Pitching falters in Wareham’s 15-4 loss to Brewster

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Ryan Smyth had never been thrown out of a baseball game in his entire coaching career. Then Thursday evening rolled around.

In the third inning of Wareham’s game against Brewster, Whitecaps designated hitter Nolan Schubart (Oklahoma State) hit a home run down the right field line, drifting over to exit the ballpark near the foul pole. The first base umpire called the ball foul, but upon immediate uproar from the Brewster dugout the umpires convened and flipped the call. As Schubart rounded the bases, Smyth stormed out of the visitors’ dugout.

After 30 seconds, Smyth strode back to the dugout, collected his belongings and went to the parking lot. He popped his trunk, called his wife, Katelyn, to ask for a Coke and sat in his car as the Gatemen were run-ruled in a 15-4 affair.

At the time of Schubart’s home run, the Gatemen were already losing 11-0 and on their third pitcher of the night. A six-run first inning set the tone for the evening as the Whitecaps took advantage of struggling Wareham pitching with perfectly placed ground balls down the line and patience at the plate.

“We need to do a better job of reading swings and seeing what the hitters are trying to do against us,” pitching coach Eric Luksis said postgame. "We've got to get ahead, that's first and foremost."

The Wareham pitching staff combined to allow a total of 14 hits and three home runs on the night.

Starter Ethan Darden (Clemson) was unable to find a rhythm in his Cape Cod Baseball League debut and finished the night with a final line of nine runs (eight earned), six hits, three walks and zero strikeouts. Relievers Anthony Watts (Iowa), Anthony Steele (Penn State) and Julian Tonghini did their best to stem the bleeding, but the Brewster bats couldn’t be slowed down enough for Wareham to climb back.

Tonghini, in his Cape League debut, was the only Wareham pitcher to not allow a run Thursday night. The Indiana right-hander struck out four batters, walked two and allowed two hits in his two innings of work.

By the time Tonghini entered the game in the bottom of the fifth, the Gatemen were out of danger of being shut out, as they were able to put two runs up on the board thanks to an RBI triple from Michael Lippe (Louisville) to drive in Antonio Jimenez (Miami) and a double from David Pedanou (transfer portal) to send Lippe home.

One more Wareham run crossed the plate in the top of both the sixth and seventh innings, but the Gatemen were unable to avoid a run rule as they left runners stranded in the top of the seventh inning.

“The good thing about this league is you play every night,” Luksis said. “So, you know, it was bad today, [but] it doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad tomorrow.”

The goal of every game on the cape, no matter the score, is to learn. So while Thursday's loss was a difficult one, and certainly one no one on the Gatemen wanted to experience, it still provides an opportunity to learn and adjust to improve for the future.

Top photo credit: Ethan Darden pitches during Wareham's 15-4 loss to the Brewster Whitecaps, June 20, 2024, at Stony Brook Field. Photo by Kyler Armstrong.