Sports Roundup: Baseball, Girls Tennis Pick Up Impressive Wins

This sports roundup includes updates on the baseball team following a thrilling victory over O’Bryant, the girls tennis team after sweeping Martha’s Vineyard, the girls and boys lacrosse teams after earning blowout victories, and the boys tennis team.

Baseball Shuts Out O’Bryant To Earn Impressive Win

On April 20, the Whalers faced the O’Bryant Tigers and lost 1-0 is a pitcher’s duel. On Saturday, the two teams met on the island for a rematch and the Whaler’s flipped the script on the Tigers – beating them 1-0 behind a strong pitching performance from sophomore Ronald Del Rosario Gomez.

"There were several just memorable, individual performances in (Saturday's) game," Whaler head coach Jack Pearson said. "Ronald threw six innings, had 10 strikeouts, two walks and three hits and no earned runs. You should win a game when you have a stat line like that. He did tremendous.”

Another star of the game on Saturday was sophomore outfielder Brock Beamish. In the sixth inning with the Whalers being no-hit, Beamish ripped a single between first and second base. He proceeded to steal second on a wild pitch and third base on a bang-bang play. Then with senior Shea Dwyer at the plate in a 1-2 count, a wild pitch reached the backstop and Beamish was able to score.

"To lead off the inning with a hit and steal three bases to score your team a run I mean, what an individual feat," Pearson said.

Then in the seventh inning, Dwyer took over for Gomez on the mound to close the game out. With a man on first base and one out, Dwyer threw a breaking ball that sent the Tiger’s batter out on strikes looking. Simultaneously, the Tigers sent their base runner and freshman catcher Eli MacIver gunned him down to end the game with a perfectly executed strike em’ out, throw em’ out play.

"It was an awesome play," Pearson said. "Henry Tejada was there at the bag and the play developed a little bit slower because of the breaking ball and he had to hang tough knowing he had to wait for the ball and the slide. Then he caught it and slammed his tag down immediately. As well as you could do it and we got the out.”

Pearson said he hopes this is a milestone win for a team whose lineup is littered with freshman and sophomores up and down the order as they continue to become acclimated to the varsity level of play.

"It could be an important game with regards to the rest of the season," Pearson said. "They don't just have to hear coach say he believes in them. They can believe in themselves because they've done it. Now they've scratched out the one run game in the late innings.”

Nantucket will be in action again on Monday, May 13 on the road against Cape Cod Regional Tech High School. The Whalers followed up their 1-0 loss to O’Bryant last month with a close 3-2 defeat at home against Cape Tech. They’ll hope to flip the scoreboard in this game in a similar fashion to what they just did against O’Bryant.

“I'm glad that game is next,” Pearson said. “This feeling is fresh and we want those guys bad.”

Girls Tennis Completes Season Sweep Over Martha’s Vineyard

For the first time ever, the Nantucket girls tennis team completed a season sweep over Martha’s Vineyard. The Whalers beat the Vineyarders 3-2 on the road.

Senior captain Joan Harris led the way as Nantucket’s top single and won her match in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. Harris has now won both of her singles matches against the Vineyard and also earned the first ever win for a Nantucket player three years ago as a freshman on the Whaler's first doubles team.

“I felt a little stiff when we first started,” Harris said. “Probably because we didn’t have a lot of time to warm up. As the match progressed though, I became more confident and played more at the net.”

Freshman Lily Chibnik was Nantucket’s second single and was sharp. She won her match via tiebreaker. She won the first set 7-5, lost the second set 1-5, and then won the tiebreaker 10-3.

“The match was very, very close,” Chibnik said. “I had great serves. I made many unforced errors, which cost me to lose the second set. My opponent did a good job keeping the ball in play and moving me around the court.”

Senior Lauren Cutone was the third single and nearly won her match as well. She won the first set 6-4 but lost the second set 0-6 and third set 3-6.

“The first set went really well as I was mixing up my shots a lot, had good foot work, and overall, just not a lot of unforced errors,” Cutone said. “However, there was a shift after the first set and I felt my energy drop while my opponent started playing a lot better. We had some really good games, but I just couldn’t capitalize on my win in the first set and keep it going for the rest of the match.”

The first doubles pairing of seniors Hannah Gerardi and Chloe Marrero has been terrific all year. The duo have been two of the Whalers most consistent players and they came through against the Vineyard on Saturday winning their match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.

“I think we did a good job at communicating and our approach shots,” Gerardi said. “This match we had many more points where we would both move up to the net to put pressure on our opponents. Chloë said she would like to work on her serves, and I would like to work on my lobs.”

The second doubles pairing of Vicky Todorova and Viktoria Bozhkova put up a good fight against their opposing pair, but ultimately fell short in straight sets 4-6, 4-6.

“Viki did a great job at the net, staying aggressive and placing the balls deep,” Todorova said. “I also think I did well at the net. Something we both need to work on is staying consistent and moving onto the next point.”

Nantucket is now 7-3 and will be back in action on Monday, May 13 at 4:30 p.m. when they travel to the Cape to play the Sturgis West Navigators.

Girls Lacrosse Blows Out North Reading To Remain Undefeated

The Whaler girls lacrosse team extended their win streak to 14 games following a 17-4 victory over the North Reading Hornets on the island Saturday afternoon.

“I feel like it’s the same old, same old. We have to figure out the first couple minutes of the game like, 'Hey, what's going on?,'" Whaler head coach Jami Lower said. "We just have to figure that out. But I thought it was again, a collaborative effort. I think Claire (Misurelli) made some great saves, defense had some great ground balls. I thought Mayson (Lower) played really well. I thought Maddie (Lombardi) played really well. I thought Myah (Johnson) played really well.”

When it came to scoring, it was the usual suspects leading the way. Senior Bailey Lower netted eight goals. Senior Emerson Pekarcik scored three goals and four assists. Junior Mayson Lower scored three goals, senior Cydney Mosscrop had two goals and three assists, sophomore Dylan Damian scored one goal, and senior Evy Stahl had one assist.

One thing North Reading did well for much of the game – especially the first half – was control draws. Jami Lower said they didn’t have a draw stick for the first two quarters and junior Ella Finlay went to Lower’s house to retrieve it.

“She's like, are you serious? And I am like 'Yeah, go get it,'" Lower said about asking Finlay to get the stick. "So she went to my house and picked it up. But actually, Mayson somehow managed to turn it around while she was gone and started to maintain control of the draw but yeah, whoever wins the draw, wins the game, and they were winning the draws (at the beginning).”

Nantucket will try to improve to 15-0 this season when they host Cape Cod Academy on Tuesday, May 14 at 4 p.m.

Boys Lacrosse Beats Archbishop Williams

The Whaler boys lacrosse team went on the road Saturday and handily beat Archbishop Williams 16-2. The win completed a season sweep over the Bishops after Nantucket won the first meeting at home 14-3 on May 1.

The Whalers received goal scoring from eight different players. Sophomores Arann Hanlon and Nolen Mosscrop each scored three goals, as well as senior Jack Halik. Senior Kinnick King scored two goals. Senior Colby O’Keefe scored two goals and added three assists.

Senior Cole Chambers scored once and had three assists. Senior Ryan Davis had one goal and two assists. Sophomore Jake Grant scored one goal.

The Whalers remain shorthanded without senior captain Griffin Starr as one of their long poles, but the defense was stout, and they received strong goaltending from sophomore Jeremy Jenkinson again although he wasn’t very busy. He finished with four saves.

Nantucket is now 11-1 this season. They will try to win their 10^th straight game on Monday, May 13 at 3:45 p.m. on the road against Old Rochester Regional High School.

Boys Tennis Loses To Martha’s Vineyard

The boys tennis team lost to their island rival Saturday afternoon at home 5-0. Below are the scores from each match.

First Single: Boyan Kalpazanov lost in straight sets 0-6, 0-6.

Second Single: Nik Krastev lost in straight sets 0-6, 1-6.

Third Single: Henry Kathawala lost in straight sets 2-6, 5-7.

First Doubles: Soren and Hawkin Edwardes lost in straight sets 1-6, 4-6.

Second Doubles: Sam Iller and Fuller Holland lost in straight sets 2-6, 2-6.

Nantucket is now 5-6 this season. They will try to get back to .500 on Monday, May 13 at 4 p.m. at home against the Sturgis West Navigators.

SCHEDULE:

Monday, May 13:

The boys tennis team will be at home facing the Sturgis West Navigators at 4 p.m.

The boys lacrosse team will be on the road facing Old Rochester Regional High School at 3:45 p.m.

The baseball team will be on the road facing Cape Cod Regional Tech High School at 3:30 p.m.

The girls tennis team will be on the road facing the Navigators at 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 14:

The sailing team will be at home facing Falmouth at 3:30 p.m.

The girls lacrosse team will be at home facing Cape Cod Academy at 4 p.m.

For more coverage of all the Nantucket spring sports teams, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X (Twitter). You can follow photographer Chris Tran by clicking here. You can view the MIAA power rankings here.