Across the Whitecaps organization, nobody believes in the notion of superstition more than manager Jamie Shevchik.

That’s why throughout Brewster’s historic start to the 2025 campaign, he’s kept his pregame routine virtually the same. Before every game, Shevchik has stopped at Cumberland Farms (convenience store) to grab a Nestle Crunch bar on the way to the field. Now, four games into the season, the Whitecaps stand as the Cape Cod Baseball League’s only undefeated team at 4-0.

Is there a connection between Brewster’s recent success and the candy bar? Shevchik thinks so.

“I am the most superstitious person ever,” Shevchik said. “I'm probably going to go into sugar shock at some point.”

Although Shevchik’s routine may not be the healthiest, it’s proven nourishing for the Whitecaps’ win column. With Crunch bar in tow, Brewster (4-0, 1-0 Eastern Division) continued its winning ways Tuesday night, holding on to defeat Bourne (1-2-1, 0-0 Western Division), 4-3. Unlike their past few contests, the Whitecaps’ bats exploded early on, racking up seven hits in the first three innings. The early burst in the batter’s box allowed Brewster to build a 4-1 advantage that it never relinquished.

Ahead of the matchup, it was anyone’s guess which side would find a way to draw first blood. After all, neither the Whitecaps or Braves had found ways to open the scoring in any of their first three games. But just three pitches into the second inning, Bourne’s Noah Franco (Texas Christian) did so emphatically.

Faced with Brewster starter Tyler Schmitt’s (Illinois) arsenal of off-speed pitches, Franco made the right-hander pay for finding the strike zone on back-to-back offerings. With a swing of the bat, Franco put the Braves ahead with a no-doubter that sailed over the right field wall. Flustered by the go-ahead homer, Schmitt then allowed a single into left field before surrendering a one-pitch base hit on the ensuing at bat.

But then, the longtime Illinois ace found his groove. With two runners now on base, Schmitt quickly struck out Jon LeGrande (St. John’s) — the CCBL’s hit leader up to that point (8) — looking before whiffing the next Braves’ batter, bringing out Brewster’s offense.

Energized by Schmitt’s recovery, the Whitecaps’ order rallied behind their pitcher. Knocking six hits in play over the next two innings, Brewster put on an offensive clinic that eventually pushed Bourne into a three-run hole.

Collin Priest (Clemson) opened the second inning by working Alex Valentin (Texas State) into a walk, and shifted over to second base moments later following Blake Cyr’s (Florida) single down the third base line. In his first at bat as a Whitecap, Alex Sosa (NC State) joined the hit parade with yet another single, quickly loading the bases with no outs on the board.

Although eager to put the ball in play, Carson Kerce (Georgia Tech) showed patience at the plate. He forced Valentin into a full count, and was rewarded with a line drive into left field that knotted the game at one. A brief mound visit allowed Valentin to reset enough to strike out Ty Head (NC State), but one pitch later Josiah Ragsdale’s (Boston College) grounder into the 3-4 hole gave Brewster its first lead of the night. With the bases still loaded, a double play cut off the Whitecaps from pouring it on any further. In the next inning, though, they picked up right where they left off.

As Valentin’s command dwindled further, it only benefitted the Whitecaps. Another leadoff walk sent Daniel Cuvet (Miami) to first, who then stole second as Carson Tinney (Notre Dame) struck out. Just two pitches into the ensuing at bat, a hit by pitch placed runners at the corners for Brewster. Once Cyr’s bloop single loaded the bases, Sosa again shined amid his Whitecaps debut, smacking an RBI single into deep right field to balloon the lead up to 4-1.

“We just started to get used to the pitcher. When you run a guy out there for four or five innings, you start to figure him out,” Shevchik said.

As Brewster’s offense became virtually nonexistent for the rest of the game — only mustering a single hit the rest of the day against the Braves’ bullpen —, Bourne's bats slowly started to heat up with each passing inning. Supported by stellar defensive catches and pickoffs delivered by Sosa from home plate, the Whitecaps’ bullpen kept the deficit at three runs for the majority of the contest.

But in the top of the seventh, the Braves’ offense finally broke through. After Chase Davis (South Alabama) had done just enough to keep the Braves off the board for the past two innings, Shevchik opted to swap out Davis for Nate Brittain (Wake Forest) to open the seventh.

Forcing Brittain into a full count, Jimmy Keenan (Wake Forest) started the Braves off on the right foot with a walk before Caden Dulin (Pittsburgh) wired a single toward second base that eluded Priest’s outstretched glove. Another Braves single filled the bases, and a Kade Lewis (Wake Forest) line drive into left shrunk the deficit to 4-2, prompting a mound visit.

Given another chance to shut down Bourne’s momentum, Brittain again faltered. A pitch low in the zone allowed Braden Holcomb to ground into a force out at second, and Dulin scored on the play from third to bring the Braves within one.

Digging further into its bullpen, Brewster opted to place Haiden Leffew (Wake Forest) on the bump. After starting strong with a three-pitch strikeout to escape the seventh, the lefty ran into trouble early in the eighth. Shevchik was well aware he still had a few solid arms left in the bullpen, and knew exactly which one could get the job done. Justin Shadek (Rutgers) answered the bell.

“When he was jogging in from left field from the bullpen, everybody goes, ‘Shadek? Shadek! Oh, this game's over,’” Sosa said. “Everybody's got confidence in him and he's got confidence in himself. It was just one of those (moments) where he was just feeling it and nobody was going to touch him.”

With Bourne pinch-runner Peyton Bonds (Rutgers) now at third, all eyes were on Shadek to secure the final two outs. One blistering pitch at a time, he clinched the save by retiring the next two batters in order as darkness fell on Stony Brook Field.

Just four games into the season, the Whitecaps have already made history by conquering every challenge they’ve faced thus far. And with so much baseball still left to be played, it's difficult to place any sort of limit on what this team is capable of.

“I would’ve loved to have that big lead and kind of cruise into the last couple innings, but it gives them something to be excited about,” Shevchik said of the late scare. “Endings like that keep this team fired up, so I’ll take 42 of them.”

Title photo credit: Casey Bayne.