Whitecaps Fail to Secure a Win After Double Header Sweep at Cotuit

By: Koki Riley

On Sunday afternoon, the Brewster Whitecaps (6-5-1) were many things, but they certainly were not energetic.
 
“These guys are tired. The bats look slower, the feet look slower and the arms look slower,” Whitecaps head coach Jamie Shevchik said. “Mentally I think they’re drained a little bit.”
 
A 5-2 defeat in Game 1 followed by a 6-2 loss in Game 2 against the Cotuit Kettleers (6-4) in Cotuit summed up a sluggish and at times lifeless afternoon for the Whitecaps.
 
Between both games, Brewster mustered just nine hits offensively while its starters surrendered seven runs in 7.1 innings pitched defensively.
 
And despite the fact that the Whitecaps were able to come back from 2-0 deficits early on in both games, Brewster couldn’t stop the Kettleers momentum that started in the first inning of Game 1 when a throwing error from Tyler Hardman (Oklahoma) allowed a run to score to make it 1-0 Cotuit.
 
Two batters later, a single from Adam Oviedo (Oral Roberts) scored Casey Schmitt (San Diego State), who reached on Hardman’s throwing error, to quickly make it 2-0 Kettleers.
 
From then on, Cotuit kept a stranglehold on the Whitecaps chances of victory for the rest of the afternoon. 0-3-1 in their previous four matchups, Cotuit’s desperation for wins trumped the Whitecaps will to maintain their seven-game point streak.
 
After shutting down the Orleans Firebirds in his previous start, Chandler Jozwiak (Texas A&M) wasn’t nearly as sharp in Game 1 against Cotuit. Errors plagued the lefty in the first frame, but the two-run home run the Texas native surrendered to Nick Gonzalez (New Mexico State) in the fourth inning after Brewster had just tied the game was a back breaking play for the Whitecaps.
 
It was the kind of momentum shifting instant that defined both games.
 
And Jozwiak’s successor, Sean Hunley (Tennessee), was even less effective. Allowing three runs in three innings of work before handing the ball to a bullpen that appeared solid at first, but eventually faltered in the fifth inning when Stevie Emmanuels (Washington) allowed three runs, including two home runs, to blow open the Cotuit lead from one run to four in a blink of an eye.
 
“Hopefully after tomorrow we’ll get back in the win column,” Shevchik said. “We’ve got to get back in (the win column) quick.”
 
The Whitecaps have Monday off but on Tuesday head back home to play the Falmouth Commodores for the first time this season. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.

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