Updated July 29
The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks maintained their two-and-a-half-game lead atop the Southern Division of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) with a highlight-filled 5-2 win over the New Bedford Bay Sox, Wednesday night at the Shark Tank in Oak Bluffs.
The Sharks have won four straight games, and 15 in the past 19, to lead the NECBL at 23-13. They won Wednesday with just enough offense, some stellar defense, and clutch pitching.
Sharks starter Brett Marshall improved to 1-1 after pitching five tidy shutout innings with a line of no runs, five hits, one walk, four Ks and two hit batsmen. Relievers Marc Mendel and Jackson Vescelus finished up, allowing two unearned runs on four walks, two hits, and two errors behind them.
Before the game, five-year veteran NECBL manager and Coach Chris Cabe said, “The NECBL has been known as a pitcher’s league. A lot of good arms have come through [the NECBL] but we’ve seen a lot more offense this year.”
It looked retro in the early going as both starters zipped through the opposing lineups in the first, but a bad thing happened in the second inning to Bay Sox starter Shane Reardon. Reardon is a craftsman, relies on changing speeds, a good curveball, and locating his pitches. He could not find the strike zone in the second, walked the bases full, and two Sharks scored on an infield error.
That was the offense through five innings, though Sharks centerfielder Matt Chamberlain made the defensive play of the game in the fourth. With two outs and Bay Sox on first and second via base hits, New Bedford native Andrew Rapoza hit one a ton to deep center. Chamberlain took one look, turned his back to the ball, and fled toward the fence, catching up with it on a sprawling catch to end the inning.
Reardon exited after five innings, giving up two unearned runs, three hits, six Ks, four walks, and falling to 2-1 on the season.
The Sharks made it 3-1 in the sixth when Stanford senior Nickolas Oar channeled a loud fan plea to “please do something” by taking reliever Christian Rosati way deep to right center for his second homer of the season.
Walks and Sharks errors allowed the Bay Sox to close to 3-2 by the top of the eighth, but Alan Burnsed led off the Shark eighth with a hustle double, before a walk to Nander De Sedas. Both scored on a single by Slavens and an accompanying Bay Sox miscue for the final 5-2 verdict.
Good baseball and a fun night with pink-tipped clouds ushered in the evening as Kevin Braun, 7, of Apple Valley, Minn., honed his skills behind the screen, timing his swing to the pitcher’s delivery.
Kevin, his 5-year-old brother Dustin, grampa Ross Johnson and assorted relatives attended their first Sharks tilt. “Kevin loves his baseball,” Grampa said, noting that a family reunion after 20 years away had brought the clan back to the Island.
And where else can you get a “moth delay” at a baseball game? Play was halted in the bottom of the seventh inning after a gi-normous moth bobbed and weaved between the pitcher and home plate. A committee of umpires and players corralled the critter and acceded to 300 fans’ vociferous request to release it unharmed. Can’t make this stuff up.
The crowd also got a funky a cappella national anthem from Haley Pereira, some really good coupons and giveaways, and an enthusiastic player intro set from fill-in PA announcer Steve Moore, enlisted by his daughter Grace Moore, assistant general manager of the Sharks.
The Sharks host second-place Newport Thursday, July 25, at 7 pm, before four road games sandwiched around the NECBL All-Star game, and play their final home game of the regular season on August 1 against Mystic.
Slavens is second in the league for fan-voted All-Star. Fans can vote for him until midnight tonight at Vote19.NECBL.com.
This story has been updated to correct pitcher Brett Marshall’s record.