An estimated 5,217 people watched Wednesday’s game in the Cape Cod Baseball League championship series. It was the largest crowd in the history of Stony Brook Field, every spare inch of real estate occupied by a beach chair of a blanket. People sat on the ground under the bleachers, peering through the fence. Kids sat on the railing of the stairs to the school building. Every spot on the outfield fence was taken.
It was a beautiful scene, fitting for this summer’s Cape League return after its canceled 2020 season. Fans turned out in droves all summer, soaking up everything they missed. If you bring it back, they will come.
Also, you had a feeling this would be it.
Four years ago, the Brewster Whitecaps played more games than any team in Cape Cod Baseball League history on their way to the championship. Three games in the East Division semis, three more in the East finals, three in the title series.
Not this time.
In a condensed playoff bracket, Brewster swept Harwich in the East Division finals, then did the same against Bourne in the championship series, finishing it off with a wild 10-6 victory on Wednesday. The four straight wins added up to another title for the Whitecaps. Those 5,217 fans had a lot to cheer about.
Brewster was coming off a 2-0 victory in game two of the championship series but found out quickly that game two would require a different route. Never one to go quietly in its historic season, Bourne hit two home runs in the top of the first inning, its first five batters staking the team to a 5-0 lead before an out was recorded.
The first steps on the long road back were delivered by starting pitcher Chris McElvain (Vanderbilt), who retired three batters in a row after the second home run. He continued to settle in remarkably well, following up the bad first inning with four scoreless frames. He got out of trouble in the second by getting three straight outs with runners on first and second. In the fourth, Bourne had first and third with two ours and McElvain struck out Dalton Rushing – one of the home run hitters from the first inning – to end the threat. Brewster couldn’t have turned the game around without him.
The comeback began quickly as Brewster scored two runs in the home half of the first inning. Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) led off with a single, and Zach Neto (Campbell) cranked a two-run homer to the trees beyond the left-field fence. Neto has been one of the poster boys for Brewster’s playoff run. He went home in mid-July with an injury. When it healed, he made the almost unheard-of decision to come back. The move says a lot about Neto and his team. If guys are flying back from Florida just for the playoffs, your team has a real good vibe.
Brewster continued to chip away. Jake Thompson (Oklahoma State) had an RBI double in the third inning and Chad Castillo (California Baptist) scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth to make it 5-4. After a leadoff walk in the fifth, Castillo singled home the tying run and Kurtis Byrne (TCU) drove in the go-ahead run with a double.
Bourne came back against the Brewster bullpen in the sixth. Colby Thomas (Mercer) led off with a triple and Peter Burns (Boston College) followed with a perfect squeeze bunt to plate the tying run. The Braves threatened for more in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t break through against Brendan Girton (Texas Tech) and Brennen Oxford (Wake Forest).
With one swing of the bat, Brewster got the lead back in the bottom of the seventh. Tony Bullard (Arizona) smashed the first pitch he saw for a home run and the 7-6 lead. The Whitecaps didn’t stop there. Castillo doubled and later came around on a wild pitch. Jones poked a double over third base to score two more runs, making it 10-6.
Oxford got through the eighth, allowing a double to Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech) but nothing else against the dangerous top of Bourne’s lineup.
Closer Dale Stanavich (Rutgers) had pitched the night before, so Brewster turned to Teddy McGraw (Wake Forest), who had started and pitched well in the Harwich series. Clearly pitching with some adrenaline, McGraw got two quick outs. With the crowd on its feet, McGraw finished off the game and the championship with a strikeout.
The Whitecaps raced onto the field for a dog pile. They donned championship shirts and hats. Castillo was presented with the Playoff MVP award after hitting .400 in the playoffs.
While the trophy was presented, the Braves gathered in right field for one last team huddle. It was an amazing summer in Bourne. The team’s historic start will always have a place in Cape League annals. They lost only nine games in the regular season and delivered a memorable performance to beat Cotuit in the West Division finals.
As the season went on, it became clear that Bourne wasn’t alone in being head and shoulders above the rest. The Cape League’s return was blessed with two great teams. Brewster went 22-11-3 in the regular season.
And when the playoffs came, the Whitecaps just kept winning.
Nobody wanted to miss it.
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