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Chatham clinches postseason berth with 9-0 7-inning win over Brewster
BREWSTER, Mass. — It’s just summer ball, isn’t it?
Dennis Cook doesn’t like to get all bogged down with the day-by-day of the Cape Cod Baseball League season, because the results aren’t the end-all be-all in the Cape. College coaches send their players to Chatham to get better, and his role as its manager is to make them better, so he cares more about the effort and progression of his players than he does their record. Wins or losses are beyond him. His players’ improvement is not.
That’s why, with Cook away attending his son’s wedding, A’s acting manager Jay Powell said that, obviously, “summer ball is a little different with the way that you approach things.”
“I'm trying to kind of run it like he would run it,” Powell said.
But Powell also tells the A’s, “If there’s a scoreboard on, we’re trying to win the game.” The scoreboard was, in fact, on at Stony Brook Field Friday afternoon. And if the A’s heeded Powell’s advice, and won, they could book themselves a ticket to the CCBL playoffs.
Cook, as previously mentioned, wasn’t there to witness it. But if he had been, it’s hard to think he wouldn’t have been proud of the effort — and result — they put up. Chatham (16-17-3, East) in the first game of a two-game Friday doubleheader, shellacked Brewster (24-10-3, East) 9-0 in a seven-inning contest, riding a six-run fourth inning to victory. The win clinched Chatham’s first postseason appearance since 2024.
“The guys who’ve been here all year, they take a little pride in making the playoffs,” Powell said postgame. “It's good for Chatham, for us, to get back in it.”
The Anglers looked determined to get ahead from the outset. Bino Watters (LSU) reached on a one-out walk, and Armani Guzman (West Virginia) lined a single into left to move him to second.
Brewster starter Gaines Estridge (Air Force) couldn’t get the next hitter out either, or the one after that. Jack Bell (Texas A&M) smacked a soft liner into center to drive in Watters, and Ty Peeples (Florida State) kept the rally going by reaching on an error to load the bases.
Chatham’s streak of five consecutive baserunners came to an end after that, when Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State) drove a sacrifice fly into center. Tryston McCladdie (Clemson), Brewster’s center fielder, delivered a solid throw to the plate, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the A’s from scoring their second run.
Guzman — now owner of 14 stolen bases in 16 games — was just too fast.
“(Guzman brings) a lot of energy,” Powell said. “I'm so glad he came back after the draft.”
When the inning ended, Chatham righty Wyatt Nadeau (Vanderbilt) began his first start of the summer with a 2-0 lead, and he preserved it with little issue in the bottom of the first. McCladdie led off for Brewster, driving a hard-hit liner to right, but Jamie Palmese (Kansas) snagged it.
When Will Baker (Georgia Tech) dropped a single in front of Watters for the Whitecaps’ first hit of the day, Nadeau responded by inducing a double play from Dylan Schlotterback (Kansas). And the second inning was even easier for the righty, as he struck out two Whitecaps looking and got a groundout to ensure that Chatham’s two-run advantage remained intact.
The third inning was a little dicier for Nadeau, who gave up two infield singles to Brewster to put runners on first and second with one out. But those hits were followed by a hard-hit flyout and a hard-hit lineout to Watters, ending the frame without a Brewster run.
“He's been really good, and he's asked us about starting,” Powell said of Nadeau. “I really like him at the back end of the game, but he's so talented.”
Estridge couldn’t be so lucky in his fourth inning of work. Hovater and Pruitt began the frame with singles, and Tyler Howe (North Carolina) loaded the bases with a picturesque bunt down the third-base line.
Jacob Driver (Meridian CC) pushed home another run with a groundout to third, and Estridge’s wild pitch allowed Pruitt to scamper home untouched. Palmese even added to the party as well, dropping a single over the second baseman’s head to score Howe.
Suddenly, just about halfway through this seven-inning contest, Chatham was up 5-0. Guzman singled in another run, making it a 6-0 game for the A’s. Then Watters stole home on a double steal, scoring a fifth fourth-inning run. And, in case there was any doubt left as to the outcome of this contest, Bell effectively sealed it with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.
Kaysen Raineri (Texas Tech), who had previously featured in Chatham’s rotation, came out of the bullpen in the fourth to close out the win. He didn’t allow a hit in the fourth or the fifth, striking out three Whitecaps in that span.
“Kaysen is a kid, too, he'll do anything else, and he never complains,” Powell said.
The A’s offense rewarded him with a ninth run in the sixth. But it’s not like they needed it. The Anglers have been a buzzsaw for the past week, running through Yarmouth-Dennis, Orleans, Harwich and Wareham on a collision course with the CCBL postseason.
Brewster was simply their latest victim.
Dennis Cook doesn’t like to get all bogged down with the day-by-day of the Cape Cod Baseball League season, because the results aren’t the end-all be-all in the Cape. College coaches send their players to Chatham to get better, and his role as its manager is to make them better, so he cares more about the effort and progression of his players than he does their record. Wins or losses are beyond him. His players’ improvement is not.
That’s why, with Cook away attending his son’s wedding, A’s acting manager Jay Powell said that, obviously, “summer ball is a little different with the way that you approach things.”
“I'm trying to kind of run it like he would run it,” Powell said.
But Powell also tells the A’s, “If there’s a scoreboard on, we’re trying to win the game.” The scoreboard was, in fact, on at Stony Brook Field Friday afternoon. And if the A’s heeded Powell’s advice, and won, they could book themselves a ticket to the CCBL playoffs.
Cook, as previously mentioned, wasn’t there to witness it. But if he had been, it’s hard to think he wouldn’t have been proud of the effort — and result — they put up. Chatham (16-17-3, East) in the first game of a two-game Friday doubleheader, shellacked Brewster (24-10-3, East) 9-0 in a seven-inning contest, riding a six-run fourth inning to victory. The win clinched Chatham’s first postseason appearance since 2024.
“The guys who’ve been here all year, they take a little pride in making the playoffs,” Powell said postgame. “It's good for Chatham, for us, to get back in it.”
The Anglers looked determined to get ahead from the outset. Bino Watters (LSU) reached on a one-out walk, and Armani Guzman (West Virginia) lined a single into left to move him to second.
Brewster starter Gaines Estridge (Air Force) couldn’t get the next hitter out either, or the one after that. Jack Bell (Texas A&M) smacked a soft liner into center to drive in Watters, and Ty Peeples (Florida State) kept the rally going by reaching on an error to load the bases.
Chatham’s streak of five consecutive baserunners came to an end after that, when Harlin Hovater (Mississippi State) drove a sacrifice fly into center. Tryston McCladdie (Clemson), Brewster’s center fielder, delivered a solid throw to the plate, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the A’s from scoring their second run.
Guzman — now owner of 14 stolen bases in 16 games — was just too fast.
“(Guzman brings) a lot of energy,” Powell said. “I'm so glad he came back after the draft.”
When the inning ended, Chatham righty Wyatt Nadeau (Vanderbilt) began his first start of the summer with a 2-0 lead, and he preserved it with little issue in the bottom of the first. McCladdie led off for Brewster, driving a hard-hit liner to right, but Jamie Palmese (Kansas) snagged it.
When Will Baker (Georgia Tech) dropped a single in front of Watters for the Whitecaps’ first hit of the day, Nadeau responded by inducing a double play from Dylan Schlotterback (Kansas). And the second inning was even easier for the righty, as he struck out two Whitecaps looking and got a groundout to ensure that Chatham’s two-run advantage remained intact.
The third inning was a little dicier for Nadeau, who gave up two infield singles to Brewster to put runners on first and second with one out. But those hits were followed by a hard-hit flyout and a hard-hit lineout to Watters, ending the frame without a Brewster run.
“He's been really good, and he's asked us about starting,” Powell said of Nadeau. “I really like him at the back end of the game, but he's so talented.”
Estridge couldn’t be so lucky in his fourth inning of work. Hovater and Pruitt began the frame with singles, and Tyler Howe (North Carolina) loaded the bases with a picturesque bunt down the third-base line.
Jacob Driver (Meridian CC) pushed home another run with a groundout to third, and Estridge’s wild pitch allowed Pruitt to scamper home untouched. Palmese even added to the party as well, dropping a single over the second baseman’s head to score Howe.
Suddenly, just about halfway through this seven-inning contest, Chatham was up 5-0. Guzman singled in another run, making it a 6-0 game for the A’s. Then Watters stole home on a double steal, scoring a fifth fourth-inning run. And, in case there was any doubt left as to the outcome of this contest, Bell effectively sealed it with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.
Kaysen Raineri (Texas Tech), who had previously featured in Chatham’s rotation, came out of the bullpen in the fourth to close out the win. He didn’t allow a hit in the fourth or the fifth, striking out three Whitecaps in that span.
“Kaysen is a kid, too, he'll do anything else, and he never complains,” Powell said.
The A’s offense rewarded him with a ninth run in the sixth. But it’s not like they needed it. The Anglers have been a buzzsaw for the past week, running through Yarmouth-Dennis, Orleans, Harwich and Wareham on a collision course with the CCBL postseason.
Brewster was simply their latest victim.
