On Saturday morning, the Cape Cod Baseball League announced that a league-high nine Whitecaps were selected to the All-Star team, including four starters and seven position players.
Hours later, as Brewster traveled to Orleans to face the East Division’s last-place team, manager Jamie Shevchik rolled out a lineup filled with the seven position players selected, showcasing the Whitecaps' star power.
But before the lineup could even get going offensively, it faltered defensively, making four errors in the first three innings and helping Orleans to two five-run innings. In the end, Brewster (12-16-1) was mercy-ruled for the second time this summer, falling to Orleans (10-19), 12-2, at Eldredge Park.
“It was an absolute disaster from a defensive standpoint. I don’t know if we ever had a shot,” Shevchik said postgame. “That's the part that sucks. You put a lineup out there that you feel is gonna give you the best chance to win. And it was really disappointing to see the way we played today.”
Orleans had six All-Star selections, including its starter, Callan Fang (Harvard). The Crimson product has been exceptional this summer. On June 23 against the Whitecaps, Fang went four scoreless, striking out eight and not allowing a hit.
This time, though, Fang was quickly beaten by a fellow star. Just a few hours after being announced as the East Division’s starting catcher, Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) hammered a fastball 101 mph to left field, clearing the fence to give the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead.
On the other side, Boston Flannery (North Carolina) made his first start of the summer for the Whitecaps. He allowed two to reach on a single and a walk but left both stranded.
In his next inning of work, the right-hander fell into more trouble. He couldn’t escape this time without the Firebirds getting on the board. A leadoff single up the middle started the frame, before the Orleans offense then went to the bunting game to get things going.
Mike Mancini (James Madison) reached on a bunt that tested third baseman Colby Shelton (Florida). The next batter, Bennett Markinson (Northwestern), bunted, too, but popped it to the left of the mound. Flannery dove to make a play but it nicked off his glove, making it bases loaded and no outs.
A fielder’s choice putout from Kaeden Kent (Texas A&M) to Drew Faurot (Florida State) scored a runner to tie the game, and with runners on first and third, Orleans performed a double steal, allowing the go-ahead run to score. After a single made it first and third again, Ben Zeigler-Namoa performed a suicide squeeze, scoring a third run as Flannery and Helfrick couldn’t make a clean exchange at the plate.
A dropped pop-up in left field scored a fourth run, and to end the frame, the Firebirds pulled out the trick first-and-third play. The runner on first, Austin Smith (San Diego), left early on purpose to get the attention of Flannery. When Flannery turned his body to go after the runner, the runner on third, Jack Gurevitch (San Diego), broke for the plate, scoring before Smith was tagged out.
“I felt bad for (Flannery) because he threw enough strikes,” Shevchik said. “He was OK. We just didn't help him out at all.”
A sloppy bottom of the second ended with five runs on five hits for Orleans’ offense — which entered Saturday’s contest with the fewest runs and worst batting average in the CCBL.
Flannery exited the game after allowing two earned runs on 45 pitches, giving way to Levi Huesman (Vanderbilt). The left-handed pitcher ran into similar troubles as Flannery — with even worse results.
Huesman allowed a leadoff single but struck out the next batter. The third hitter of the inning, Markinson, drove in one on a single to left. An error on a chopper back to the mound scored Orleans’ seventh run of the game. Then came the nail in the coffin. With two runners on, Hudson Shupe (Gonzaga) drilled a three-run shot over the left field fence, pushing the Firebirds to 10 runs on the day and extending their lead to nine.
Across the first three frames, the Whitecaps defense was as poor as it could get, making four errors and allowing 10 runs.
Brewster’s offense clawed back in the top of the fourth with two singles and a sacrifice fly from Nick Dumesnil (Cal Baptist) to score Shelton. That’s all the Whitecaps would muster against Fang the rest of the way as he finished the game with five innings pitched, two earned runs and four strikeouts.
Orleans added another in the fifth, as Gurevitch lined a single to center to score Chris Barr (Army). Out of the nine-hole, Barr scored three runs, reaching base in 3-of-4 at-bats.
Huesman had a solid three innings on the mound, striking out four and allowing just two earned runs. Jacob Marlowe (Florida State) entered in relief for Huesman in the sixth, retiring the side in order on 14 pitches in his sixth appearance of the summer.
Marlowe entered again in the seventh and allowed two singles to make it first and second. Already with two outs, he looked to have forced the final out of the inning to keep Brewster alive. Gurevitch lined a ball to Faurot at shortstop but it went off of Faurot’s glove into center field, scoring the final run to initiate the mercy rule.
After losing an opportunity to take down an East Division foe, Brewster has another chance Sunday night against second-place Chatham. However, Shevchik sees a team that needs some change prior to another important matchup.
“Today, we just beat ourselves. Let's see what type of team we are made of tomorrow. If we go out there and play the same way today and get beat then we're a really talented team that isn't playing well. And I need to see if there’s something different from them,” Shevchik said.
