Sports Roundup: Boys Tennis, Softball Celebrate Seniors
David Creed •
This sports roundup includes updates on the boys tennis team and the softball team after each team honored their seniors prior to games on Wednesday. It also includes updates on the girls lacrosse team, the girls tennis team, and the baseball team.
Boys Tennis Beats Barnstable 4-1
The boys tennis team was able to honor their seniors with a ceremony prior to Wednesday’s match against the Barnstable Red Hawks as well as with a convincing 4-1 victory afterwards.
The Whalers that earned wins were junior Boyan Kalpazanov, sophomore Nik Krastev, the first doubles pairing featuring seniors Henry Kathawala and Hawkin Edwardes, and the second doubles pairing featuring senior Sam Iller and freshman Fuller Holland.
The seniors honored prior to Wednesday’s match were Kathawala, Edwardes, Iller, and Manny Castro.
Nantucket’s regular season schedule is now complete, and they finished the season 7-9. In the latest Div. 4 state standings, the Whalers were the #18 seed. Tournament brackets will be released next week.
Softball Loses To Barnstable
The Nantucket softball team lost a high-scoring game on Wednesday at home to the Barnstable Red Hawks 29-21. The Whalers, after winning six straight games from May 3 to May 18, have now lost three in a row and are 8-8 this season.
With two games remaining on their schedule, Nantucket will need to win one more game to clinch a spot in the state tournament since their rating does not place them within the Top 32 of the Div. 4 standings. All teams who finish with a record of .500 or better, regardless of their rating, automatically clinch a play-in game.
Nantucket has Mashpee and Martha’s Vineyard left on their schedule. The Mashpee game will be at home on Friday, May 24 at 4 p.m. The Whalers beat Mashpee 25-5 on the road April 25.
The Whalers close their season out on the road against Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, May 25 at 12:45 p.m. Nantucket beat Martha’s Vineyard 22-9 at home on May 5.
The Whalers also honored their four seniors after the game: Sydney Ard, Yahely Del Rosario Gomez, Andy Tejada Hercules, and Madison Silva. Below are some photos taken by Mario Orozco of the ceremony.
Girls Lacrosse Beats Bridgewater-Raynham
The girls lacrosse team went on the road and beat Bridgewater-Raynham 17-7 on Wednesday to improve to 18-0 this season with two games remaining on their schedule. It was the second time beating BR this season – as the Whalers won the first meeting on the island 14-6 on April 30.
The Whalers scorers in this game included Bailey Lower with eight goals and five assists, Emerson Pekarcik with five goals and two assists, Mayson Lower with three goals, and Cydney Mosscrop with one goal and three assists. Claire Misurelli finished the game with five saves.
Nantucket remains the #1 seed in the Div. 4 state standings with an 8.7518 rating but is not far ahead of #2 Weston, who is 12-4 this season with an 8.6966 rating.
The Whalers will close out their regular season this weekend with a road matchup against Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, May 25 at 12:45 p.m. and a home matchup against St. John Paul II on Sunday, May 26 at 11:30 a.m.
Baseball Loses On The Road
The Nantucket baseball team lost to the Sturgis West Navigators 7-3 on Thursday in a neutral site matchup at Mass Maritime Academy. The Whalers are now 5-14 and they will close out their season on Saturday, May 25 at home against Martha's Vineyard at 11 a.m.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, May 24:
The softball team will play their final home game of the season and welcome Mashpee to the island for a 4 p.m. game.
The sailing team will be on the road facing Monomoy at 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 25:
The boys lacrosse team will host Martha’s Vineyard at 11 a.m.
The baseball team will host Martha's Vineyard at 11 a.m.
The girls lacrosse team will travel off island to face Martha’s Vineyard at 12:45 p.m.
The softball team will travel to the Vineyard for a 12:45 p.m. game.
Sunday, May 26:
The girls lacrosse team will host St. John Paul II at 11:30 a.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.