By Maxwell Paul McLaughlin
Brewster, M.A. – The Whitecaps clinched their second consecutive playoff appearance Saturday night with an 8-5 win against the Harwich Mariners.
The defending champions of the Cape Cod Baseball league will be going to playoffs again in 2022 after a stressful week of games.
“I think guys are starting to get their second wind. I’ve heard in the dugout if we are going to be here, we might as well win this thing; a whole new season starts in the playoffs,” Whitecaps Manager Jamie Shevchik said.
Nick Lorusso (Maryland) continued his excellent start with the Whitecaps and got the team started with an RBI double to give the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead.
Lorusso finished the game with three hits and has been an excellent sign by the Whitecaps coaching staff.
The Whitecaps then took a 4-0 lead after Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) had an RBI single and Ryan Lasko (Rutgers) had a sac fly to score a run. Diaz has quickly become one of the best bats for the Whitecaps in recent days.
Kurtis Byrne (TCU), who has had the hottest bat in the league this past week, had an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-0.
The Whitecaps then tacked on three more runs in the game to make it 8-0 in favor of themselves.
Ryan Ure (Oklahoma State) was superb in Saturday’s game for the Whitecaps; the lefty went seven scoreless innings, only allowing four hits and striking out three batters.
“Ure stepped up; you win championships with guys that step up at the end of July and into August,” Shevchik said.
Ryan Packard (Dayton) came in relief, and things got interesting as the Mariners scored five runs in the top of the ninth. Packard got out of the inning and game with a strikeout to help the Whitecaps to victory.
In an Eastern Division rivalry game, the Whitecaps will be at Orleans Sunday at 7 pm on NESN.