After striking out to end Monday’s 10-3 loss to the Bristol Blues, outfielder Dominic Moats slammed his bat into the dirt. On his way back to the dugout, the redshirt freshman snapped it clean over his leg.
After striking out to end Monday’s 10-3 loss to the Bristol Blues, outfielder Dominic Moats slammed his bat into the dirt. On his way back to the dugout, the redshirt freshman snapped it clean over his leg.
Monday’s defeat stung, snapping a seven-game win streak that had pulled the Sharks out of a 1-5 hole and thrust them to the top of the standings.
Skipper Peyton Fuller saw the value in the team’s slow start.
“You learn a lot about a group when things don’t go your way,” Fuller said. “These guys stuck together, trusted the process, and now they’re starting to see the results of their hard work and resiliency.”
Martha’s Vineyard opened the season with a narrow 4-3 loss to the Vermont Mountaineers, then got quick revenge by stomping Bristol 10-1 two days later.
Momentum shifted for the team after a tough beginning.
Momentum shifted for the team after a tough beginning.
Next came a two-run loss in Keene that saw the Sharks strand 17 runners. A 13-8 defeat to Mystic followed the next day. Three days later, the Sharks returned to Mystic for their second matchup with the Schooners in four days and fell again, 8-6. Then, a 6-3 loss to the Ocean State Waves.
For a team boasting high-end talent, the 1-5 start was jarring, and frightingly similar to last year’s 0-6 start.
Hosting the Newport Gulls at home nearly two weeks into the season, the Vineyard captured a much-needed 7-0 win, just their second victory of the year.
From there, the switch flipped.
Traveling to North Shore, the Sharks took down the Navigators 3-1. Then, playing at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown after a tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Vineyard slugged their way to a 12-9 victory.
On Thursday, June 19, Jaws Night took over the Shark Tank as the Sharks represented Amity for the evening. What followed felt like movie magic: a 12-0 clobbering, including back-to-back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning.
The first blast came off the bat of first baseman Evan Appelwick (Miami of Ohio), who was later named NECBL Week 3 Player of the Week. Appelwick hit .462 with three home runs and eight RBIs during the Sharks’ seven-game win streak, including a 2-for-3 performance on Jaws Night that featured a homer, two RBIs, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After going hitless in his first three games, the RedHawk slugger has found the power stroke that helped him tie Miami’s single-season home run record this spring.
Bark in the Park is Wednesday, June 25. Bring your dog.
Bark in the Park is Wednesday, June 25. Bring your dog.
Next, the Sharks traveled to South Kingstown, R.I., to face the Ocean State Waves. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth, the Vineyard came through in the clutch with singles from Harley Goodner and Ryder Dykstra. Dykstra came all the way around after a throw to third on a steal attempt skipped away, giving the Sharks a 5-3 win, their fifth straight.
Chasing a sixth consecutive win, the Sharks visited North Adams and trailed the SteepleCats 5-1 heading into the eighth. They scratched across a run, but entered the ninth still down three. Left fielder Cole Mascolo walked to lead off, followed by a Brayden Martin single. A wild pickoff throw and another wild pitch brought both runners home. With two outs and a one-run deficit, freshman Jackson Miller crushed the seams off the second pitch he saw, for the go-ahead, game-winning home run.
Back home against Danbury, the Sharks chased their seventh win in a row. What followed was eerily similar to Jaws Night: Vineyard dominance at the plate and on the mound in an 11-0 rout.
The frustration of not capturing eight straight came through in Moats’s bat-breaking display. But more than anything, it showed how much this team cares. Freshman Jackson Miller, who currently leads the NECBL in batting average at .433, said the team’s chemistry has been key to the turnaround.
“Everyone on the team wants to win. We all have the same goal,” Miller said. “We get along so well and bond as friends. We all love each other off the field no matter what happens.”
On Tuesday, June 24, the Vineyard traveled to Montpelier, Vermont, to face the team that beat them on opening day. They did just that, plating four runs in the first on the way to a 10-5 victory. The Sharks move to 9-6, just one game back of the South Division-leading Bristol Blues.
Bark in the Park Night headlines Wednesday’s matchup with the Ocean State Waves. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring their canines to support the scorching hot Sharks.
Comments
I knew they would figure it
RTR KatamaI knew they would figure it out, this team is just too good
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