The second week of men’s summer softball began Monday night with an Island Softball League tripleheader at Veterans Park in Vineyard Haven. Six teams were in action, while the defending-champion Hurricanes, the Floaters and the Shockers had the night off.
The first game of the evening was over in a hurry as the Blazers scorched league newbies Team South Beach 29-3 in five innings. Josh Cotterell, Matt Rivers, and Billy Panek paced the Blazers to a 4-0 lead after the first inning. The second inning got much, much worse for the beachcombers, who unofficially go by the name of “the Stepdads.” With the first two Blazers aboard, Matt Rivers crushed a titanic home run well over the center field fence, halfway onto the adjoining soccer pitch. Lamar Moreis added a two-run shot. When the damage was done, each player in the lineup had a hit and the Blazers led 16-0. South Beach got on the board in the bottom half of the second with a pair of RBI singles, courtesy of Trenton Brown and Shane Schofield. The Blazers chalked up two more round-trippers on the night. Matt Rivers hit a two-run shot to dead center and Lamar Moreis legged-out a long single into an inside-the-park home run.
The middle game was an entertaining contest between the Gustaves (named for a man-eating African crocodile) and the Brewhas. The kelly-green-clad Gustaves were down 8-1 early, but rallied for a 15-10 win. The Brewhas wasted little time in swinging for the fences, putting up five runs in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Ronnie Miske singled. Weston Halkyard then went yard with a towering two-run homer. Matt Gebo followed with a single, and cleanup slugger Ben Ford belted a two-run dinger of his own. Tim Millerick capped the Brewhas’ hot start with a solo shot.
The lead grew to 8-1 in the second inning, as Matt Gebo, Tim Millerick, and Shawn Reed crossed the plate. The Gustaves started to make a game of it in the third. Michael Montanile keyed a four-run rally with a two-RBI single. He added two more RBIs on a double in the fifth to tie the game at 9-9. Brian Welty singled to put the Green Team on top for the first time, and Brian Montambault knocked in two more runs to give the Gustaves a 12-9 lead after five.
The Montaniles — Matt the elder, Michael, and Matt the younger (two RBI) — along with Marc Natichioni (one RBI) all reached base as the Gustaves posted three more runs in the sixth frame. Ronnie Miske started the Brewhas’ seventh with a solo shot that proved to be his team’s last gasp.
The tripleheader came to a close as the Highlanders and Whitecaps clashed in a spirited slugfest. Luke Bettencourt clouted a massive three-run homer as the ‘Caps took an early lead, but the Highlanders, last season’s runners-up, woke up their bats and won 18-15.
The Highlanders’ John Mazza, “Johnny Mazz,” had the web gem of the night. He made a sparkling grab and flipped the ball back to shortstop Kyle Crossland, who fired to Jeremy Scheffer at first to complete the double play.