HARWICH, Mass. — The last time the Whitecaps and Mariners met, it was under very different circumstances.
On Aug. 5, 2024, the two sides clashed on the final day of the regular season. For Brewster, a loss meant elimination from playoff contention for the first time since 2019. On the other hand, Harwich’s ticket to the postseason had already been punched.
With everything on the line, Brewster’s season-long habit of giving up multi-run leads once again came to the surface. At one point leading 6-3, the Whitecaps saw their advantage disappear as the Mariners blew the game wide open and never looked back. A heartbreaking 15-7 loss that night brought on a longer offseason than usual for the 'Caps.
A lot has changed for each team since that day. The Whitecaps — who finished with the Cape League’s worst record last year — have been one of its top teams since Day 1 of the 2025 season. The Mariners, after their magical postseason run last year, are now the defending Cape League champions.
With both clubs two points apart in the Eastern Division standings entering Thursday, the first game of their home-and-home series was set to be a pivotal one.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Tied at three runs apiece amid an all-important seventh inning, a thunderstorm enveloped Whitehouse Field. Both in search of the go-ahead run, the Whitecaps (9-6-1) and Mariners (7-6-3) were instead forced to settle for a 3-3 tie due to the inclement weather. Dalton Wentz (Wake Forest) led the way for Brewster with two RBIs, while Brendan Lawson (Florida) continued to impress in his third game as a Whitecap with two hits — including an RBI.
The night before, the Whitecaps endured their worst start to a game yet. After allowing a homer on the game’s second pitch, the Anglers ballooned their lead up to seven before Brewster even stepped up to the plate. With an altered lineup that didn’t include game-changing bats Josiah Ragsdale (Boston College) and Wentz, the ugly sequence proved too much for Brewster’s bats to come back from.
Although, the Whitecaps have made it a habit of following up frustrating losses with satisfying victories over the past two weeks.
After an embarrassing 6-2 home loss to the Cotuit Kettleers — the league’s last-place team at the time — the Whitecaps bounced back with a sound 6-1 win over a highly skilled Harbor Hawks lineup. Days later, they answered back-to-back one-run losses with back-to-back victories. In short, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster lately for the 'Caps.
It looked as though that pattern would continue just one inning into Thursday’s contest. The Mariners’ starting pitchers entered the matchup with a league-leading 2.70 ERA. But against the Whitecaps, Harwich starter Ryan Reich (Seton Hall) only lasted two innings. Faced with an offensive onslaught right out of the gate, he finished his brief appearance having allowed five hits and three earned runs without recording a strikeout.
His trouble started one batter in. Back in his element as Brewster’s leadoff man, Ragsdale got things started with a walk. After Ragsdale shifted his way to third, Lawson took care of the rest. His RBI single gave Brewster an early 1-0 edge and brought him up to four total hits in just his third appearance of the campaign. An RBI double off Wentz’s bat moments later doubled the deficit, marking the switch-hitter’s 12th knock of the year — tied for second on the team only behind Ragsdale’s 17.
To open the third, the Whitecaps continued to pressure Reich and quickly loaded the bases still with no outs. With a swing of the bat, Wentz brought another runner home via a sacrifice fly into deep right field. From there, Harwich’s bullpen was ushered in.
As Brewster’s offense stunned the Mariners early on, the assault gave Duncan Marsten (Wake Forest) an ample cushion to settle into his first start of the campaign. Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik has made it clear as of late that with so many starting-caliber pitchers departing recently, he was going to need to dig into his bullpen for starting pitching moving forward. Following Alex Philpott’s (South Carolina) rough outing the day prior, Marsten was the next reliever who stepped into that role Thursday night.
Marsten started the day strong, holding Harwich hitless through the first two innings. Still confident coming into his third frame of work, everything quickly fell apart. After forcing the first two batters he faced into easy contact outs, Marsten stumbled into three walks and a single as the Mariners cut down Brewster’s lead to 3-1. The blunder spelled the end of his night on the mound.
For the next three innings, reliever Zach Bates (Illinois) took over in an attempt to cut off Harwich’s newfound momentum. But instead, he immediately fed into it. On the fifth pitch he dealt, Kyle Wolff (Boston College) roped a single into play, and a home run from the ensuing batter evened things up.
But even after his forgettable start, Shevchik elected to keep Marsten on the bump for the remainder of the night. The decision paid off. Quickly moving on from the disastrous sequence, he held the Mariners hitless from then on, walking only one batter and throwing two strikeouts to bring his total up to 10 on the year — tied for the second most among Whitecaps relievers.
For the second day in a row, Brewster saw a winnable game slip through its fingers due to elements beyond its control. And with just 40 games in total this season, it will be interesting to see how games like Thursday’s tie affect its playoff chances later on down the line.
Title photo credit: Kayla McCullough
