Will Turner (South Alabama) smashing a pitch in the fifth inning 405 feet to give Brewster an 8-2 lead at Lowell Park. Photo credit: Sadie Parker
By Mark Rappaport
COTUIT—-Will Turner (South Alabama) strode to the plate off the bench, looking to break a 4-1 ballgame open in the top of the fifth with the bases loaded. With one run already scored during the inning and a three-run Brewster lead holding strong, there could not have been a better time to strike.
Turner, the Whitecaps’ everyday center fielder, is known as a defensive wizard, but his bat can be somewhat streaky, which made the move to pinch hit Turner a bit curious. However, nobody was doubting manager Jamie Shevchik’s judgment just a few moments later.
Turner proved his skipper right as he smacked a long blast 405 feet to right-center for his second home run off the season, uproaring Brewster’s dugout in excitement.
After Turner’s grand slam, the Brewster Whitecaps (14-20-2) owned a decisive 8-1 lead in the fifth, a lead that they would not relinquish in their 9-3 rout over the first-place Cotuit Kettleers (23-11-1) at Lowell Park in the first contest after the All-Star Break.
Brewster’s offense played a massive role out west, scoring nine runs off eight hits and a season-high 15 walks surrendered by Cotuit’s pitching staff. However, the pitching staff also shone, led by starter Fisher Jameson (Florida), who recorded his best performance of his season so far.
Jameson pitched five innings and gave up just one run off three hits and no walks. He also recorded a season-high nine strikeouts in his impressive outing Monday evening.
“Felt really good, definitely had a strong performance tonight,” Jameson said. “I’ve been landing my pitches which has been really helpful for me and getting ahead in counts.”
Jameson pitching amidst a strong five inning, nine strikeout performance. Photo credit: Sadie Parker
Shevchik was impressed by Jameson’s performance, as he has been all season long.
“Awesome. That was a dominant start by him today,” Shevchik said. “To scatter three hits over five innings was really damn good.”
After a scoreless frame to begin the ballgame, Brewster took an early lead in the second inning. Jared Jones (LSU) walked to lead off the frame and scored off an Ike Irish (Auburn) RBI double to center. Then, Jaime Ferrer (Florida State) subsequently hit an RBI single of his own, scoring Jones to give Brewster two in the frame.
In the bottom of the frame, Cotuit’s bats were not quiet either, as they scored a run of their own off Brewster righty Fisher Jameson (Florida), but that was all they could muster.
The Whitecaps retaliated in the third and scored another run off Ferrer’s second RBI single of the game to score Josh Pearson (LSU), restoring Brewster’s two-run lead.
After a scoreless fourth, the Whitecaps batted around in the fifth and broke the game open. James Tibbs (Florida State) led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on Jones’ walk. Then, Cotuit southpaw Teddy Brennan (George Washington) threw two wild pitches, allowing Tibbs to score.
With two outs on the scoreboard, Ferrer and Mason White (Arizona) walked, loading the bases for Hunter D’Amato (Fairleigh Dickinson).
However, D’Amato was pinch hit for in favor of Turner, whose grand slam gave Brewster an 8-1 lead.
“I felt really good,” Turner said. “I got lucky enough there that he gave me one over the plate and you know, I squared it up and it went out.”
The score did not change again until the bottom of the seventh when Cotuit got one run back off Brennen Oxford (Florida State). However, that run was canceled out in the next frame.
Brewster added on in the eighth and scored another run. Jones led off the inning with a single, advanced to third off two walks, and eventually scored off White’s sacrifice fly.
Pearson flipping his bat and walking over to first in Cotuit Monday evening. Photo credit: Sadie Parker
However, Cotuit was not ready to wave the white flag in the ninth. Trevor Haskins (Stanford) led off the frame with a long blast to left, giving the Kettleers some life in the final frame. Nevertheless, the Whitecaps prevailed as Luke Lyman (West Virginia) closed out the game.
Brewster’s victory was also significant because they defeated Cotuit, the team with the best record in the league, on the road for the second time this season. However, the opponent does not matter to Shevchik; he is just glad that his team got the win in the playoff hunt.
“Every game is important right now,” Shevchik said. “We’re kind of battling for a playoff spot here so the last thing we want to do is just keep hoping that Chatham loses all the rest of the games, we’re gonna have to play our part in this thing as well.”
Brewster currently sits in fourth place in the East division, just eight points ahead of Chatham and three behind Harwich, ahead of the final eight games of the regular season.
After a win in their final trip out west, Brewster looks to win back-to-back games in a matchup with the Falmouth Commodores back home at Stony Brook Field at 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.