Brewster falls 6-5 in heartbreaking fashion to YD

By: Koki Riley

YARMOUTH, M.A. – Up 5-3 with two outs to go, the Brewster Whitecaps (14-18-1) were moments away from their second straight victory and their fourth win of the year over the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (19-13-2). With the reliable Billy McKay (UCF) on the mound, it was as if the fat lady had already started singing.
 
But then a pinch-hit solo home run from Erik Tolman (Arizona State) made it a 5-4 game. And then Noah Cardenas’s (UCLA) double put the tying run at second base.
 
All of a sudden, the Whitecaps were in a world of trouble.
 
Cardenas’s pinch runner, Joseph Hall (Clemson), was eventually thrown out at second base on a fielder’s choice. But an infield single from Bradlee Beesley (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) kept the game in balance with two on and two out for the All-Star Austin Wells (Arizona).
 
Wells’s single through the hole in short drew a throw to home from Brett Auerbach (Alabama). But Auerbach’s throw to home plate was just enough off line to allow Wyatt Young (Pepperdine) to score from second base to tie the game at five.
 
“It looked like he never touched the plate,” Whitecaps hitting coach Ryan Smyth said. “The umpire was pretty close. It was his call to make not ours.”
 
An intentional walk to Noah Campbell (South Carolina) set up a bases loaded, two out situation for Red Sox pinch hitter Andrew Eyster (South Carolina).
 
Five pitches later, Eyster’s hard hit ground ball scored the game winning run. Just like that, the Whitecaps had surrendered three runs in the drop of a hat.
 
“They know the position we are in. They know what every game means for us,” Smyth said. “They’re playing extremely hard.”
 
With the loss, the Whitecaps drop back to four games under .500 and lose a chance at gaining ground in the Eastern Division after Harwich’s 6-4 defeat to Chatham.
 
Brewster has played better baseball in recent days. The offense has scored 14 runs in that stretch of time and, with the exception of Saturday night’s ninth inning, the pitching has kept the Whitecaps within striking distance.
 
Tomorrow night is the All-Star game from Eldredge Park in Orleans, so Brewster’s next game is at Stony Brook Field on Monday against the Falmouth Commodores. First pitch will be at 5 p.m.

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