Brewster Whitecaps

Organized baseball in the town of Brewster dates to the late 1800s. In 1886, the Brewster town team defeated the "Yarmouth Grays", 11–9, in a July 3 contest that featured a rare triple play turned by Brewster.[1] The Brewster squad, reportedly bolstered by collegiate talent, had earlier swept a home-and-home series against Harwich.[2]

In the 1910s, the Brewster chapter of the Improved Order of Red Men sponsored a baseball team known as the "Red Tops", a club that was "an aggregation of young college men."[3] The Red Tops played a series of three games against their counterparts from East Dennis in 1911 that attracted large crowds.[4][5][6] In 1915 and 1916, the Red Tops were captained by Dartmouth College's Albert F. Rice,[7][3] and the team's annual contest against the Brewster town team was a main attraction at the Brewster Grange fair.[8][9]

In 1923, the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and initially included four teams: Falmouth, Chatham, Osterville, and Hyannis.[10] This early Cape League operated through the 1939 season and disbanded in 1940, due in large part to the difficulty of securing ongoing funding during the Great Depression.[11][12]

During this period, teams from various towns moved in and out of the league each season. The Brewster Athletic Association was formed in 1932,[13][14] but did not enter a team in the Cape League during this era. In 1933, the Brewster A.A. joined the newly-formed Lower Cape Twilight League under manager Howard Dunnells.[15][16] Tragedy touched the Brewster team twice early on, as manager Dunnells died suddenly after the 1933 season,[17] and early in the 1934 season umpire John Demotte, stepson of novelist Charles Neville Buck, was killed by a foul ball during a game between Brewster and Orleans at Eldredge Park.[18]

The Cape League was revived after World War II, and was originally composed of 11 teams across Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions.[19] Brewster began play in the Cape League in 1948, entering the Lower Cape Division as its sixth team, along with Orleans, Chatham, Harwich, Yarmouth, and Dennis.[20]

After the 1951 season, Brewster withdrew from the league, but was back in 1956, and remained in the league through the 1960 season.[21] In 1958, undefeated world heavyweight champion and Brockton, Massachusetts native Rocky Marciano was in the stands to cheer on his younger brother Pete, who played catcher for Brewster.[22][23]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Brewster did not field a team in the Cape League. In 1988, the league added Brewster and Bourne as expansion teams, bringing the number of teams in the league to its current ten. The Brewster entry was dubbed the "Whitecaps", a moniker suggested by Brewster native William Turkington and inspired by "the wind marching the waves steadily across Cape Cod Bay."[24]

Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial helped raise funds for the fledgling Whitecaps in 1988.

Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial came to town in early 1988 to help raise funds for the new franchise,[25][26] and Brewster's Ocean Edge Resort brought Boston Celtics star and NBA Hall of Famer Kevin McHale to toss a ceremonial first pitch in July.[27] The Whitecaps played their home games at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, just over the border in Harwich. The use of Cape Cod Tech was intended to be temporary, but continued through 2005.

The 1988 Whitecaps team was led by skipper Joe Walsh, and featured future major leaguers Mike Myers and F.P. Santangelo. The undisputed star of the team was slugging first baseman Dave Staton. Staton ushered in the Whitecaps era with an opening-day performance marked by two home runs and six RBI. In a season when the CCBL featured a glut of future major league talent, including sluggers such as Frank Thomas and Mo Vaughn,[28] Staton led all with 16 homers and 46 RBI, and was named league MVP. He posted a .772 slugging percentage, and missed capturing the league's triple crown by just two points, his .359 average falling just shy of Chuck Knoblauch's .361 mark. Staton was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2004.[29]

After posting a respectable 17–25 record in its inaugural season, Brewster qualified for the post-season in only its second year. The 1989 team was piloted by Rolando Casanova, and finished the regular season tied with Chatham for second place in the East Division. Brewster overcame the A's in a single-game play-in contest,[30] but went on to fall to first place Y-D in the semi-final series, two games to none.[31]

Boston World Series hero David Ross was a Whitecap in 1996.

Brewster's 1992 team starred pitcher Billy Wagner, who fanned 79 batters in 44.1 innings of work, and was named the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect. Whitecap players took home hardware as East Division MVP's of the CCBL All-Star Game in three consecutive seasons, as Will Scalzitti claimed the honors in 1991, Wagner in 1992,[32] and Geoff Blum in 1993.

Manager Bill Mosiello's 1994 Whitecaps squad starred CCBL Hall of Famer Sean Casey, who hit .338 with 40 RBI, and led all first basemen with a .993 fielding percentage. Casey finished the season with an 11-game hitting streak during which he maintained a torrid .488 pace at the plate.[33] The team reached the playoffs and disposed of Orleans two games to one in the semi-finals to give the Whitecaps their first berth in the CCBL title series, where they were eventually downed by Wareham in two straight games.[34]

Mosiello's club finished in first place in the East Division in 1996 and 1998, but were bounced in the semi-finals both seasons by Chatham.[35] The 1996 team featured league Outstanding Relief Pitcher Drew Fischer, who posted 13 saves on the season, and David Ross, who would become a fan favorite of the hometown Boston Red Sox and play a key role in Boston's 2013 World Series title. The 1998 Whitecaps featured future major league all-star Chase Utley and CCBL Hall of Famer Bobby Kielty. Kielty was tops in the league with a .384 average, clubbing six home runs with 45 RBI and was named the league MVP.[36]

Brewster began the 2000s in dramatic fashion by claiming its first league championship. Led by manager Dave Lawn, the 2000 Whitecaps went 28–16 in the regular season, finishing atop the East Division. Pitching coach Pat Shine took over managerial duties when Lawn left with a week remaining in the regular season to take a coaching job at USC. The Whitecaps were led by league batting champ Steve Stanley (.329) and the league's Outstanding Relief Pitcher, Dan Rich. In the playoffs, Brewster defeated Chatham two games to one to advance to the championship series.[37]

Stony Brook Field, home of the Whitecaps since 2006

Facing Hyannis for the title, the Whitecaps relied on a mixture of pitching and small ball. In Game 1 at Cape Tech, Whitecap lefty hurler Ryan Olson kept the Mets at bay through eight innings, allowing only five hits. Brewster capitalized on a pair of walks in the seventh to score the game's only two runs.[38] Behind the solid work of starter Mike Wodnicki in Game 2, Brewster combined a mix of bunts, walks and stolen bases to build an early 5–0 lead on a drizzly day in Hyannis. The Whitecaps held on to a 6–2 victory to complete the series sweep and take home the title. Playoff MVP honors went to Brewster's Jack Headley, who made a key catch in the field to preserve the Game 1 victory, and went 5-for-18 at the plate in the title series.[39][40]

In 2002, the Whitecaps featured exciting San Diego State University centerfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., son of Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Skipper Bob Macaluso took the Whitecaps' helm in 2003 and guided the club to the playoffs in three of his six years at the post. Macaluso's 2003 club finished in first place in the East Division and featured league Outstanding Relief Pitcher Jarrett Santos and CCBL Hall of Famer J.C. Holt. Holt recorded a 21-game hitting streak during the season, and went on to wear the league batting crown with a .388 mark.[41]

The Whitecaps boasted the league's batting champ for a second consecutive season in 2004 when Ryan Patterson hit at a .327 clip. The 2004 team also included future major league all-star Ryan Braun, as well as the CCBL's Outstanding Pitcher Matt Goyen, who posted a 5–2 mark with a 1.25 ERA and 80 strikeouts, including an 18-strikeout game at Orleans.[42]

The Whitecaps came home to Brewster in 2006, as a grant from the Yawkey Foundation and matching funds from the team allowed for the construction of a field behind Stony Brook Elementary School.[43][44] The 2006 team featured CCBL Hall of Famer Shaun Seibert, who posted a 6–0 record with a microscopic 0.39 ERA and was co-recipient of the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award.[45][46][47]

Slugger Aaron Judge played for the Whitecaps in 2012.

Brewster qualified for the postseason in six of ten years in the 2010s. The 2012 Whitecaps featured future major league all-stars Jeff McNeil and Aaron Judge. Judge, a towering 6-foot-7 slugger, clouted 5 homers and batted .270 for Brewster.[48] In 2014, Whitecap Wade Wass set CCBL single game records by crushing two grand slams and driving in nine runs against Wareham in a game nationally telecast by Fox College Sports.[49]

Manager Jamie Shevchik joined the Whitecaps in 2015, and led the club to a second-place finish and playoff berth in his first campaign. The 2015 team featured league Outstanding Relief Pitcher Thomas Hackimer and all-star third baseman Nick Senzel, who hit .364 and took home both the league MVP and Outstanding Pro Prospect awards.[50]

In 2017, Brewster finished the regular season 21–21–2 and faced three-time defending champion Yarmouth-Dennis in the first round of the playoffs. The Whitecaps upset the Red Sox with an 8–7, extra inning, Game 3 win on the road. With the victory, Brewster claimed its first postseason series since 2000, and advanced to the East Division championship against top-seeded Orleans. The Whitecaps again pulled off the upset in dramatic fashion on the road in game three, this time relying on late signee Conor McNamara from Marist College to pitch seven innings before a go-ahead 8th inning home run by Marty Costes from the University of Maryland gave Brewster a 2–1 win.

In the championship series, Brewster faced Bourne in a matchup of the 1988 expansion clubs. The Whitecaps won Game 1 at home on a walk-off hit-by-pitch in the tenth, then fell to Bourne on the road in Game 2, 13–7, to set up a decisive game three. Whitecaps starter Will Tribucher twirled six and two-thirds shutout innings, and Hunter Bishop delivered the decisive blow, hammering his third home run of the playoffs to put Brewster up 2–0 in the sixth. The score was preserved by a diving catch on the warning track by Costes with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh, and Brewster hung on to win by the 2–0 tally to secure its second league championship.[51][52][53] Bishop shared playoff MVP honors with Nick Dunn, who batted .500 in the championship series.[54]

The Whitecaps' stars shone brighter than all at the 2019 CCBL All-Star Game. Prior to the game, Brewster third baseman Tyler Hardman slugged his way to victory in the home run derby. Brewster's Brett Auerbach and Gage Workman were named game co-MVPs for the East Division, with Auerbach delivering the ninth-inning walk-off RBI single to win the game for the East, 6–5.[55]

The 2020 CCBL season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[56]