Wareham, Mass. — The Gatemen took BP in preparation for their first home game against the Brewster Whitecaps. It was humid in Wareham, and there was the threat of thunderstorms in the area. However, the storm was far enough in the distance for the game to start on time.
The Gatemen were with the momentum too, after a huge 16-9 win over Cotuit on Sunday, that snapped a five-game losing skid, their longest of the season. It was a win that uplifted the club’s morale, and they were looking to take down the Whitecaps for the second time this season. However, the game would not go their way.
The Gatemen (7-13) fell short of the Brewster Whitecaps (11-8) by a score of 5-2 after a nearly four-hour-long game, caused by a nearly hour-long rain delay.
The game started with the sound of rolling thunder and the Gatemen offense getting on the board like a flash of lightning. The first four Gatemen batters recorded a hit en route to a two-run inning.
Leadoff man, and second baseman, Brayden Randle (Ole Miss) started the game with a bang, blasting a triple deep to center field off the top of the wall. After that, Randle would score on an RBI single off the bat of left fielder Levi Clark (Tennessee) to put Wareham on the board.
Then, catcher Hunter Carns (Florida State) and first baseman Chris McHugh (NC State) struck a pair of singles to score Clark, making the Gatemen lead 2-0. However, after that flash of offense, the Gatemen did not record a hit for the rest of the game, and did not have a baserunner since the second inning.
The Gatemen’s bats suddenly were put on ice by the Whitecaps’ defense, but what did not help was the rain. The storm that had been off in the distance before the game came rolling in the top of the fourth inning, as a lightning strike was reported less than three miles away from Spillane Field. What resulted was a temporary delay that lasted for almost an hour.
The delay forced the Gatemen players into the locker room to await the verdict on the game. When they emerged from the locker room back onto the field, they had to start again and find their game-time rhythm.
“We were on a pretty good roll there to start. And then the rain came and it got pretty humid, so everybody got a little tired, which made it tough to get back,” said Gatemen Starting Pitcher Jordan Stephens (Georgia).
Stephens had a very solid debut as a starting pitcher. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowed 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and struck out 6 batters. While he didn’t go deep into the game, his swing-and-miss stuff clearly worked, and his ability to rack up strikeouts in a short outing stood out.
“It's good to be back out there. I haven't started in a little over a year, so it's pretty fun. Just got a little tired towards the end of it,” said Stephens.
“I thought he did really well. He threw strikes. He's been working on a lot of stuff to improve to be a starter out here, and he's been working his tail off to get to that point,” said Wareham Gatemen Field Manager Ryan Smyth.
It was those two runs, however, that paved a solid foundation for the Whitecaps. They scored both of those runs before the rain delay was called, which gave them momentum heading into the break.
Even though their offense was also sluggish coming out of the break, the Whitecaps were able to strike again in the sixth off a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch for two more runs. Then, they scored once more in the ninth on a ground out from Cal Fisher (Florida State) that scored Adam Magpoc (Boston College) to give Brewster a 5-2 win.
In the loss, the Gatemen were able to experiment a little more with their pitchers, throwing both Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State) and Logan Baisley (FGCU), who were normally starting pitchers this season, as relief pitchers. Both had solid performances, giving the Gatemen a taste of flexibility with their pitching.
“Guys that we thought would perform well out of the bullpen, we put them in the pen for this week,” said Gatemen Pitching Coach Eric Luksis. “Every week is pretty unique in this league. I wouldn’t say it was the plan to use both of them tonight, but it just worked out for us that way. And I thought they looked pretty good out of the pen.”
“Midway through the season, we like to switch up those roles a little bit, see what we’ve got from different guys, and give them opportunities to get some starts in,” said Smyth.
Unfortunately, the Gatemen’s bats going cold is what did them in against the Whitecaps. The rain delay slowed their momentum to a halt, and they were unable to recover, resulting in their 13th loss of the season.
Now, Wareham finds itself sitting at 7-13 at the halfway mark of the season, keeping it last in both its division and the league. They look to bounce back on Wednesday against the Orleans Firebirds at Eldredge Park at 6:30 p.m.
