Sports

By Don Lyons
Published: May 7, 2009

Islanders roll on

Midway through the season, the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School girls varsity lacrosse team is unbeaten and untied with 11 wins.

Kate Cecilio gets the green light from the referee to shoot as Brianna Davies lends support. Photos by Ralph Stewart

On Wednesday, April 29, the Islanders edged a strong Falmouth squad at Falmouth, 7-6, on two first-half goals by Laura Jernegan and singles by Hayley Pierce and Christina Wiley. At the half the Vineyarders were up by one, 4-3.

Hayley scored the first goal of the second half but the Clippers answered with three of their own to take a 6-5 lead. Jernegan's goal with 7:45 left on the clock tied the score and Molly Fischer's at 3:51 regained the lead. The Islanders won the ensuing draw and ran out the clock to nail the victory.

The next day, Thursday, Coach Betsy Dripps's crew faced another test at Bishop Stang. The Spartans stayed close and trailed by a single point, 8-7, at the half, but the Islanders shifted to another gear in the second half and ran away to a 17-10 conclusion.

Cristina Wiley tries to elude the tight Dartmouth defense.

Hayley Pierce scored six times and assisted twice to lead the Martha's Vineyard attack, Laura Jernegan had five goals and Kate Cecilio had two. Molly Fischer, Ana Christina Jurczyk, and Briana Davies also scored. The Lady Bishops kept Martha's Vineyard goaltender Zoe Fisher busy. She made 15 saves.

The very next day the Islanders topped Barnstable at Hyannis, 12-9. The one-two punch of Jernegan (5) and Pierce (2) produced more than half of the winning score but five other Vineyarders - Molly Fischer, Brianna Davies, Sophie Lew, Ana Cristina Jurczyk and Cristina Wiley - also beat Raider goalie Ali Shopshire who made 10 saves. Martha's Vineyard goaltender Zoe Fisher stopped a dozen shots on goal. Martha's Vineyard's lead at the half was 8-4.

Tuesday's game here with Dartmouth was really two games - two entirely different games. The first half belonged to the visiting Indians, not just because they scored seven goals to the Vineyard's five. They consistently beat the Vineyard to the ball. It seemed that whenever there was a loose ball a green jersey would pounce upon it. But the second half was all Vineyard. The Islanders scored nine unanswered goals in 20 minutes. Dartmouth managed to score twice more before the whistle blew, but it was too little and too late. Martha's Vineyard 15, Dartmouth 9.

Martha's Vineyard goals were by Laura Jernegan (5), Kate Cecilio (4), Hayley Pierce (3), Christine Wiley (2) and Molly Fischer.

Aside from their sparkling 11-0 record, they are lots of fun to watch.

Jayvees too

The Martha's Vineyard Junior Varsity girls lacrosse team has a 7-1-1 record. Their most recent wins were at the expense of Bishop Stang, 15-11, and Barnstable, 5-4. Scorers in the Stang game were Rilla Hammett (4), Alex Mark (3), Maggie Johnson (2), and Nikki Alexander (2). Caitlin Serpa, Maddie Hughes, and Caroline Fournier. Ambika Datta had a key assist. Gen Hammond, Shelby Ferry, and Becca Tilton were strong defenders and center Ana Irwin consistently won draws.

The defense was especially key in the defeat of the Red Raiders. Maggie Johnson started the scoring from Rilla Hammett. Rilla followed with a breakaway goal and Ambika followed with two more. At the half Martha's Vineyard led, 4-1. Barnstable ran off three goals in a row early in the second half, tying the count. But with three minutes left on the clock, Caroline Fournier's perfect pass to Maggie Johnson produced the winning goal, 5-4.

The Dartmouth game here, Tuesday, ended in an 11-11 tie. Behind by three with just four minutes left on the clock, the Islanders turned up the heat and managed to pull off an unlikely tie. In the game's very last minute, freshman Maya Harcourt snagged the ball, ran the length of the field and beat the Dartmouth goalie to tie the game with 13 seconds to spare. Talk about fun to watch!

The Vineyarders fly to Nantucket Thursday (today) and Barnstable visits Saturday.

John Early follows his chip shot to the first green. Ross Peters is an interested witness. Photo by Ralph Stewart

Tournament at the Meadows

Twenty-four five-member teams teed off at Mink Meadows, Sunday, competing for bragging rights in the annual Holy Ghost Scholarship Golf Tournament.

The winning team was David Murphy, John Dutton, John Farrington, Jane Shigley, and Paul Breen followed closely by Steve Furtaw, Keith Fullin, Jason Balboni, J.T. Marhar, and Eric Perry.

Joseph Ferreira, Mike Snowden, Andrew Phillips, Jason Forend and Ryan Ruley were third.

Another at EGC

Also last weekend the fifth annual Peter DeBettencourt Memorial Scholarship Tournament, a benefit for the annually awarded scholarship, was played at the Edgartown Golf Club. Winner of the tourney was the team of Mike and Ken Silvia, Joe Fontaine, Wayne Barrett, and Jeff Tomkins. The winning team donated the prize money to the scholarship fund.

Purple smashpee

The Bishop Stang softball team stung the Islanders here, Thursday, 18-2.

The Spartans scored eight times in the first inning and never looked back.

The ball had a mind of its own and bounced up on second baseman Gail Herman. Photo by Ralph Stewart

Starting pitcher Martha Scheffer took the loss.

Friday, the Vineyard softball team batted around, then batted around again in the sixth inning at Mashpee, crossing the plate 17 times. Katie Hines's base-clearing double started the eruption, which included a two-run triple by Holly Robinson. Taylor Perrotta collected three hits and scored four runs in the six-inning game. Emma Frizzell reached base five times, scored four and drove in three. Both Gail Herman and Alicia Oliveira had three RBIs.

The final score was 24-6. Pitcher Caroline Davey was the recipient of the purple largesse. Not that she needed it. She gave up just two earned runs.

Martha's Vineyard improved to 5-4 on the season.

Racqueteers romp

The Martha's Vineyard varsity boys tennis team swept Bishop Stang at North Dartmouth, Thursday, 5-0.

Andrew McHugh's victory at first singles was a whitewash, 6-0, 6-0. Reid Yennie's win was almost as one-sided, 6-2, 6-0. The Win Grimm - Dylan Hutchinson duo dominated 6-1, 6-1 at first doubles. Grant McCarthy and Thomas Tilton-Heylin also won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, at second doubles.

Only Nik Wojtkielo was pressed to three sets at third singles, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Having missed the last three matches, Nik was a bit rusty and error-prone in the first set, but he found his stride in the second. Stang's Myles Olean jumped off to a 4-1 lead in set three, but Wojtkielo regrouped and ran off five straight games to win and nail down Martha's Vineyard's sweep.

There goes Bill

On Tuesday, May 12, legendary marathoner Bill Brown of Tisbury will take off from Boston for Nepal and the Tenzing - Hillary Himalaya Expedition's Mount Everest Marathon. Bill will fly through London and Bahrain to Katmandu. He will then be taken to Lukla, Phankding, and Namche Bazaar. From the latter he hill begin a seven-day hike to the Mt. Everest Base Camp. Race day will be Friday, May 29, beginning at 7 am.

The course will be hilly - not to say mountainous - but mostly down hill from an elevation of 5,364 meters at the start to 3,449 at the finish.

The race is held biannually, weather permitting, in May and November, and is limited to 100 runners.

When The Martha's Vineyard Times suggested to Bill that this must be the unbeatable climax to his legendary marathon career, which includes more than 100 races, he murmured something about the Antarctic.

Another marathon

It wasn't in Nepal. It was in Ohio. Garry Metters ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Monday. Garry finished a better than respectable 294th in a field of 4,481.

Shark Spencer Schofield dashes through the Lakeville defense. Photo by Ralph Stewart

Lacrosse at Lakeville

The under-11 boys youth lacrosse team defeated Lakeville, Sunday, 13-8 on four goals each by Henry Wallace and Jack Garrett, three by Jackson Mahaffey and two by Donald O'Shaughnessy.

The under-13 Sharks team narrowly lost to Lakeville, 5-6. Martha's Vineyard scorers were Spencer Schofield (2), Jack Yuen, Austin Chandler, and Jeffrey McCormick.

The under-15 Shoremen took it on the chin: Lakeville 8, Vineyard 1. The lone Island goal was by Thomas Wilkins.

This Sunday all teams play at Bourne.

Minors message

The Twins have started well in the Little League Minors, winning all three of their first games.

Game one was an 11-9 thriller with the Orioles. A seesaw affair, the O's took the lead in the top of the final (6th) inning only to see the Twins score four runs and claim the win in their half. The hit that hurt was a two-run single by Valentino Major. Jacob Gunderson led off the game for the O's with a home run.

The second game with the Orioles was not so close, 15-5. Lachlan Cormie and Miles Jordi led the Twins attack; each hit safely three times. The Orioles Dillon McAndrews had two hits and stole three bases.

The third win was a near thing, 7-6, over the Reds. Aiden Aliberti drove in three of the Twins runs and Auguste Pizzano had two RBI. The Reds' late surge fell just short as Willson Slayton shut the door in the final inning. Cai Lombardi's play at shortstop was outstanding. In his debut on the mound, Joey Burchill tossed two shutout innings before allowing the Reds to mount a late run at the lead.

The Marlins edged the Rockies in a game that saw the teams combine for 30 runs. The Marlins won, 16-14. Eliot Ferlander's long triple was a Rockies highlight. Max Eber's pair of well-stroked doubles driving in four runs stood out for the Marlins.

Monday, the A's caged the Tigers, 6-2. Colin Cameron was the winning pitcher fanning eight in five innings. Mike Mussell was 2-for-2 with a double and a triple. Aksel Cooperrider drove in a run with a double. Kevin Cleary pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Bengals giving up two hits supported by strong play by Emerson Mahoney and Nick Kent.

Sunday Tucker McNeely and Henry Gallagher held he Cards to a single run, while Tony Canha was striking out 12 Sox batters. Final: Cards 1, Sox 0.

On Saturday the A's ran away from the Tigers, 15-0. Mike Mussell was touched for two hits in the shutout.

In Friday's Cubs-Mets game, Tim Roberts hurled 4 2/3 innings, fanning nine. Andrew Jacobs-Walsh stroked a two-run Triple. The Cubs won, 5-1.

Dartmouth bites the dust

The varsity boys lacrosse team tackled Dartmouth off Island, Tuesday, and came away with a 9-1 win. Erik Dolliver scored four times and assisted twice. Both Brooks Billingham and Chris Costello had two goals and two assists. Leif Iversen also scored. Goal-tender Gus Hayes made 13 saves.

Equestriennes

Vickie Thurber and Mariah Bendavid of Red Pony Farm, West Tisbury, competed in the Valinor Forms Combined Test/Dressage Schooling Show, Sunday, April 26, at Plymouth.

Vickie, on Poco Santo, tied for second place in the beginner novice senior division. Mariah, on Caledonia, placed sixth in the junior beginner novice division.

Both Vickie and Mariah are students of Martijn Stuurman.

Robyn Hanover of West Tisbury, a student of trainer Tom Davis at Flatlands Equestrian Center in Rehoboth was third in preliminary training novice on Festive Way.

Steve Medeiros remembered

Steven R. Medeiros, a graduate of Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in the class of 1970, will be honored at the 21st Annual Candlelight Vigil Ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., as part of National Police Week, Wednesday, May 13.

Steve was a Staff Sergeant with the Kennesaw State University Police Department in Marietta, Georgia. His engraved name will be added to the list of officers whose lives were lost in the line of duty.

Steve was a member of the varsity football team at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School.