Martha’s Vineyard Sharks debut 3-0; Thursday’s game is on

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The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League got off to an auspicious start in their inaugural game, Friday, at the Vineyard Baseball Park in Oak Bluffs.

The Island’s brand new team, wielding wooden bats, slugged 12 hits and beat the Seacoast Mavericks of Rochester, New Hampshire, 7-1, in front of an announced crowd of 2,104.

The Sharks improved to 3-0 over the weekend, completing a sweep of the visiting Seacoast Mavericks with a 6-3 win Saturday evening in a rain-shortened, eight-inning game, played before 317 hardy souls.

And, the Sharks held on and defeated the Nashua Silver Knights 8-6 Sunday, to move into first place at 3-0.

The Sharks jumped out to an 8-2 lead after six innings before Nashua fought back and made it close. Jeremy Matos went three for five with three RBI’s. Eric Jensen also had three hits. Robbie Zinsmeister went two for four.

Kody Kasper was the winning pitcher, scattering five hits through six innings.

Titans game postponed

The regularly scheduled Tuesday, June 14 game against the Torrington Titans, postponed due to the threat of evening rain, high winds, and sub-50 degree temps, has been rescheduled for Wednesday August 3, at 5 pm. Sunshine and warm weather appear to favor scheduled Thursday and Sunday games.

The Sharks’ first home run

Ronnie Rosario of Franklin Pierce University became the first Shark to hit a home run and finished 2 for 2 with 3 RBI’s in Saturday’s contest. Jay Swinford from the University of Georgia pitched six innings of no-hit baseball to earn the win.

Tad Gold, the lone Islander on the Sharks roster, scored the first run in team history Friday, during the decisive fifth inning.

With the Mavericks up 1-0, Gold, a Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School graduate and a sophomore at Endicott College in Beverly, reached first on a passed ball and came home following a bases-clearing triple by Anthony Boix.

The Sharks closed out the fifth with a 4-1 lead, after Garrett Autrey singled Boix home.

The Sharks added one run in the sixth and two more in the eighth to close out the scoring.

Sharks shortstop Robbie Zinsmeister led the offense with three hits. Anthony Corona and Jack Colton were 2 for 4, and Anthony Boix had three RBI’s.

Right-hander Zach Rafferty of Anna Maria College was the winning pitcher, giving up two hits, one earned run, and six walks, while striking out four in five innings of work.

Prior to Friday’s game, former Red Sox pitcher and current Mavericks owner Bob Stanley joined Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Executive Vice-President Richard Leonard in throwing out the ceremonial first pitches.

MVRHS sophomore Maggie Riseborough sang the Star-Spangled Banner.