Sharks 3-2 after first week of FCBL play

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Sharks pitcher Kyle Brenner of Brandeis gets ready to deal to the plate Tuesday vs. Old Orchard Beach. — Photo by Ralph Stewart

The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, the local franchise in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, started the defense of their 2013 championship with three wins and two losses in the first week of play. They also had three players drafted, two current and one former, by Major League Baseball over the weekend.

Right-handed pitcher Austin DeCarr (Clemson) started and won the season opener June 4 before being drafted with the 91st overall pick by the New York Yankees on June 6. The following day, shortstop Will Toffey (Vanderbilt), brother of Sharks coach John Toffey, went to the Yanks in the 23rd round, while the Baltimore Orioles picked Vineyarder and former Sharks player Tad Gold in the 35th round.

The Major League Draft news was the major highlight in a busy week of FCBL play.

Tuesday at the Shark Tank in Oak Bluffs, the Sharks moved over .500 with a 5-4 win over the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide. The Sharks won the game in the bottom of the ninth after a Rahiem Cooper error in left field allowed Brian Campbell to score from third base. Campbell led off the ninth with a double. Kevin Foley then singled, advancing Campbell to third and setting up the winning run.

The Tide scored the first two runs of the ballgame. Sharks second baseman Jack Roberts, a 2013 MVRHS graduate who now plays at Williams College, put the hosts on the board with a deep sac fly to right, scoring Jack Cloud.

The Sharks took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Brian Campbell earned an RBI walk and Will Toffey scored for the go-ahead run. In the sixth, Jon Mayer doubled and Toffey brought him home with a double of his own to make it 4-2.

Sharks closer Matt Calamoneri earned the win. Kyle Brenner threw a four stellar shutout innings of long relief for starter Garrison Banas, allowing two hits, with three Ks and three walks. Matt Binder pitched the eighth, conceding one run, striking out two and walking one.

Catcher Jon Mayer was 4 for 5 on the night and Matt Lavanchy went 3 for 3. Will Toffey and Brian Campbell each were 2 for 4 and Jack Cloud was 2 for 3.

Sunday, the Sharks traveled to Lynn, pounding out 17 hits in a 15-6 win over the North Shore Navigators. Jack Roberts was 3 for 5 with four RBIs. Tim Bickford also knocked in four runs and went 2 for 3. Kyle Pheland was the winning pitcher.

Friday and Saturday, the Sharks suffered consecutive losses to the Nashua Silver Knights (12-9) and Brockton Rox (9-1).

The Sharks raised their 2013 championship flag on June 4, then went out and chomped the North Shore Navigators, 11-1, in the season opener before 800 fans on a misty Wednesday night at the Shark Tank in Oak Bluffs.

Austin DeCarr got the start and earned the win. The 6’ 3” 215-pound hard-throwing right hander from Foxboro pitched four strong innings, allowing one hit, striking out seven, and walking three.

DeCarr’s teammates took out their wooden bats and gave him plenty of runs to work with.

The Sharks broke the game open with six runs on seven hits in the bottom of the third to take a 7-1 lead. Second baseman Jack Roberts, a 2013 MVRHS graduate attending Williams College led off with a single. Ryan Kelly and Rich Baerga then singled to load the bases. Tim Bickford singled to score Roberts and Kelly. The next three Sharks all doubled. John Mayer knocked in Baerga and Bickford; Steve Buckley Jr. scored Mayer; and Brendan Cox doubled in Buckley Jr.

The locals put the game away in the fifth after Buckley Jr. crushed a three-run homer to deep center and Ryan Kelly batted in Brendan Cox.

The Sharks are back at The Tank Friday night at 7 pm to take on the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs.