The Brewster Whitecaps traveled to Harwich to avoid a sweep in the first round of the East Division playoffs against the Mariners Wednesday. In Game 1, the Mariners shut out the Whitecaps 4-0 to steal game one at Stony Brook Field in Brewster.
Colin Lebel was the starter for the Mariners Wednesday. Lebel has only six innings of work on the Cape so far. In those innings, Lebel has scored a 6.00 ERA with nine strikeouts to go along with it. On the other side it was Tate DeRias trying to help force a game three for the Whitecaps. DeRias had 21 ⅓ innings of work coming into the game with a 2.53 ERA.
Like Game 1, it was a pitching battle in the early innings. Everything was working for Lebel and DeRias in the first three innings with both pitchers only allowing one hit.
Harwich struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning after Colin Larson and Ty Smolinski drew walks after long at-bats. JP Peltier then stepped to the plate looking to give the Mariners their second hit of the game. Peltier did that and more by launching a ball to deep left field for the three-run homerun that traveled 355 feet.
The Mariners didn't hold the lead for long after Brewster's Eddie Yamin launched a ball to deep left field to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning. The three-run home run was Yamin's third of the season.
Lebel’s start only lasted two more batters after he walked both of them. Bryan Matuschat came into the game to try to keep the game tied. Brewster’s star catcher Jacob Lee poked a ball to shallow left field to score one and give the Whitecaps the lead 4-3.
Brewster extended their lead in the top of the seventh inning after a Will Baker single to Harwich’s middle infield. Harwich’s second baseman Cade Kurland tried to make the play on the ground ball but after failing to contain the ball, Tryston McCladdie was able to score.
Tucker Stockman cut into the Brewster lead by crushing a leadoff double to left field in the bottom of the seventh. After a wild pitch by Brewster’s James DeCremer, Stockman was able to advance to third. A high bouncing ground ball by Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe was too much for DeCremer, the Arkansas pitcher panicked on the throw home allowing Stockman to score from third.
With Kiracofe on second, Colin Larson stepped to the plate. Larson was 0-6 in the series coming to the plate. Larson flipped the script and launched a ball into deep right field which hit off the fence. Kiracofe was able to score on Larson's triple to tie the game at 5-5.
The Whitecaps kept setting themselves up for the knockout punch, loading the bases both in the top of the ninth and tenth innings. In the top of the ninth, it was Mariners reliever Resse Oakley forcing a pop fly to end the inning.
Oakley stayed in the game into the 10th inning, but after loading the bases, his day was done. Steve Englert called upon Rex Hauser to save the Mariners. Hauser fell behind 2-0 to Brewster’s Tryston McCladdie but was able to battle back, throwing three straight strikes, last one being a swinging strike to get out of the massive jam and give the Mariners a chance to walk off the Whitecaps in extra innings for the sweep.
Hauser’s mindset was simple, "I treat every outing the same. In my mind, it was (bases) empty in my backyard."
Cade Kurland became the winning run for the Mariners after drawing a six-pitch walk. The first baseman from UMass Lowell that has been with Harwich all season came to the plate. Sean O’Leary’s shining moment came in a double down the right field line to score Kurland and send the Mariners into the semifinals.
"I was just staying simple and sticking with my approach. I wasn't trying to do too much, just trying to get a base hit, extend the game and keep it going. Then I ran into a slider and walked it off," said O’Leary.
The Whitecaps had the Mariner’s number all regular season, seeming like the better team, but in the playoffs Harwich was the team that took advantage of more opportunities and ultimately came out with the win.
"We got that lead early, and then we gave it back to them. It was a back-and-forth game, but it's a tribute to these kids. They're battlers, they're grinders and they want to win. They have that will, they're competitive as heck, and the bullpen came in and did a very good job. That is a really good hitting team over there, and we just found a way to get it done. Sean came up with that big blast. That was awesome," said Coach Englert.
