By: Finn Riley
Chatham, M.A. 一 In Brian Fitzpatrick’s final start, the Whitecaps came out on top against the Chatham Anglers by a score of 9-6.
The Caps were firing on all cylinders today, with the offense recording nine runs on 16 hits to go with a dominant starting pitching performance.
Brian Fitzpatrick (Rutgers) made the most of his last start in a Whitecaps uniform, totaling six strikeouts through five shutout innings.
“It was my first start in two summers on Cape Cod that I was on the road […] great venue, probably one of the nicest venues I think I’ve ever played in, let alone just the Cape so it was really cool to go out and do well,” Fitzpatrick said.
Last year, Fitzpatrick was an integral part of the Whitecaps 2021 Championship team, and returned this summer to dominate the Cape League, allowing zero runs in 19 innings of work.
Fitzpatrick will be leaving the Cape and will look to be selected in the 2022 MLB Draft, which is coming up on July 15th.
“It’s bittersweet, it’s good to do well for the team, but I’m definitely going to miss this place and it definitely has a special place in my heart. Brewster’s home and I’ll definitely be back,” Fitzpatrick said.
The raspy voice, the whistling, and the overall cheerfulness of Brian Fitzpatrick will certainly be missed among Whitecaps fans and players.
Fitzpatrick’s catcher, Kurtis Byrne (TCU), who is also a returner from the 2021 team, held high regards for his teammate.
“That guy’s my battery mate […] the past two years have been unbelievable, the friendship that we have and how much he’s meant to me and my career, and just how awesome of a human being that guy is. […] He’s done a phenomenal job the past two years and put himself in a really great spot for the draft coming up, but that guy will probably go down as my favorite guy to catch, ever.”
Byrne had quite the performance himself, going three-for-five with two doubles and four runs batted in.
“Today I just really tried to shorten up, I had a better emphasis on that in batting practice […] just trying to stay as short as possible and I’m trying to stay as consistent as possible,” Byrne said
The Caps received offensive production from eight of the nine hitters in the lineup, with Javier Vaz (Vanderbilt) and Carson DeMartini (Virginia Tech) each collecting three hits of their own.
The Brewster bullpen ran into some trouble in both the sixth and eighth innings, but were able to recover thanks to Ryan Chasse (Campbell) throwing a scoreless seventh and Colton Sundloff (Oklahoma) shutting the door in the ninth.
On Friday, the Whitecaps head back to Stony Brook Field to take on the Anglers for the second half of their home-and-home series, with the first pitch at 5:00 pm.