The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks season came to a close Friday night at the Shark Tank with a loss to the Keene Swamp Bats in the second game of the NECBL Championship.

The Sharks jumped out to a 7-0 lead, which they held into the 5th inning in front of a boisterous Shark Tank crowd. But the Swamp Bats rallied, tacking on four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth leaving the game knotted up at 7-7 with 18 outs to play.

The top of 7th inning was the stuff of nightmares for any baseball player or fan. The Swamp Bats sent 13 batters to the plate, racking up 9 runs across three Sharks relief pitchers. The Sharks couldn’t mount a comeback and the final score was 16-7.

It was an eerily similar result from the night before when the Sharks racked up an early lead but ended up losing. The team led 12-2 in the eight inning during game one of the best-of-three series.

Team bonding was key throughout the season.

Jonathan Fleischmann

Team bonding was key throughout the season.

Jonathan Fleischmann

What happened next can only be described as impossible. Swamp Bats pinch hitter Ryan Jaros got a hold of a 2-1 fastball, cracking a seemingly innocent three-run homer to make the contest 12-5. The Sharks were retired in the top of the ninth, and the first batter of the bottom ninth grounded out. The Vineyard held a 7-run lead with two outs left in the game.

The Swamp Bats responded with a solo home run, followed by a single and then a flyout, leaving the Sharks with a 6-run lead with one out left. Then, a series of improbable events was set in motion when a routine fly ball to shallow right field was dropped by the Sharks defense. The next batter walked to load the bases.

The Swamp Bats hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5, then a walk scored a run and the lead was 4. Sharks pitcher William Wallace suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game.

On a rushed warmup, relief pitcher Zachary Broderick walked the first batter he faced on five pitches, thus walking in another run cutting the Sharks advantage to 3. Then, with the bases loaded, Ripken Reese sent a fastball deep over the left-center field fence for a walk-off grand slam sending all of Alumni field into a frenzy.

Fans were always hungry for more.

Jonathan Fleischmann

Fans were always hungry for more.

Jonathan Fleischmann

Stunned by the inconceivable loss, the Sharks shifted their focus to winning Game 2 at home on Friday, looking to force a winner-take-all Game 3. But it was not to be.

Although the two starters for the Sharks, Ross Felder and Chayce Kieck, turned in fantastic performances to cap off their incredible summers, the relief arms in the bullpen had been weakened by the loss of players leaving due to their school requirement or personal choice.

“To run out of pitching, to be honest, the Newport series hurt a lot,” said general manager Russ Curran. “We had to use a lot of our arms. I give credit to guys who stuck around, guys who worked their butt off and didn’t hurt us and played well. I said it last night, the guys who were here are gonna be Sharks for life.”

This Sharks squad will be remembered not just for being the South division champions, but also as a team that displayed an inspiring level of resiliency. Returning players Gio Colasante, Max Kaufer, William Lybrook, Colby McNeely and more helped steer the squad through the marathon summer schedule. Despite losing an abundance of players, including multiple All-Stars, the Sharks pulled off an incredible postseason run, defeating teams with a combined 56-32 regular season record.

“They were gritty. They just kept fighting. That’s what made this group special,” Coach Curran said.