BREWSTER, Mass. —The Whitecaps had just lost two games in a row by a combined margin of 14 runs.

A lineup full of high-profile prospects was performing well under expectations, resulting in a 1-3 start to the Cape Cod Baseball League season. As Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik indulged in a day at the beach (like many involved on the league-wide off day) with his family, the roster, as well as future lineup constructions, circulated through his head.

“I've been looking at this roster for what felt like forever,” Shevchik said. “And then I'm thinking to myself, ‘Man did I really get this wrong?’”

Shevchik didn’t get it wrong. It just took a little longer than expected.

Following the first off day of the season, Brewster (2-3, 0-1 Eastern Division) exploded for 15 runs, decimating Wareham (3-2, 2-0 Western Division), 15-4, by run rule in seven innings. An effective day from starting pitcher Michael Salina (St. Bonaventure) and 13 runs across the first three innings offensively put the game away early and helped the Whitecaps cruise to their second win in 2024.

“You're not going to have days like this every day,” Shevchik said postgame. “But now you got a chance to see what it could be. It’s a little bit at a time. If we can get half the production that we got [today] more often then we're gonna have a great summer.”

Following an impressive 1-2-3 inning by Salina to start, topping at 98 mph, the Whitecaps got their bats going from the get-go. J.D. Rogers (Vanderbilt) continued his hot start to the season, slashing a line drive up the middle that trickled off the pitcher’s hand. Ryder Helfrick (Arkansas) reached on an error while Nolan Schubart (Oklahoma State) loaded the bases with a walk.

Then the hit parade began.

Daniel Cuvet (Miami) — who entered the game reaching base in his past five at bats — chopped a ground ball to shortstop, which he beat out. The ensuing throw went past the Gatemen’s first baseman, allowing two runners to score. Andrew Fischer (Ole Miss) and Jayden Hylton (Stetson) knocked back-to-back doubles to right field. Then Chase Mora (Texas State) singled home Hylton, scoring the sixth run of the frame for the Whitecaps.

Following another quick inning of work by Salina, the Brewster bats continued to berate Wareham’s pitching in the second inning. Rogers walked, stole second base, then scored on a single by Helfrick. Schubart and Cuvet both walked, loading the bases for Fischer.

The Ole Miss product had already plated two runs an inning ago. This time, riding high into his at-bat, Fischer called his shot.

As Cuvet reached a 3-0 count, Fischer sauntered over to the dugout from the on-deck circle and leaned over to Hylton, who was in the hole.

“Before I round the bases, I need you to figure out what the home run celebration is going to be,” he told Hylton. “I’m about to hit a grand slam.”

As the dugout laughed at Fischer’s boisterous, yet confident claim, Cuvet worked a walk.

Fischer fouled off a pitch, then saw a ball. On the third pitch of the at-bat, he followed up on his bold claim, hammering a grand slam over the right field wall, tallying his sixth RBI in two innings and extending the Whitecaps’ lead to 11. After parading around the bases, Fischer, Helfrick, Schubart, Cuvet and Hylton promptly celebrated in a five-person huddle at home plate.

Despite his big day, Fischer was quick to acknowledge the success wouldn’t have been possible without his teammates reaching base in front of him.

“You get up there and there's a ton of protection all over the order,” Fischer said postgame. “I batted sixth today, and every time I came up, there’s people on base. There's nowhere for them to put me, and they gotta throw it at me. I was able to get my swings off and was lucky that worked out for me today.”

Up 11-0 just two innings in, Salina had plenty of run support to work with. In the top of the third, he retired the side in order, forcing soft contact.

While an offensive explosion is obviously beneficial for the team, it poses a challenge for the leading sides’ pitcher. Salina sat through long innings in the dugout, creating a mental obstacle. Still, his fastball was sharp and his slider fruitful.

“My fastball with a lot of run and slider was moving good,” Salina said postgame. “I did a lot of work with those two, getting weak contact and strikeouts.”

Salina finished the day crisp in his CCBL debut, allowing five hits and two runs through five innings of work. Shevchik explained postgame that Salina’s success is an example of a preaching point the Whitecaps coaches have tried to get through to their pitchers in the early going.

He used the fastball primarily, spraying it across and, at times, outside the strike zone to get hitters to chase.

Brewster added three more runs in the bottom half of the third inning as Helfrick and Schubart rocked back-to-back home runs. Wareham scored two in the fifth, one in the sixth and one in the seventh to cut into the lead, but the damage was already done.

An offensive outburst resulted in a much-needed win, but also an explosive stat line across the board. Rogers finished with three runs and two hits, while Helfrick (in the three-hole) had three runs, two hits and three RBI. Behind the lethal combo at the top, Schubart scored four runs while reaching base four times, and Cuvet reached four times as well with three hits. And in the six-hole, with the biggest hit of the game, Fischer broke out for two runs and six RBI.

It was a barrage of riches for the Whitecaps and, Shevchik hopes, a sign of what’s to come.

“Nobody expected this, to come out and do what we did,” Shevchik said. “But now it shows and now the expectation level rises.”

Title photo credit: Julianne Shivers