For Brewster, a Grim Second Inning Results in 8-Loss to Cotuit

By: Koki Riley

​For the first time all season, the Brewster Whitecaps (0-3) took the lead in a baseball game.
 
A walk to Tyler Gentry (Alabama) followed by a pair of errors, the latter of the two resulting in both of Brewster’s runs, delivered the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. And for Brewster, easily their best start to a game this season.
 
And then just like that, it was over.
 
Whitecaps starting pitcher Jimmy Ramsey (Kentucky) went on to surrender five runs and three hits in the top of the second frame. Not only did Cotuit (3-1) own a three-run lead, but the deficit crushed Brewster’s momentum while seemingly dashing any chance of a victory.
 
“We have to hold a lead for more than five minutes that’s for sure,” Whitecaps head coach Jamie Shevchik said after the loss. “It was good to see that we can score some runs. The offense is just really stale and we’re not getting good quality starting pitching.”
 
From the second inning on Brewster managed to scrap together just four hits off of Cotuit pitching. Kettleers starting pitcher Zach McCambley (Coastal Carolina) threw four one hit innings before Cotuit’s bullpen finished off the Whitecaps with a combined eight strikeouts in five innings of relief.
While on the flip side, Whitecaps starting pitchers this season have surrendered 13 runs in 10.1 innings pitched. And although Brewster’s bullpen has allowed the Whitecaps a fighting chance, starting pitching and timely hitting is what wins in the Cape League.
 
“We’ve got to do a better job at getting the lead early,” Shevchik said. “And that starts with our starting pitching.”
 
The Whitecaps are struggling. That for one has been an obvious occurrence on the field.
 
But off the field, this Brewster team has gelled together quickly. Fast enough to the point that instead of sitting at home and playing video games during yesterday’s rain out, a sizable group of players and their host families went bowling in Orleans.
 
Friendly banter and signs of team comradery can be found often before and even after games.
 
“On the first day when I came from Wareham I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know anyone’s name. Now I feel like I’m just one of the guys now and it’s only been four or five days,” Whitecaps pitcher Matthew Mikulski (Fordham) said. “I’m not really worried about our record right now because we’re going to figure it out and we’ll be fine.”
 
Brewster hits the road on Friday to Orleans in a 7 p.m. matchup against the Firebirds.