The first week of high school spring sports action in the Cape and Islands League was jam-packed with games.
The sailing team, having split a pair of non-league contests in April — a 4-1 win over Tabor Academy and a 3-0 loss to Milton Academy — met Sandwich Thursday afternoon on Lagoon Pond under clear blue skies, with temperatures in the low 60s. Trouble was there was little to no wind, and the schools struggled to sail two races over two hours. The Vineyard boats placed 1-2-3 in the first race behind skipper/crew pairings of Felix Colon/Juliet Morse, Zack Ward/Jocelyn Baliunas, and Miles Wolfe/Henri Kyburg Abbott, but Sandwich took the second race 1-2-5 (8 points) to MV’s 3-4-6 (13). Yossi Monahan/Ingrid Moore, Delilah Hammarlund/Griff Stead, and Caleb Burt/Michaela Benefit sailed for the Vineyarders.
In their next race Tuesday at the Hyannis Yacht Club, MV didn’t have to worry about wind. They had plenty, and beat St. John Paul II, 3-1.
Four teams were in action at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on Friday. Boys lacrosse started off the busy afternoon and beat Sturgis East, 10-3. Ed Cherry, Aiden Marek, Bizu Horwitz, and Jesse Yacubian each tallied twice, with Nick BenDavid and Hunter Meader adding a goal apiece. Assists went to Meader (2), Cherry, Horwitz, and Oliver Lively. Graham Stearns was stingy in net, and blanked the visitors in the second half.
Boys tennis also got off to a winning start by defeating the Falmouth Clippers, 5-0, in Kevin Lewis’ debut as Vineyard head coach. The impressive Vineyarders conceded a mere five games through the first four matches. Senior Max Potter defeated Alex Tang 6-0, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, and fellow senior Eric Ruebens topped Will Gerlock 6-0, 6-0, at second singles. Sophomore Jacob Riis claimed a No. 3 singles win over Ian Maksyn 6-1, 6-1. Sophomore pair Teagan Myers and Clyde Smith defeated Falmouth’s Bode Larsen and Brett Corner 6-0, 6-2, at first doubles, while junior Ben Belise and sophomore Jack Marshard bested Silas Lacey and Thomas Ghossien 6-2, 6-4, at second doubles to complete the sweep.
At Vineyard Baseball Park, Falmouth scored four runs in the first inning and beat the Purple, 5-0. Senior captain Leo Neville pitched all seven innings for the Vineyarders, allowing just five hits, striking out eight, and walking one. Finn Lewis, Andrew Marchand, and Isaac Richards had two hits apiece. Silas Abrams, Nick Cranston, and Nate Porterfield added three more.
Staying on the diamonds, the Vineyarder softball team fell prey to a potent Monomoy Sharks offense in the season opener. Marsha Stewart, Kayleigh Bollin, and Gabriella De Blase each singled for MV. Emma Williamson and Ashley Brasfield turned a 1-3 double play, and Bethany Cardoza had a stolen base.
The boys and girls lacrosse teams both hit the road on Monday afternoon. The boys traveled to Harwich and downed Monomoy, 15-6, while the girls lost their season opener to St. John Paul II in Sandwich, 13-3.
“A much better outing than the first game,” Vineyard boys lacrosse Coach Chris Greene said. Hunter Meader fired 11 shots on goal and led the Vineyarders (2-0) with five goals and an assist. Aiden Marek had three goals and an assist, Oliver Lively and Bizu Horwitz also notched hat tricks, and Josh Billings added another goal. Cam Geary picked up three assists, and Braden Sayles had one. Graham Stearns was the winning goalie. The Vineyarders dominated at the center circle with Vinny Da Silva, Nick BenDavid, and Aiden Conley combining to win 21 of 25 face-offs. “All three guys were productive for us today,” Coach Greene said. “Three freshmen, Aiden and Liam Conley and Wyatt Nicholson, played huge minutes for us.”
In the girls game, Savannah Meader finished with a goal and an assist. Maggie Best and Nellie Long scored the other Vineyard goals, and Lila Mikos made seven saves in net.
The Vineyard outdoor track and field teams opened the season against Barnstable on Tuesday at MVRHS in the first outdoor spring meet held at the high school in more than 700 days.
The girls won, 68-60, and the boys lost, 79-46.
In the girls meet, the Vineyarders won every track event they entered, and took all of the field events except the javelin. They also finished second or third in five events, providing crucial points in the tight contest.
Anabelle Biggs won four events: the 100 meters (13.1), 200m (26.8), long jump (16 feet, 3 inches), and most impressively, her first-ever entry in the triple jump (32 feet, 10.25 inches).
Eloise Christy was a triple winner, placing first in the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches), 400m (64.4), and 400m low hurdles (72.65). Two freshmen, Maya Donnelly and Alexa Schroeder, ran first (2:32) and third (2:43) in the 800m.
For the boys, Jonathan Norton won the 400m hurdles (60.78) in his first time out, and added a win in the 110m high hurdles (17.2) and a second in the javelin (79 feet, 8 inches) for a total of 13 points. Vineyard Coach Joe Schroeder cited Norton, who runs the 1000m indoors and cross-country in the fall, as his most versatile runner. “He knows that he has a lot more left, and I’m excited to see his progression over the season,” he said.
Nick Pecararo also had a big day, winning the 100 (11.8) and 400 (54.4) while placing second in the long jump (16 feet, 8 inches).
The boys 800 was a classic. MV’s Daniel da Silva led for 750 meters before Barnstable’s Charlie Ewald passed him with 30 meters to go. da Silva fought back and retook the lead in the last five meters, and won by two-tenths of a second, 2:04.9 to 2:05.1.
Also of note in the boys meet was Zach Utz winning the mile in 5:07.
As the Times went to press on Wednesday afternoon, four teams were in action. Girls tennis hosted Nauset in the season opener, while the baseball and boys tennis teams were at Nauset and the softball team was in Hyannis playing St. John Paul II.
