Patrick Forbes (Louisville) giving a thumbs up to his teammates in the dugout after a double to leadoff the fifth inning at Doran Park. Photo credit: Sadie Parker
By Mark Rappaport
BOURNE––In the second week of the season, Brewster was amidst a four-game losing streak and came into a matchup with the Braves looking to snap that streak. On June 24, Doran Park proved to be a fresh change in scenery as the Whitecaps ended their losing streak in a 9-5 come-from-behind win.
Tonight, Brewster came into their matchup with Bourne on a high note, having won four of their previous five games, led by a red-hot offense.
This time, however, the Brewster Whitecaps (13-19-2) were not as fortunate as they fell 10-2 to the Bourne Braves (17-15-1) out west at Doran Park.
Brewster’s fate was set early as Clark Candiotti (Arizona) struggled in his Cape League debut for the Whitecaps. Bourne capitalized early and scored one run in the first and four more in the second, headlined by six singles in the latter.
“Tough start for us, you know, kind of giving up five early, tough to kind of get back into that one, but ultimately onto the next,” pitching coach Brian Del Rosso said.
Brendan Lysik (Texas Tech) replaced Candiotti in the third, shut down Bourne’s offense in three scoreless innings and kept Brewster in the ballgame.
However, Brewster’s offense was not completely quiet Thursday evening, thanks to two-way talent Patrick Forbes (Louisville).
In his first game starting as a position player in three weeks, Forbes came to the plate looking to put Brewster on the scoreboard. On his first pitch in the second inning, Forbes blasted a ball 338 feet, just beyond Doran Park’s left-field fence, to tie the ballgame before Bourne put up four in the bottom of the frame.
The score remained the same until the fifth when Forbes, who went 2-for-3 on the night, led off the inning with a double, and Josh Pearson (LSU) singled him home, cutting Bourne’s lead to just 5-2.
Then, the Braves’ floodgates opened in the sixth. They blew the game open in the frame, recording five hits to score three runs on Lysik.
When all was said and done, Lysik finished the outing with four innings pitched and gave up three runs, all earned.
Del Rosso was impressed by what he saw from the southpaw Thursday evening, despite his difficult sixth inning.
“[Lysik] threw the ball pretty well today,” Del Rosso said. “Gave us a little bit of length…It was a good outing for him and certainly something to build off of.
However, the Braves were not done on the offensive side. After a scoreless seventh, Derek Bender (Coastal Carolina) extended Bourne’s lead off a no-doubt blast deep in left field, extending Bourne’s lead to 10-2.
Bourne’s Dalton Pence (North Carolina) stymied Brewster’s offense in his five innings of work on the mound. Pence gave up two runs on five hits and two walks, alongside eight strong punchouts, and was the pitcher on the long side, receiving the win in Thursday’s contest.
Bourne’s bullpen relieved Pence and proceeded to not give up a run as Matthew McShane (St. Joseph’s), Brady Afthim (Connecticut) and Jack Sullivan (Connecticut) combined for four scoreless innings to close the game out.
The Whitecaps offense reverted to their early season struggles as they were only able to muster two runs on nine hits, after 22 runs in the two previous games. Brewster left nine runners on base and were punched out 13 times on the night.
Furthermore, Brewster’s pitching staff gave up 16 hits, which did not help either. West division matchups have not been kind to Brewster, though fortunately for them, this was their last trip west of Cotuit.
After a difficult night, the Whitecaps look to return to the win column back home in a matchup with the first-place Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox Friday evening in the final game before the All-Star break. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Stony Brook Field.