News And Notes From Around The Cape League

Any Brewster Whitecap can step into the batter’s box this summer knowing that if they just do their job, a sweet treat awaits.

The team has begun a ritual wherein hitters, upon reaching base safely, are fed a blue Sour Patch Kid by first base coach Darren Hagan. It doesn’t matter if it’s a walk, hit-by-pitch, single, double, triple or home run, Hagan will get the player their candy. The routine, first suggested by a player, acts as a little motivation to get on base, Hagan said.

Suffice it to say, Hagan doled out several Sour Patch Kids to several Whitecaps last Friday when Brewster beat the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox 10-5 to reclaim first place in the East Division. The Whitecaps had eight hits and six walks in the seven-inning win. 

“It works, so we’ll keep doing it for sure,” Hagan said.

The Cape League All-Star Game is Saturday, July 19, at the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox’s Red Wilson Field. Twenty-three players from Brewster, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans were named All-Stars. They are Dalton Wentz, Carson Kerce, Brendan Lawson, Lance Davis and Kyle Kipp for Brewster; Jackson Freeman, Ashton Larson, Daniel Jackson and Josh Swink for Chatham; Dee Kennedy, Tre Broussard, Kyle Wolff, Tanner Marsh, Maddox Molony, Aiden Robbins and Christian Rodriguez for Harwich; and Cashel Dugger, Elijah Ickes, Robbie Lavey, Anthony Potestio, Ethan Foley, Cole Tryba and Steele Murdock for Orleans. 

Dugger, Wentz, Ickes, Kennedy, Lavey, Broussard, Freeman and Larson are starters for the East. Lawson and Carson Tinney from Brewster and Jackson from Chatham will participate in the Home Run Contest in addition to three other players.

In other notes from around the league, Smokey Bear threw out the first pitch prior to the Whitecaps-Red Sox game last week. He bounced the throw, a forgivable offense for a character that turned 80 years old last August. 

Meanwhile, Boston Celtics point guard and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award-winner Payton Pritchard was scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the Mariners game Tuesday evening (after press time). Pritchard’s wife, Emma, attended Nauset Regional High School, and the two married in Harwich last summer. 

Orleans won three straight last weekend, taking down Hyannis, Chatham and Brewster in succession. A couple of days before that win streak, Firebirds pitcher Sebastian Gonzalez sang the national anthem at Eldredge Park before a game against the Wareham Gatemen, then proceeded to throw three innings in the 10-2 loss.

The Firebirds’ 5-2 win against Chatham last Saturday was called after five innings due to fog at Veterans Field. It was the second “fogout” in Chatham this year, though the first experienced by some Anglers who joined the team mid-summer, like Cade Arrambide.

“This is crazy,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

During the MLB Draft last Sunday, the Boston Red Sox selected former Chatham Angler right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon (Oklahoma) in the first round and former Harwich Mariner infielder Henry Godbout (Virginia) in the third round. Former Anglers shortstop Aiva Arquette (Oregon State) was the highest-picked alum of the Lower Cape teams, selected seventh overall by the Miami Marlins.