Experienced Whaler Baseball Team Eager To Build Off Last Season

Experience was something Nantucket’s baseball team lacked last season, with just one senior on the roster in Orion Daily. Even the juniors brought little experience to the table after a lost 2020 season due to COVID-19.

But this year experience is what second-year head coach Jack Pearson believes could be the catalyst for a successful 2022 season, with seven seniors on the roster including star pitcher Riley Williams.

“This group of seven seniors has been playing together for a long time,” said Pearson, who is entering his second season as head coach. “I think this season is a little more special because this is the group I started out coaching when I was the middle school coach. It is an amazing group of kids who are competitive and invested in our team. I could see this being a great season.”

Williams, who committed to Mercy College’s Div. II Baseball Program in November, will be the Whaler’s ace.

Williams is a player who can change the game both on the mound and at the plate, but will have big shoes to fill with Daily no longer on the team and pitching at Fitchburg State University.

“I looking forward to a big offensive year for Riley,” Pearson said. “The pressure is off now that he has committed to school. On the mound he has all the stuff to be just as good if not have an even better season than Orion, who was fantastic for us last year. With Riley’s commitment out of the way he can just go out and do what he loves most, which is dominant.”

Junior Colin Lynch will be another key arm for the Whaler’s rotation, who will also be asked to provide a consistent bat in the lineup. Senior Fabian Acosta Martinez will pitch and play outfield when needed. Eric Acosta, Leonel Almonte, and Jacob Santikulanot will also be relied upon to eat up some innings for the Whalers.

Pearson said that his message to the team has been to find their offense early on in the season.

“We need to be offensively focused,” Pearson said. “We have to continue finding ways to increase our offensive production right off the bat to begin the season. I think we can expect our offense to see a bump from last year with guys coming back one year more experienced and a little bit bigger and stronger.”

It also doesn’t hurt that the Whalers will have seniors Garner Ray and James Mack available this season after both missed last year with injuries. Pearson said he is excited to see these guys in action.

“Garner is a really tough out and he is a really good base runner,” Pearson said. “He is someone we can rely on in the field. It will be nice to have James back in our outfield too and having his presence.”

The Whalers have a strong nucleus of seniors, but also some juniors who are coming off strong sophomore seasons. Outfielder Gillis Cocker and catcher Argelis Nunez both grew substantially last year and will once again be asked to play important roles for Nantucket.

Cocker was versatile, shifting to center where he was a reliable fielder and found ways to get on base where he was an aggressive, smart baserunner. Nunez showed plenty of potential at the plater while also showing off an impressive arm that helped Nantucket throw out several base runners in the second half of the season.

“I think one thing we would love to do is continue to develop power from the catcher position and Nunez showed some power last year,” Pearson said. “Gillis stepped up big for us in centerfield last year despite not having played much outfield before that. He is sort of just a natural out there. We know we can put him anywhere and he will come through.”

The Whalers will begin their season on Saturday, April 2, against the O’Bryant Tigers at 11 a.m. The day will consist of a doubleheader where the Whalers will play Boston Latin Academy as well.