Baseball Wins First Game Of Season Against Rising Tide

Photography by David Creed

It took longer than they had hoped, but the Whaler baseball team was able to earn their first win of the season on Friday against the Rising Tide Herons 10-4 behind the pitching efforts of junior Colin Lynch (four innings) and senior captain Riley Williams, who was lights out for Nantucket through the final three innings.

“It was great to see Colin get himself out of a couple of tricky spots and he was pretty tough for four innings,” head coach Jack Pearson said. “Then it was just great to see Riley come back and blow them away.”

Offense hasn’t been an issue for this team so far this season. Up and down the lineup, the Whalers have players who can contribute and help drive in runs. Senior second baseman Garner Ray has played a big part in that and went 4-for-4 in the leadoff spot while picking up several stolen bases.

After the game, Ray couldn’t focus on himself and talked about the thrill of being able to substitute that zero in the win column with a one. He said it was a team effort.

“It took us a couple games to get that first win but we’ve gotten better every game,” Ray said. “We’ve needed to play better defense and our pitchers Colin and Riley had outstanding games. The field had their back and we got the job done on defense.”

Ray agrees that his team has been able to get off to a hot start offensively and hopes to see that continue.

“Offensively we have been hitting the ball consistently well and we showed that to the home crowd today,” Ray said. “Our base running was unmatched to our previous games and with that added pressure on the bases, the opposing pitchers were stressed on the mound for sure.”

The Whalers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead to begin the game but gave it right back in the top of the second after the Herons scored two runs of their own. It was in the third inning where Nantucket built some breathing room, with most of the damage being done by the bottom part of their lineup.

“Fabian (Martiniez) had a two-RBI single there and James Mack has been tough to get out lately,” Pearson said. “We love getting those guys going.”

Pearson went back to Ray and talked about how his presence not just in the lineup, but at practice and around the team makes a significant difference.

“It all starts with he is just a great kid,” Pearson said. “I would want him on every team I coach if I could. He knows how to get on base, has good wheels, he stole second four times in this game. He is a weapon.”

Pearson said the goal was to get to the fifth inning with a lead so Nantucket could hand the ball to their ace. Williams came in and gave the Herons almost nothing good to swing at.

“We wanted to get those final six or nine outs we were looking for at the end there while still managing his pitchers,” Pearson said. “We were able to do just that in this one. It was a great effort.”

Nantucket went Martha’s Vineyard for an away matchup on Saturday, but lost 12-2. The Whalers were only able to generate one hit against a very good Vineyard pitcher, Pearson said, and 10 walks allowed by Whaler pitching didn’t help.

“We let too many walks beat us and yeah their pitcher was very strong,” Pearson said. “He put it wherever he wanted to. You just can’t walk 10 batters and expect to win. That just started to unravel and I think it just got away from us. But we are home for three games this week and these are all winnable games. But we need to play smarter, pitch better, and continue to play overall sound baseball.”

The Whalers will have a couple days of practice to work on some of the issues mentioned by Pearson before the Sturgis West Navigators come to the island on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. game.