The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times
The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times
The Martha's Vineyard Times The Martha's Vineyard Times

Sports

By Don Lyons - August 2, 2007

Ryan Kurth, Ben Connelly, Greg Rubick, and Tim Andrews with Bill Miner
Happy finalists Ryan Kurth, Ben Connelly, Greg Rubick, and Tim Andrews with Bill Miner, sponsor. Photos by Ralph Stewart

Men's softball second season begins

Ties in team standings were broken by face-to-face game results. For instance, the Brewhas and Hurricanes had the same 12-2 record but the Brewhas, which lost to the Highlanders and Wildcats won both of its games with the 'Canes.

Looking back on the Men's Softball League summer season the biggest surprise must be the disappointing record of the Loose Cannons. The Highlanders third place finish was also unpredicted, especially after they lost their first three games.

But that was the first season. Now that season is past and over and the second season, the playoffs, is upon us.

That season began Monday night.

Tim Andrews
Tim Andrews swats one of his eleven home runs during the derby.

The best game of the evening - maybe the best game of the year - was the early one, Loose Cannons versus Highlanders. There were no errors in the game and only a couple of walks. The whole game took less than 45 minutes. The Cannons scored a run in the top of the first, The Highlanders answered with one in the bottom of the fifth, then added three in the sixth. The Cannons replied with two in the seventh, making it a one-run game, and the contest ended as Ben Connelly's shot was caught against the fence in right. They played a second game last night.

Also Tuesday, the defending champion Hurricanes blew by the Riptide, 15-2 and the Wildcats trailed the Treds, 2-0, after three but finished strong and prevailed, 13-6.

Wednesday, the Brewhas were home to the Boilers.

Home Run Derby

Tim Andrews, an off-Islander who commutes from Wareham to the Vineyard to play softball with the Brewhas in the men's Summer Softball League, won the first-ever Home Run Derby at Veterans Park, Tisbury, last Wednesday. The Derby began following the completion of the three scheduled league games, about 9:30 pm. Tim drove three pitches over the fence in the first round and eight more in the second, quite a few more than any other competitor. He received a $50 gift certificate from Bill Miner, proprietor of Sports Haven in Tisbury, as reward for his efforts.

Greg Rubick, of West Tisbury, also received a Sports Haven $50 gift certificate for hitting the longest home run of the evening, an impressive 343-foot, 2-inch drive. That would have put the ball in the monster seats at Fenway where, according to the Fenway Park web sight, at its closest point the wall is just 310 feet from home plate.

Twenty-one batters took their turns swinging for the fence in the first round. The four finalists, who were given six more swings to decide a champion, were Tim Andrews of the Brewhas, Greg Rubick of the Loose Cannons, Ben Connelly of the Loose Cannons, and Ryan Kurth of the Highlanders.

Dan Sharkovitz was the Master of Ceremonies, running the event with his accustomed competence and good humor.

Harrison Holmes
Harrison Holmes goes up for a kill on "the beach" at Veterans Park.

Couldn't do without it

The veterans who created Tisbury's Veterans Park and presented it to the town in 1964 have every reason to be gratified by the way the park is in constant and varied use. For instance, it is not at all unusual to find the park occupied by folk of all ages engaged in sport. It's like a five ring circus with two softball games played concurrently with a soccer game, a beach volleyball game, an ultimate frisbee game, and a couple guys shooting hoops, as children play on a monkey climb, or seesaw, or slide.

I don't think we could do without it.

tennis team
Standing, left to right, Coach Mike Johns, Doreen Rezendes, Lin DeYoung, Ruth McGorty, Sally Anderson, June Flake, and Sam Reece, assistant coach. Front row, left to right, co-captain Sarah Catchpole, Mary Breslauer, co-captain Susie Safford, and Betsy Corsiglia. Team members not shown are Carla Cooper, Jeannie Holenko, and Sue Peltier. Photo by Christine Todd

New tennis team a near miss

In its first year of ranked competition, the MV women's tennis team playing at the 3.5 level finished its season tied in second place with Team Martinelli of Mid Cape and narrowly missed a berth in the New England district finals.

The team is coached by Mike Johns and Sam Reece of Farm Neck Tennis.

According to team captain Susie Safford, "we surprised a lot of people by doing so well in our first year."

The Island team playing 4.0 tennis had its best year ever: 12 wins, no losses. They play in the districts at Woburn this weekend. team captain Nina Bramhall says, "We're going with a lot of confidence."

Julie Cerullo

Heading to Hong Kong

Edgartown summer resident Julie Cerullo is headed to Kuala Lumpur, her first stop as a member of the US Junior Women's Squash Team, which is on its way to the World Junior Team Championships in Hong Kong August 1-11. Ms. Cerullo began the trip with the team, following her return from Amsterdam and Cologne, where she was the top American female finisher in the Pioneer Cup and Dutch Junior Open tournaments.

Ms. Cerullo, was named to the US Junior National Team in March at the conclusion of the junior squash season at the US Closed Nationals in Baltimore. Junior teams are composed of youth under nineteen years of age. Selected by the U.S. Squash Racquets Assn,, the US team competes against other nations' top ranked players for world honors. Twenty-four nations are participating in the 2007 Worlds in Hong Kong.

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