BREWSTER, Mass. – Brewster Whitecaps right fielder Frankie Carney might’ve been getting picked on by the Hyannis Harbor Hawks pitching staff, but at least he has the sweet taste of victory to console him.

The UC Irvine rising redshirt senior was hit three times by three different arms, and while all his future bruises were invaluable to the Whitecaps' comeback win, the third time was the charm that led to the team’s triumphant run.

In the top of the ninth inning, with the game tied and one out, Harbor Hawks right-handed pitcher Clay Masonis (UNC Wilmington) got Carney up and in, sending him down to first base one final time. And while Carney only had to jog down the line, once he got to the bag, he made use of his speed.

The first-year Whitecap went first to third on a single to right, before hustling home on a single into left field off the bat of third baseman Will Moore (Indiana), scoring the winning run after being down by as much as five runs at one point and securing Brewster (1-0) a 9-7 opening night victory in enemy territory against the Hyannis (0-1) at McKeon Park on Saturday night.

No pain, no gain.

“I’m locked in on the ball,” Carney said. “If it’s coming at me, I will move, but those, I couldn’t move from those.”

While Carney’s final time getting clipped capped off Brewster’s comeback, his first time kickstarted it.

When he stepped into the left-handed batter’s box to face RHP Truitt Webb (Southeastern Louisiana) to lead off the seventh inning, the Whitecaps found themselves in a 7-2 hole. The team had only registered seven base runners up to that point, and the only runs were courtesy of back-to-back home runs off the bats of shortstop Jamie Laskofski (North Carolina) and designated hitter Jacob Lee (Virginia Commonwealth) in the fourth inning.

The hit-by-pitch, however, changed everything, with a conga line of offense following in its wake.

Jake Lambdin (Duke), Michael Torres (Miami), Moore, Adam Magpoc (San Diego State), Laskofski, Lee and Dane Harvey (Ohio State) all contributed to the offensive outpouring with either singles, walks or a sacrifice fly in the frame. Even Hyannis making the move to bring in LHP Ryan Bosch (Wake Forest) from the bullpen after Magpoc reached base couldn’t stop the Whitecaps momentum.

The lineup eventually turned around to Carney with two outs and the Whitecaps within one run of equalizing the score.

Of course, he wore it again.

“Runs are a premium,” Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik said. “You’re not going to see a lot of 9-7 games. You’re going to see more 4-2, 3-1 games in this league because the pitching is going to dominate in the beginning; we just put together a string of really good at-bats today.”

The Whitecaps' five-run seventh inning came directly after the Harbor Hawks scored seven runs across the fifth and sixth. Brewster gave up hard contact, including home runs to shortstop Charlie Bates (Stanford) and first baseman Caleb Miller (UTSA) in the latter frame, but also dug themselves into holes with two throwing errors in the fifth – courtesy of Magpoc and starting third baseman Alexander Peck (Arkansas) – that led to two Hyannis runs.

Instead of dwelling on the Whitecaps' own mistakes, however, Shevchik was determined to make the Harbor Hawks pay for theirs.

“(The thinking) was just stick to our game plan,” Shevchik said. “Don’t swing at bad pitches, find ways to get on base. We're still going to steal bags, we're going to be ultra aggressive on the bases … you have to put pressure on the defense if you’re going to score runs in this league. We just took advantage of every mistake that they made.”

After the Harbor Hawks' mistake of letting Carney on base for the third time and later score, Brewster was able to score an insurance run on a Magpoc sac fly that brought home Lambdin, who reached on a single.

The extra run wasn’t needed, as RHP Finbar O’Brien (Gonzaga) slammed the door in his second inning of work, finalizing his own win by getting Hyannis third baseman Jason Fultz Jr. (transfer portal) to go down swinging.

Despite a couple of rough innings for the pitching staff, O’Brien’s performance, as well as that of southpaw starter Charlie West (UConn), who went three scoreless innings, striking out four in the process, gives hope of a successful group.

“A lot of those guys, we saw for the first time,” Shevchik said. “They didn’t pitch in the scrimmage the other night, so really we were rolling into this thing, not really knowing exactly what we were gonna get. I thought we got a good start by Charlie and Fin did an unbelievable job of wrapping that thing up.”

While the win only puts the Whitecaps at 1-0 on the season, it gets them out of the gate on the right foot. Last year, the Whitecaps won their first six games and rode that momentum all the way to the playoffs. Only time will tell if 2026 plays out in a similar fashion to 2025, but the way the game was won shows the team can stick in a fight.

“To get the first one out of the way on opening night, that’s huge for us,” Shevchik said. “And to do it in the way that we did, being down by five runs, there’s a lot of little things that we’ve accomplished from the psyche and the mental standpoint for these guys – more than they even know. Now you’re never down. Every time that we're down by five runs for the next 39 games, they're gonna think that they have a shot to still win.”

It’s a confidence boost that’s already started to rub off on the players.

“50-0,” Carney said with a chuckle. “We’re doing it.”