A team of 14-year-old baseball players from Martha’s Vineyard competed in a week-long tournament at Cooperstown Baseball World last week against teams from around the country. The 2014 Martha’s Vineyard All-Stars, travelling from July 11 to 18 as the MV Islanders, played seven games in five days just outside Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Game venues included Damaschke Stadium, where Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter once ran the bases.
“The team played seven very competitive games winning two and losing five,” assistant coach David Smith said in an email to The Times. “However, the five losses were by a combined margin of 9 runs. The first game against the Fulton Force, from New York, was by far the most exciting game as the Islanders trailed 1-0 into the final inning before Elias Fhagen-Smith, who also pitched most of the game only giving up one hit, knocked in the tying run with a single. Mitchell Chaves won the game with a walk-off double scoring two runs.”
After losing an elimination round against the New York Amsterdam Rams in the playoffs, the Islanders defeated the South Harlem All-Stars 9-1 in a consolation game, their last before returning to the Vineyard.
“Beyond the great baseball all of the boys played,” Mr. Smith said, “the trip was highlighted by a visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as an Oneonta Outlaws New York Collegiate Baseball League game and lots of team bonding around the dorm ping pong table and campus fields for battles of junk ball and ultimate frisbee.”
The 13 Vineyard players included: Aidan Aliberti, Sam Bresnick, Taber Caron, Mitchell Chaves, Elias Fhagen-Smith, Nick Fiore, Curtis Fournier, Theo Gallagher, Mercer Kelly, Graham Lewis, Zack Moreis, Jack Sayre, and Colby Scarsella. The team was led by head coach Ernie Chaves and assistant coaches David Smith and Chris Scarsella.
