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The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
May 26 - June 1, 2005 Edition
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Sports The Martha's Vineyard Times May 26, 2005 By Don Lyons Nick hands an envelope containing checks totaling $1,300.92 to Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino for the Jimmy Fund. Photos by Teresa Nelson Jason Varitek commends Nick for a job well done, and signs his cap. A birthday to remember Nick Nelson, a fifth grader at the West Tisbury school and a catcher on the Little League A’s, celebrated his 11th birthday at Fenway Park, Friday, guided all the way by Fenway’s Ambassador extraordinaire, Phil Derick of Chilmark. The red chair in right field where Ted Williams’s longest home run landed, the Red Sox Hall of Fame, the dugout, the green monster, the press box, the new seats above right field — Phil showed Nick and his mother, Teresa, all of them. But there was more! Nick had collected $1,300 for the Jimmy Fund so his welcome at the ball park was especially warm. A catcher himself on the MV Little League A’s, Nick’s favorite player is the Red Sox catcher and captain, Jason Varitek. Nick was taken into the “corral” on the field during batting practice and there was Varitek meeting with his Tech 33 club, a group of kids from Children’s Hospital. When the captain was told how much Nick had raised for the Jimmy Fund, he shook Nick’s hand and told him, “that’s a really great job,” then signed his cap and a baseball. Nick later handed the checks to Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino who congratulated him and let him try on his world series championship ring. Later, in the Sox dugout, Johnnny Pesky gave Nick another ball and Bronson Arroyo signed it. Then “Papa Jack” Ron Jackson, the batting coach, let Nick try on Varitek’s batting helmet. (It was too big.) From the Nelsons’ grandstand seats they could not see home plate. In the seventh inning, Phil Derick moved the Nelsons to seats closer to the field where they could see everything. In the eighth inning, Nick’s name appeared on the super-tron with birthday greetings, also arranged by Phil. Nick came home with a bag full of memorabilia, including a Red Sox magazine, a couple of team caps, a year book, and Red Sox calendars. To top off Nick’s day, which he called “very cool,” the Red Sox beat Atlanta behind Wade Miller, 4-3. A birthday to remember, indeed. Braves pitcher Taylor Perrotta winds up for her zinger. Photos by Ralph Stewart Meaghan Jeffers goes into her slide at home. The Braves had to come from behind to beat the Devil Rays. Babe Ruth softball The biggest game of the week pitted the unbeaten Diamondbacks against the second place A’s. With five solid innings from pitcher Emma Frizzell and a big game from Caitlin Cassiani, the A’s outlasted the ‘Backs, 12-11. It was that kind of week for the A’s. They also squeezed by the Yankees, 16-15. Andrea Metell was a standout for the A’s, Molly Robinson starred for the Yanks. The Braves won two, dropping the Yanks and Devil Rays. Emily Hines, Julie Pringle, and Gail Herman led the Tribe. Martha Scheffer, Kia Minor, and Emily Williston were outstanding for the winless Rays. Softball standings Diamondbacks 5-1 Athletics 6-2 Braves 5-2 Yankees 2-6 Devil Rays 0-7 A close play at the plate in the well-played, extra-inning, to-be-continued Tigers-Cubs game. The runner was out. Photo by Ralph Stewart Little Leagues In the majors, the Dodgers kept rolling on an unbeaten path with 6-1 and 18-2 wins over the Mets and a 9-0 shutout of the Cubs last week. Taylor Smith, Chris Morris, and William Stewart pitched for the Dodgers, striking out 12, walking 5 and giving up three hits at Veira Park last Wednesday. Andrew Williamson went the distance for the Mets. He fanned 5 and was touched for 6 hits. Williamson had two of the Mets three hits. Friday Ben Ciciora went five innings for the Dodgers fanning 10. Ciciora was 4-for-4 at the plate including a grand slam. Ramon Espino was also 4-for-4 perfect for the Dodgers. Andrew Williamson drove in the Mets two runs with a double. Monday, Ben Ciciora shut out the Cubs on three hits. He had 14Ks and 4 walks. Ciciora drove in two with a triple. Delmont Araujo had two of the Cubs hits. According to veteran umpire Wally Gold, Thursday’s Cubs-Tigers game was the best played Little League game he had ever seen on the Vineyard. The game was called for darkness with the score still tied, 2-2, after extra innings. The A’s took two from the Red Sox. Trailing for four innings, Monday, the A’s exploded for 11 runs in the fifth. Cole Bilodeau’s base-clearing homer was the back-breaker. Ryker Maynard tossed four strong innings for the A’s. Wednesday, the Sox faced A’s ace T. J. VanGerven, who held them scoreless for three innings. Eric McIlhenny’s triple ignited a rally in the 4th. But the A’s Oliver Filley drove in two with a single and Mike Bizzaro scored two more with a double, enough to win. LL Majors standings Dodgers 8-0 Tigers 5-2 Athletics 5-2 Cubs 2-4 Mets 1-5 Red Sox 1-6 LL Minors In Minor league action, the Twins defeated the Rockies, 10-5 behind pitcher Colin Cameron. Taylor McNeely and Yannick Gonsalves provided clutch hitting. Wednesday, the Rockies topped the Orioles, 14-12. They had to overcome a 9-3 deficit to do it. LL Minors standings Reds 7-0 Indians 4-3 Twins 4-3 Rockies 2-5 Orioles 1-7 Tabor warms up for the final test. Photos by Charles Shipway St. George's team reaches in light air. The Mark Trophy regatta Concern for the predicted Nor’easter last weekend moved the Mark Trophy regatta from the harbor to the Lagoon — a lot of work for the MVRHS host sailing team! After a full round of 28 races, Saturday, in NE winds up to 25 knots with light chop and temperatures in the low 50s, the top four of the eight entered teams moved back to the harbor for Sunday racing. On Sunday, 12 races for a double round robin were sailed in the outer harbor with winds shifting from NW to SW, 5 to 12 knots. Tabor Academy and St. George’s School won the rights to represent New England in the nationals, May 28-29, at Jensen Beach, Florida. Final Results: races won/races sailed 1. Tabor 11/13 2. St. George’s 9/13 3. Hotchkiss 7/13 4. Milton 6/13 5. Portsmouth Abbey 3/7 6. Dartmouth 2/7 7. Greenwich 2/7 8. BB&N 0/7 Impresario Doug Heil expressed gratitude to many for help in staging the event: VHYC and Charlie Felder, EYC and Bill Roman, Sail Martha’s Vineyard, MVRHS sailing team, Wiseman and Lodge families, MVRHS Booster Club, VH harbor master Jay Wilbur, Todd Alexander, OB harbor master Bob Maciel, MV Shipyard, Dippin’ Donuts, Tony’s market, Offshore Ale Co., Mocha Mott’s, Wind’s Up, Bramhall & Dunn, Vineyard Bottled Waters. Warning! Coach Doug Heil plans on bringing the nationals to the Island next year.

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