Williams’ No-Hits Vineyard In Final Game Of Season

Photography by David Creed

Martha’s Vineyard brings out the best in Riley Williams. He scored the overtime goal this winter to send the boys hockey team to the Round of 8 in the MIAA state tournament, and on Monday afternoon he no-hit the Vineyard in a complete game masterpiece, striking out 16 batters. The gem helped Nantucket win their season finale 4-0 over their arch-rivals to finish the season at 7-11 after a 1-9 start.

“This whole year I’ve been owning the Vineyard so it is good to do it again,” an emotional Williams said after the game. “I warmed up really well and I was just ready to go. There was a lot of preparation and I was thinking about it all morning. We are a really gritty team and always have been. We don’t give up. We didn’t start off well but we just kept playing.”

Williams scored the game-winning run in the first inning after catcher Argelis Nunez ripped an RBI-double into the left field gap to give the Whalers their first run of the game.

Nunez is in his second season as Nantucket’s catcher and called the entire game on his own. His impact on the game was felt in every area on Memorial Day but gave Williams all the glory after the game.

“Today he was just overly confident as he should be about everything and I really didn’t have to do much at all like block balls in the dirt and stuff,” Nunez said. “He was so good. It was crazy. Riley is such an amazing pitcher and it was an incredible opportunity to catch him. It was an honor.”

Nantucket’s bats stalled after the first inning, but still had multiple opportunities to put additional runs on the board. Unfortunately, some base running miscues led to squandered opportunities to build on their one run lead.

It was in the bottom of the sixth inning where Nantucket was able to deliver the final blow. Williams got things started with a double. Following some control issues from the Vineyard’s pitcher, senior designated hitter Tim Murphy walked with the bases loaded to make it 2-0 Whalers and senior right fielder Fabian Martinez hit a two-RBI double to make it 4-0. It was more than enough for Williams on this day.

“That was the best I have ever seen Riley pitch,” head coach Jack Pearson said. “From the first pitch he just spotted everything. He had it all working. His pitch economy was really good and then you start to realize he hasn’t allowed any hits and just keep it to yourself. But there were guys making big plays out in the field. Guys with some key hits. In that sixth inning we were saying if we can just get one more run even, that could put a lot of pressure on them.”

Pearson said last season he called the games but this season he has allowed Nunez to call them himself because of his intelligence on the baseball field. He gave Williams and Nunez a lot of credit for silencing the Vineyard’s bats the way they did given the explosive potential their lineup has, which was illustrated in the Vineyard’s 12-2 victory over Nantucket last month.

“This is a special group of guys who care about the sport and show up with the right attitude every day,” Pearson said. “They grinded and didn’t accept a one or two win season. They played hard all the way through and even in our losses like St. John Paul by one or Mashpee by a couple runs, those are great teams we nearly beat.”

Next season the Whalers will have a much different looking team. Junior infielder/pitcher Colin Lynch will be a center piece for the Whalers alongside players such as Nunez and junior outfielder Gillis Cocker. Lynch said he believes this program can build off of the momentum they developed this spring.

“Finishing the season this way I mean, this may be the best moment of my life honestly,” Lynch said. “I don’t think I have personally been a part of a better season with Nantucket baseball. Out of our starting nine, we have six seniors leaving. It will be hard to see them go. But we have played our hearts out these past few games and we have a really good bond. That is what led to these wins. I think we have some good young guys coming up so I think we can keep building on the momentum we have here.”