-16-1) chance to clinch a playoff berth by handing them a crushing 10-0 defeat. For the third time this season, Brewster allowed Chatham to jump out to a 7-0 lead after the first three innings, this time due to a horrendous second. The lapse created a hill far too steep for it to climb back into the contest. After racking up 21 runs across its past three outings, the ‘Caps' offense was held scoreless for just the second time this year and only mustered six hits in the loss.

“These guys weren’t able to control the moment and slow the game down. When the game speeds up on them, the best mental cue that you can have as a baseball player is being able to mentally slow it down. (Tonight) it just kept speeding up,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said postgame.

It’s important to note how both teams got to this point.

For Chatham, this matchup with Brewster was critical. At that point, it was hanging on by a thread in the East Division playoff race — mostly a product of their division-worst 2-5 record since the All-Star break. One more loss would've all but eliminated it from postseason contention. Because of the Anglers' recent struggles in and outside of divisional play, the Whitecaps' mediocre 4-3 mark since the pause has been enough to keep them in the thick of the playoff push while the other teams around them have heated up.

If there’s one thing Chatham could’ve pointed to to explain its two-game losing streak heading into Wednesday, it was sluggish starts. Between each setback, the Anglers had been outscored 6-0 in the first three frames and never showed any sort of fight down the stretch in either contest as a result. In front of a raucous Chatham home crowd, Brewster looked to continue that pattern behind Brady Louck's (Arizona State) first-ever start. The stage was set for the Whitecaps to shine. Instead, they squandered it.

Still scoreless in the bottom of the second, the Anglers brought with them an ugly trend. Up to that point, their last 21 batters had been sat down in order. They seemed far overdue for an explosive inning of offense, and that’s exactly what they got via a seven-run frame.

Moments after surrendering a leadoff single, a balk from Louck on the next batter only forshadowed the damage to come. Following a lone strikeout, Chatham wasted no time filling the bases and bringing home the game’s first three runs. Mitch Dye (Illinois) took over midway through in an effort to stop the bleeding, but it only made things worse. As his command faltered and the Anglers stole bases left and right, all Dye could do was watch them slide across the plate four more times before finally securing the last out.

“(He will) probably be back in the bullpen for sure. I just wanted a left-handed starter to go up against Chatham because I thought that’s what we needed, but he didn’t have his best stuff tonight by any means,” Shevchik said of Louck.

In his debut versus Harwich, Payamps quickly allowed three walks and threw two wild pitches before being pulled out just as quickly as he was brought in. More than anyone, he needed a confidence-booster — a pick-me-up outing to show the rust had worn off. Over the next four innings, Payamps enjoyed just that.

Weighed down by just one small throwing error, he worked his way out of multiple jams as the Anglers threatened to balloon their cushion even further. Stranding three runners on base total, Payamps held Chatham to just a single unearned run — a small fraction of what could’ve been. The righty eventually passed off the bullpen keys to Tyler Hartley (Marist) down 8-0 in the seventh, exiting with three hits, one walk and two strikeouts on his ledger. Hartley’s four-hit, two-earned run appearance that followed wasn’t nearly as sharp, but by the time he took over the game was already all but decided, anyway.

Shevchik stated postgame Payamps' performance helped grow his belief in the new arrival’s capabilities from here on out.

“It kind of gives me a little bit more confidence in him moving forward,” Shevchik said of Payamps' outing. “Putting him in a different situation today totally dictated getting (both of our relievers) in there in a less pressure environment.”

Trailing basically the entire night, Brewster’s offense never found its footing in an uncharacteristically silent performance. For the third time this season, Chatham’s starting pitcher again countered the 'Caps' bats perfectly on its own turf. In each of the first five frames, the Whitecaps simply couldn’t solve Will Girardi (Coastal Carolina). While he wasn’t nearly as flawless as some of the other starting arms the Anglers have pinned against Brewster this year, he still kept it off the scoreboard all the same.

Led by his six strikeouts, Chatham’s pitching staff combined for 11 on the day while confining Brewster to a measly 1-for-7 mark with runners in scoring position — continuing the season-long tradition of completely shutting down its lineup at Veterans Field. Through the ‘Caps’ three trips to the historic ballpark this year, the Anglers’ arms limited them to four runs, 12 hits and struck them out a whopping 36 times.

Following the loss, Brewster’s clinching scenario gets a bit more complicated now. If it can defeat Wareham on Thursday and Chatham loses or ties that night, it’ll be in. In the event of a tie with the Gatemen, however, only an Anglers loss would secure it a spot in the playoffs.

When reminded about the missed opportunity to qualify for the postseason, Shevchik wasn’t miffed. Instead, he gave a knowing smirk. He had seen this loss coming from the moment he stepped foot in the dugout that evening. Despite so much roster turnover throughout the year, one thing about his team has remained the same since Day 1: It never does things the easy way.

"The way this team has been playing all year long, there’s no way that we had an opportunity to clinch and we would actually do it,” Shevchik said. “No shot.”

Title photo credit: Casey Bayne