The Cape Cod Baseball League has used an eight-team playoff structure since 2010, and in all those years, we haven’t seen anything like what the Brewster Whitecaps are doing these days.
Brewster, well off the pace for much of the summer, has won five of six. Combined with a skid by Chatham, the Whitecaps put themselves into the thick of the playoff race. And last night, they took a full leap, beating Harwich 2-0 while Chatham lost to Orleans. That means Brewster is in fourth place by a point over Chatham, with one game to play.
It’s a rare feat.
When the Cape had a four-team playoff bracket, battles for those spots were pretty frequent. But with eight of 10 teams making it, there are bound to be two teams that aren’t even close. In five of the eight races since 2010, the fourth and fifth-place teams were separated by nine points or more.
And in the only close races, it wasn’t a come-from-behind situation, at least not one that happened so late. In 2010, Harwich held off Chatham by three points and had been ahead of the Anglers well before the stretch run. In 2011, Falmouth edged Cotuit by three points after going 3-7 in its last 10, allowing Cotuit to get close. In 2012, Bourne and Hyannis finished tied for the last playoff spot when the Braves lost their last two and the Harbor Hawks won their last two, but the team that came from behind lost out on the tiebreaker, as Bourne ended up with the spot.
Brewster’s comeback – if it’s completed – would stand alone. On July 25, the Whitecaps lost to Chatham 8-3. They fell to 12-24-1, while Chatham improved to 16-20-1. The Anglers had an eight-point cushion, with seven games to play.
Since then, Brewster hasn’t lost, and Chatham has gone 1-5. That’s the recipe for a takeover.
The Whitecaps knocked off East champ Harwich Sunday to take their biggest step yet. They managed only three hits but scored two runs. Gio Brusa (Pacific) homered and Zach Gibbons (Arizona) had an RBI. Four pitchers made the two-run lead seem plenty big enough. Joe McCarthy (Southern New Hampshire) allowed four hits in five innings. Ryan Mason (California) pitched two scoreless frames, Doug Willey (Franklin Pierce) tossed a scoreless eighth and Pat Ruotolo (Connecticut) pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Meanwhile, Orleans beat Chatham 4-0 in a game that was called after five innings due to some classic Veterans Field fog. The Anglers would have loved to keep playing, because now the playoff race comes down to one game.
If the Whitecaps beat Harwich tonight, they’re in. If they don’t, and Chatham loses, they’re still in. But if Chatham wins, then the comeback will have been for naught.
It’s a sprint to the finish now.
Orleans 4, Chatham 0
Orleans scored all its runs in the fifth inning of the five-inning fog game. Geoff DeGroot (Rutgers) had a two-run single to key the rally and David Thompson (Miami) had a sacrifice fly. Kyle Twomey (USC) pitched four scoreless innings for the Firebirds, before Hayden Stone (Vanderbilt) pitched around a single for a scoreless fifth. The win allowed Orleans to move one point ahead of Y-D for second place in the East.
Hyannis 3, Y-D 3
The Harbor Hawks scored two runs in what proved to be the final inning, as the teams played to a tie in eight innings after the game was called due to darkness at Red Wilson Field. Sam Haggerty (New Mexico) had an RBI double in the eighth for Hyannis and Arden Pabst (Georgia Tech) knocked in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. Ryan Perez (Judson) then pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth. Haggerty led the Harbor Hawks with three hits and two RBI. For Y-D, Andrew Stevenson (LSU) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Rob Fonseca (Northeastern) drove in a run. Phil Bickford (Cal State Fullerton) and Zac Favre (Central Florida) each struck out four in short relief stints before the late Hyannis rally.
Postponements
Games between Falmouth and Cotuit and Bourne and Wareham were washed out.
What to Watch
One more full day of games in the regular season, with one makeup game currently scheduled for Tuesday. Tonight, eyes are on the same teams in the East as Brewster visits Harwich and Chatham visits Orleans.