Current Athlete Of The Month: Shea Dwyer
David Creed and Kit Noble •
Director of Photography: Kit Noble
The 2023-2024 high school sports year has come and gone. The year came to an exciting end following the boys lacrosse team’s first state championship in program history and the first state title for a Nantucket sports team since 2011.
But now, all eyes will shift to the 2024-2025 school year. A talented senior class graduated last week – leaving several programs preparing for retools in the year ahead. But there are teams that appear poised to elevate their level of play thanks to strong freshman and sophomore classes that will become sophomores and juniors next year.
One of the those programs with plenty of potential is the baseball team. After winning just one game last spring, they won five this spring with a core made up of predominantly underclassmen. But one player on the Whalers who will not return next year after graduating on June 14 is Shea Dwyer, who served as Nantucket’s ace on the mound and first baseman this spring while occupying a spot in the heart of the Whaler lineup.
Dwyer was one of just three seniors on the team and served as their team captain. While his performances on the mound, at the plate, and in the field helped the Whalers play more competitive baseball this spring, his leadership and dedication to the program has this young Whaler core ready to take this team to the next level.
“Shea was a great captain,” freshman catcher Eli MacIver said. “Every practice he always pushed people to be the best they could be. For my first year of high school baseball, I really looked up to Shea and always saw him as a great leader who always saw great potential in the team from the beginning of the season. Overall, Shea was a great captain to have and a great person to have on the team.”
The example set by Dwyer, as well as his strong play on the field, made him an easy choice to be this month’s Current Athlete of the Month and the final selection before heading into the summer.
Dwyer’s head coach, Jack Pearson, spoke about the many positive traits Dwyer brought to the team following the Whaler’s final game of the season late last month.
“Most importantly though is his ability to be a leader within the group,” Pearson said. “We have a particularly young group and I think in a situation like that it can go one of two ways. You can have poor leadership and young kids are going to follow or you can have somebody who does the things the right way without making it about him and setting a good example and that is exactly what Shea did. He advocated for his teammates when it was required. An outstanding job by him.”
“I wish every coach could have a captain with the kind of character that Shea has, and I am going to miss him immensely,” he continued.
The Nantucket Current runs a series where we highlight an athlete on the island once per month – sometimes under unique circumstances, we will feature more than one.
This player doesn’t always need to be the superstar or flashy athlete. It can be someone whose greatest contributions come when no one else is looking or be someone whose impact is substantial during the game but wildly under-appreciated by the common spectator.
If anyone has nominations they'd like to make moving forward – including for July – please email your suggestion to davidcreed@n-magazine.com
