The Martha’s Vineyard 11-and-under Little League baseball team as of Wednesday was 3-1 in Little League World Series play.
On Tuesday, in a home game, Martha’s Vineyard beat Barnstable 14 to 10 in extra innings to stay alive in district play. MV gets a rematch with Plymouth, which previously beat the Islanders, in district championship play on Thursday.
For MV, Cam Napior went 3-4 with two homers, a double, and eight RBIs. Liam Marek was 4-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI, Harper Hearn went 2-4 with 2 doubles, and Atlas Zack was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Barnstable also brought the lumber, and sandwiched big hits of their own around some Vineyard errors.
Martha’s Vineyard 11, Old Rochester 1
On Saturday, June 25, Martha’s Vineyard traveled to Old Rochester and came away with a convincing 11-1 victory. Latham Higgins only allowed 6 singles, and also contributed at the plate by going 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI. Other notable hits came from Jack Lionette, who went 2-3; Jonathan Norton also went 2-3, and Harper Hearn had a huge 2-out single, driving in two to put MV up 4-0. Jacob Silvia had a nice double. Martha’s Vineyard was stellar with gloves, with 13 of the 18 outs involving shortstop Jonathan Norton, second baseman Cam Napior, and centerfielder Tobey Roberts.
Martha’s Vineyard 9, Barnstable 6
On Monday, June 27, MV picked up its second win in the LLWS tournament with a 9-6 victory over a strong Barnstable team at home. Atlas Zack and Liam Marek split time on the mound for MV, and held Barnstable to 8 hits. Zack also went 2-3 with a run and an RBI. With several players missing due to injury, school outings, or family vacations, Jack DeBettencourt and Eamon Savard filled in from the 10U squad, and played extremely well with several catches in the outfield, with DeBettencourt throwing out a Barnstable runner trying to stretch a hit into a double.
Plymouth 9, Martha’s Vineyard 5
On Friday, July 1, MV lost its first game of the double-elimination LLWS tournament. They got off to a strong start behind a quick 1-2-3 inning from starter Cam Napior, and then Napior hammered a ground-rule double to drive in a run, and he later scored to make it 2-0 MV. The second inning was a tough one. After a pop out, Plymouth hit a solo homer to make it 2-1. That should have been all, but a dropped fly ball and three infield errors led Plymouth to a 5-run inning. MV kept battling back, picking up runs in the second and fourth, but couldn’t get all the way back.
