ORLEANS, Mass. — Being a manager in the Cape Cod Baseball League isn’t easy. Just ask Brewster Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik, who’s been at the gig for the past 11 seasons.

Establishing a team culture is one thing, but doing it with an ever-changing roster is a whole different animal. Just when you think you may have found a consistent lineup, a key piece of it walks out the door. As Shevchik puts it, each of his players are merely “rented” by the Whitecaps. For reference, Brewster has seen 14 players — including 10 pitchers — walk out the door since July 1. The worst part? Sometimes players have left earlier than expected.

Now, like they have done often this year, the Whitecaps had to continue to adapt. After narrowly eking out a fourth straight win over the Harbor Hawks, the Whitecaps (16-15-1) looked to tie the season series against the Firebirds (15-13-2), 2-2, with a win Tuesday night. Instead, what started as a strong offensive and defensive performance ultimately ended in heartbreak for Brewster. Leading 4-2 in the eighth, a plethora of errors and bullpen struggles allowed Orleans to bring home five runs in the frame and steal the game in come-from-behind fashion.

“They’re just a gritty group of guys,” Shevchik said postgame of Orleans. “You have to play fundamental baseball. You can’t make four errors, walk four and expect to win any baseball game, never mind against these guys.”

The first time the Whitecaps traveled to Eldridge Park, they saw new arrival Brendan Lawson (Florida) shine in his debut with three hits and an RBI. Fast forward to their final trip there, and two more ‘Caps were set to make their first appearances in a Brewster jersey: infielder Maddox Mihalakis (Arizona) and outfielder Brody DeLamielleure (Florida State).

With both new guys at the bottom of the Whitecaps’ order eagerly awaiting their first at-bat, veteran Adam Magpoc (San Diego State) started off the day strong for the ‘Caps. For the third time in the past seven games since being a mainstay in the top of the lineup, Magpoc converted for a leadoff hit — this time a sharp line drive to center field for an easy double. From there, he stole his way to second, then eventually trotted home with some help from a Cal Fisher (Florida State) groundout.

Similar to the day before versus Hyannis, the ‘Caps' opposition wasted no time striking back. After Brewster fell victim to three straight K's by Logan Reddemann (San Diego) between the first and second innings, the Firebirds evened the score heading into the third with a sacrifice fly RBI.

A rarity these days for the Whitecaps, Duncan Marsten (Wake Forest) — a pitcher with plenty of starts under his belt on the Cape — took the mound first Tuesday. In his previous outing, his day wasn’t anything special, as he finished with three earned runs to his name. Then again, any day your offense puts up 12 runs, your starting pitching doesn’t exactly need to be pristine. Still, besides Orleans’ early RBI, Marsten proved a tough nut to crack for the Firebirds — finishing his bounce-back outing with four K's and one earned run through just over three innings pitched.

Like Marsten, Brewster’s offense looked unfazed early despite already striking out multiple times. The day prior, the Whitecaps relied solely on small ball, raking in three RBIs and zero homers for the third straight game since crushing three on Wednesday against Falmouth. Still, with so many powerful bats sprinkled throughout Brewster’s lineup, it was only a matter of time before that streak came to an end. Of course, Lawson, one of Brewster’s Home Run Contest participants, did the honors.

On the second offering that came his way in the fourth, Lawson crushed his team-high fourth homer of the year. On the next at-bat, Alex Sosa (Miami) nearly added another until it fell foul by mere feet. Still, in his final game as a Whitecap, Sosa remained determined. A few pitches later, he ended his summer with the ‘Caps in style by going yard for the second and final time.

“I’m gonna miss everything about him,” Shevchik said of Sosa. “He’s a competitor and wants to play every day. He didn’t complain about anything all summer long. I don’t know how the team’s gonna be able to respond without him, but we've got to pick up the pieces when he’s gone.”

From then on, the matchup quickly became a battle of the bullpens as both sides dug deep into their bag of relievers. For Brewster, this was nothing new.

With so many new pitchers entering the dugout recently, some of the ‘Caps’ arms entered Tuesday in what Shevchik dubbed a “tryout phase.” But now so late in the season, the tryout phase is almost over. That’s why following Zach Bates (Illinois) and Kyle Kipp’s (Boston College) strong 1 2/3 frames of work, the Whitecaps didn’t hesitate to give yet another new arm a chance to prove himself.

With Brewster hanging onto only a one-run lead now, Mitch Dye (Illinois) stepped on the mound for his Brewster debut midway through the sixth. Despite releasing a wild pitch in the frame, Dye eventually got ahold of his fastball-changeup combination and silenced the Firebirds via back-to-back punchouts to carry Brewster’s advantage into the seventh.

Ahead of the matchup, Shevchik informed his position players via GroupMe that, “Guys on the bench need to be ready to hit at any point throughout the game.”

That warning came into effect in the final stages of the contest, when Carson Kerce (Georgia Tech) slotted into the eight-hole in place of a silent Mihalakis. But as soon as one of Brewster’s newest bats was replaced, it lit a fire under the other. Just as Lawson had done weeks before at the same ballpark, DeLamielleure capped off his first game as a Whitecap by lofting a home run into the night sky, restoring the ‘Caps' two-run cushion.

Holding all the momentum again, Brewster seemed primed to lock down its lead and attempt to escape with a second straight narrow victory. Then came the bottom of the eighth.

Following Landon O’Donnell’s (State College of Florida) two walks and hit-by-pitch to open the frame, things went from bad to worse for the ‘Caps. With the bases now loaded, Nate Brittain (Wake Forest) was tasked with getting Brewster out of the bases-loaded situation with no outs — an already near-impossible task in the CCBL. Without strong defensive support behind you? Hopeless.

Unfortunately, Brittain was forced into the latter scenario.

Despite starting his outing off as best he could by forcing the Firebirds into a double-play ball, the Whitecaps failed to convert on the chance. Usually a reliable presence at second base, Dalton Wentz (Wake Forest) tagged second but bobbled the ball before he could throw it to first, leaving two outs on the board for Orleans to work with as it cut the deficit to one.

Attempting to paint the outside of the strike zone as much as possible, Brittain suddenly fell into a full count as Javar Williams (Wake Forest) patiently waited for the right pitch to bring home the go-ahead run. He did just that, roping a two-RBI single into deep right field as Orleans grabbed a its first edge of the contest. A passed ball by Sosa behind the dish moments later brought the Firebirds up to a two-run advantage. One last Orleans base hit ushered in the end of Brittain’s night, though the blunder was hardly his fault alone. Brewster finished the day with four errors — tied for the most in any game this season.

Suddenly trailing 7-4, the deficit proved too much for the ‘Caps to recover from as they struck out in order to hand the Firebirds their third straight win.

“Today was not a productive loss. We kicked the ball around and made too many damn mistakes,” Shevchik said. “We were in that game despite a lot of the mistakes that we made, so today’s loss is gonna sting.”