Brewster, Mass. — It was a hot and humid afternoon at Stony Brook Field, but the weather was not the only thing that was heating up. The Wareham Gatemen, who had won four straight games entering the contest, found themselves as the hottest team on the Cape.
After starting the month of July with a five-game losing streak, the Gatemen have won five of their last six games. Some of those wins were dominant while others were close contests. Regardless, the Gatemen found ways to win, and their next game against the Brewster Whitecaps was no different.
The Gatemen (12-13) defeated the Whitecaps (14-10-1) by a score of 4-3. The win secured their fifth straight win, marking their longest winning streak of the season, and moved the team into first place in the West Division standings.
The game started with the Gatemen striking first. In the top of the second, infielder Vance Sheahan (Miami) doubled to center field with one out, then stole third base. After that, Sheahan advanced to score off a wild pitch from Whitecaps Pitcher Lance Davis (TCU) to put the Gatemen on the board.
The Whitecaps would respond later in the bottom of the fifth inning as Ryan Martin (Dallas Baptist) scored on a wild pitch from Gatemen Starting Pitcher Caden McDonald (Florida), evening up the score at 1-1.
The Gatemen were quick to respond to the setback, though. In the top of the sixth, Designated Hitter Kollin Ritchie (Oklahoma State) crushed a two-run home run 400 feet to right field to score First Baseman Chris McHugh (NC State) to put the Gatemen ahead 3-1.
The Gatemen’s offense was doing its part, getting hits and scoring runs, but the Gatemen’s pitching was the superstar of the afternoon. They held the Whitecaps’ offense hitless for seven consecutive innings.
McDonald had a great start as he pitched 5.0 innings, allowed only 2 walks, and the unearned run off the wild pitch. He struck out 6 batters and kept Brewster off the bases.
The Gatemen also got relief from Lozaro Collera (Miami), Ty Starke (Louisville), and Shea Wendt (Creighton); however, in the eighth, Wareham ran into some trouble.
Three costly walks loaded the bases, and the Gatemen brought in Pitcher Ty Schlageter (Louisville) in with two outs. Schlageter was placed in a tough position and, unfortunately, in his first pitch, Alex Sosa (NC State) blasted a single up the middle that scored two runs and tied the game at three.
It was a tough blow for the Gatemen, who had held the Whitecaps to 0 hits up until that point. However, Schlageter stayed calm and delivered, forcing a groundout to keep the game tied at 3-3.
The sun also began to set, and with the game being held at Stony Brook Field, a field with no lights, the Gatemen needed to hurry and score before the game was called. They got the hit they were looking for from Right Fielder Easton Breyfogle (Arizona) as he crushed a leadoff double to center field to put the lead run in scoring position.
Shortstop Chris Ramirez (California Baptist) then placed a perfect bunt down to move Breyfogle over to third base. After that, Third Baseman Colby Turner (Michigan) hit a shallow fly out to left field, but Breyfogle got the go-ahead from Third Base Coach Mike Mobbs to run.
“The ball was in the air. I asked Mobbs, ‘yes or no, yes or no’. He went, ‘yeah, let's do it.’ So then I took off and made sure I avoided the tag and got the right part of the plate. I think Mobbs does a really good job. He studies the game. He knows what to do. Anything that he says, I truly believe, and we were able to get it done,” said Breyfogle.
“With it getting dark out, it was hard to hit, so Breyfogle gave us a chance right there, when we had an opportunity, if they made a play, great, you know, good for them, but we're going to force them to make that play,” said Gatemen Field Manager Ryan Smyth.
The play turned out to work perfectly as Breyfogle’s speed carried him to home plate before the throw from left field bounced off the high grass and over the glove of Alex Sosa before the baseball rolled to the backstop.
The Gatemen led 4-3, and the lead gave everyone, including Schlageter, all the confidence in the world.
“I was sitting in the dugout, frustrated with myself, and I saw that run, I saw Easton tag up from third, and he scored. I knew then we were going to win the game as soon as he crossed home plate. I was excited and confident in myself and my teammates. I knew we were going to get the job done,” said Schlageter.
From there, the Gatemen needed to get three more outs and secure the win. Collin Priest (Clemson) led off the inning with a leadoff bunt single to put the tying run on base. Then, Colton Coates (Louisiana Tech) bunted the tying run over to second.
With only one out, the Gatemen needed an out, and Schlageter delivered a crucial strikeout to put the Gatemen one out away. Then, catcher’s interference was called during the at-bat of Michael Anderson (Arkansas) to put two runners on base.
However, Schlageter and the Gatemen’s defense forced a ground out to third base to ice the game. and secure a Wareham victory. Schlageter brushed off the first pitch hit he faced in the eighth and secured the win and the save after a fantastic effort to shut down the Whitecaps and close the game.
“You’ve got to have trust in your offense. They're gonna come back and put another run on the board and give you another chance to save. That's what they did. And the main thing is, you’ve got to have a short memory in this game. One hit didn’t go my way, but we got the job done,” said Schlageter.
“The first kid just jumped the heater and got their first hit of the night. I mean, what are you gonna do? But Schlageter settled in and limited the damage that inning. He got out of it tied up where that inning could have gone sideways and we could have been down, but he settled in, got us out of that inning,” said Smyth.
The Gatemen are now winners of five straight and look ahead to facing the Harwich Mariners at home on Wednesday. First pitch for that game will be 6:00 p.m. at Spillane Field in Wareham.
