Sports Roundup: Girls Lax Loses First Game, Girls Tennis & Baseball Secure Wins
David Creed •
This Whaler sports roundup includes updates on the girls lacrosse team following a physical matchup against Cape Cod Academy at home, the girls tennis team following a clean sweep of CCA on Wednesday, the baseball team after a narrow victory on the road, the boys tennis team, the softball team, and the sailing team.
Girls Lax Loses Close Matchup To Cape Cod Academy
The Whaler girls lacrosse team had played just two games entering Thursday afternoon’s matchup against the Cape Cod Academy Seahawks due to poor weather conditions leading to postponements through mid-April. They played a notoriously strong CCA team, led by CCA's young star Quinn Powers, well in an 11-7 loss despite limited game action to date.
"Quinn is a phenomenal player," Whaler head coach Jami Lower said. "She's young. I think she's in eighth grade. Her sister is in eleventh. They basically have a two-man game, and I think (our players) were told to kind of focus on them, but I don't think we did a good job of that. Then I think once that started happening, we got in our heads a little bit.”
Nantucket was led by Dylan Damian in scoring. She tallied three goals. Suz Peraner, Louisa Beni, Mia Beaudette, and Carley Ray each scored one goal. Lower said she was happy with her team’s defense and compete level.
"I think our defense did a great job," Lower said. "The defense (CCA) ran was tough for our offense to break through. I think we had a lot of trouble scoring goals and that kind of led to frustrations and emotions running high. I think it was an emotional game for us.
"(CCA's) goals were beautiful goals," Lower continued. "They played a really good, solid game. They have a solid couple of players. It is also just our third game. We don't have a ton of experience to build off. The defense is still building chemistry. The midfield is still building chemistry. Everyone's still kind of learning how to work together, new goalies. I think it's hard to face a team of that caliber straight out of the gate, but here we go. We learned stuff, and hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better day and we'll be able to learn, take it, and it'll be a different outcome when we get (to CCA later in the season).”
Nantucket will travel to play the Nauset Warriors on Friday, April 18th at 3:30 p.m., and then they have another long stretch without a game as their next game after Nauset is scheduled to be at home against Dennis-Yarmouth at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 28th. Lower said she is hoping that on the other side of school vacation week they can get into a rhythm with lots of lacrosse still to be played, and is happy to have one more game left before the break to give her team a chance to secure a win and improve their record to 3-1.
Girls Tennis Beats Cape Cod Academy
The Whaler tennis team hosted Cape Cod Academy Wednesday afternoon and won handily by a 5-0 score – improving their record to 3-1 this season. They followed that up with a road matchup to St. John Paul, which was a 4-1 loss that dropped their record to 3-2. Below are the results from each player’s match in Wednesday’s win.
First Single: Elis Vieth beat her opponent in a three-set tiebreaker (6-4 W, 4-6 L, 10-4 W). She said after her match that she felt like she was really hitting her shots well, especially in the end, and that her opponent was a very consistent player, so they had some long rallies.
Second Single: Viki Bozhkova won in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. She said after her match that due to the windy conditions, she tried to only use her second serves so she wouldn’t double fault. She said her were a strength on Wednesday despite them generally being a weaker part of her game, and that she also used some of her strategies to move her partner around the court a lot.
Third Single: Fiona Keltz won in a three-set tiebreaker as well (4-6 L, 6-4 W, 10-2 W). She said after her match that the highlights were that all her serves and returns were in, and she was able to place the ball well all afternoon. During the tiebreaker, she said she didn’t feel any pressure and remained calm, which helped her win the match. She said she wants to improve her lateral movement on the court so she can get to the wider balls.
First Doubles: Sara Dussault and Sutton LeBrecht won in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. LeBrecht said that her and Dussault played very well together on Wednesday even with the wind conditions that Bozhkova alluded to. LeBrecht said it was a challenge at first to deal with the wind, but they were able to adapt. LeBrecht thought she did well with her positioning of the shots she was hitting, but added she definitely needs to work on her serves when the wind is blowing the way it was on Wednesday.
Second Doubles: Gabby Fee and Presy Penkova won in a three-set tiebreaker (6-4 W, 5-6 L, 7-3 W). Fee said that during their first set, they eventually settled in after a sluggish start. They began implementing different tactics in order to switch up the rhythm of the match. In their second set, they tied 5-5 and believed that is when they started getting in their heads a little bit. Fee said she thought her volleys and shots were angled. Fee said they also need to work on their serving.
On Thursday in the Whalers lose to St. John Paul II 4-1. The lone winner from Nantucket’s lineup was the pairing of Dussault and LeBrecht, who won in a three-set tiebreaker as Nantucket's top doubles pairing once again (6-3 W, 3-6, 10-7 W).
“The long and short of it, we came up short,” head coach Luke Thornewill said. “They outplayed and overpowered us. With the exception of number one doubles team Sara Dussault and Sutton Lebrecht. They played the most outstanding game of doubles our program has ever produced and witnessed against another team.… by far. The powerful shot making, volleying court positioning and footwork, serve consistencies with solid plays and strategies. They were so fun to see in action. They have announced themselves as the number one doubles team to look out for in our league. What’s extraordinary though, I should note, is our #2, #3 doubles are right on their heels. So the second half of our season should be very exciting… and for that matter the fight for the top three singles spots is intense and close fought for as well. Now for a nice vacation, then back to work.”
The Whaler’s next match, as Thornewill referenced, will come after next week’s school break when they host the Monomoy Sharks on Monday, April 28th at 4 p.m.
Baseball Beats Cape Tech 6-5
The Whaler baseball team was able to improve to 3-2 this season following a tight 6-5 victory over Cape Tech High School Wednesday afternoon on the road. Head coach Jack Pearson said that their ace, junior captain Ronald Del Rosario Gomez, got the start but was limited with his pitch count so he could pitch on Saturday. Gomez finished the day tossing three and a third innings, striking out four but also walking four batters. He did not surrender any runs.
Nantucket got off to a fast start with freshman lead-off man Justin Torres and Gomez scoring two quick runs in the top of the first. They added another run in the fourth inning when Evan Cranston was able to reach base on an error and was driven home due to another error.
With the Whalers up 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth and one out, Henry Tejada came in in relief and got the two outs Nantucket needed to preserve the lead and escape the jam.
But in the fifth inning after Nantucket made it a 4-0 game following an RBI single by junior Andrew Lavin that drove Tejada in, a pair of errors prolonged the bottom of the fifth as the Whaler’s had suddenly squandered the lead and were tied 4-4 entering the sixth inning. Tejada tossed one and a third innings, allowing four runs (three earned) while striking out three and walking one.
Senior Hanson Dalton came in in the fifth to get the final out and the Whalers out of another jam and pitched a scoreless sixth. In the top half of the seventh, Nantucket was able to add a pair of runs as sophomore catcher Eli MacIver and Tejada each reached base on singles. MacIver was able to score following an error, and Tejada gave Nantucket an insurance run (they would eventually need) after Keegan Bedell drove him home with an RBI single.
While Cape Tech scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, Dalton was able to lead the Whalers to a win with a strong relief outing. He pitched two and a third innings, surrendered two hits, one run (unearned), walked two batters but also struck out a pair.
The Whalers will try to improve to 4-2 when they host the Monomoy Sharks on Friday, April 18th at 4 p.m.
Softball Loses On The Road To Dennis-Yarmouth
The Whaler softball team lost another close game on Wednesday, this time to the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins 20-17. Nantucket is now 1-5 this season with three of those five losses being by three runs or fewer.
The Whalers will have a long stretch off without a game and will not have a chance to win their second game of the season until Tuesday, April 29th at 4 p.m. when they host the Falmouth Clippers after school break.
Boys Tennis Splits Pair Of Matches
The boys tennis team lost to Cape Cod Academy 4-1 on Wednesday, but won 5-0 on Thursday against St. John Paul II 5-0. Below are the results from Wednesday’s matchup.
First Single: Boyan Kalpazanov lost his match in straight sets 2-6, 1-6.
Second Single: Nik Krastev won his match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. Whaler head coach David Cheever said after the match that he felt Krastev played smart tennis all afternoon.
Third Single: Fuller Holland lost his match in a three-set tiebreaker that came down to the wire. He won the first set 7-5 and after losing the second set 1-6, the decisive third set was a close one that was narrowly edged out by CCA’s third singles player.
First Doubles: Knox and Forbes Keating made up the Whaler’s first doubles team but lost the match in straight sets 2-6, 0-6.
Second Doubles: Sawyer Holland and Thomas Schroeder made up Nantucket’s second doubles pairing but lost the match in straight sets 1-6, 4-6.
In the Whaler’s win on Thursday….
First Single: Boyan Kalpazanov won his match in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
Second Single: Nik Krastev won his match in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
Third Single: Knox Keating won his match in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
First Doubles: Fuller Holland and Forbes Keating won their match in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.
Second Doubles: Sawyer Holland and Thomas Schroeder won their match in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
Nantucket, now 2-5 this season, will have some time off before their next match on Monday, April 28th on the road against the Monomoy Sharks at 4 p.m.
Sailing Loses Home Regatta To Barnstable
The Whaler sailing team has had a strong start to their spring season, however they lost their first regatta of the year on Thursday to the Barnstable Red Hawks 4-1. Now 2-1-1 (the tie will be decided in a sail off later this year), Nantucket will try to get back on track Monday, April 28th on the road against St. John Paul II at 4 p.m.
SCHEDULE AHEAD:
Friday, April 18th:
The baseball team will be at home playing the Monomoy Sharks at 4 p.m.
The girls lacrosse team will be on the road playing Nauset at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 19th:
The baseball team will be on the road playing Westport High School at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in a doubleheader.
There are no games scheduled for Easter Sunday, April 20th.