Boys’ tennis moves to a sensational 8-0
The Vineyarders have remained undefeated for six straight weeks, as they continue to overpower everyone in their path.
Against Sandwich away on April 26, and Falmouth on April 28, the Vineyarders were especially dominant, as they won both meetings 5-0 without dropping a single set. Incredibly, it was the third time they had accomplished the feat this season alone, also doing so against Barnstable on April 12.
To top it all off, they lost only four games total to Falmouth all afternoon, across all singles and doubles tilts.
On Monday, May 1, the Vineyarders found themselves fighting against a valiant opponent in the 8-1 Sharon Eagles. Forced into playing a third set, sophomore Zak Potter and senior Clyde Smith secured gritty wins at one and two singles, respectively. At one doubles, senior Teagan Myers and sophomore Caleb Dubin were also pushed to their limits, winning their third set 7-5.
After the 3-2 win over Sharon, first-year Coach Nicole Macy said, “It was great to see the boys pushed and show how strong they are. [Sharon] is at the top of their division [MIAA Division II], which is a full division higher than ours.”
Moreover, MVRHS managed to beat Sharon (as well as Sandwich and Falmouth) without their No. 2 singles hitter, senior Jacob Riis: “We’ve had a lot of illness on the team, sadly, but we’re super-lucky that the talent runs deep.”
Finally, this past week, the Vineyarders extended their streak to eight games with away wins over Nauset on Wednesday, and Barnstable on Friday. Beating the Warriors 4-1, MVRHS handed Nauset its first loss of the season, officially staking their claim atop the Cape and Islands standings. “It’s all so exciting!” Coach Macy stated.
Moving forward, the Vineyarders will stay busy, with five matches in the next eight days. This stretch will feature a matchup between the Islands on Saturday at 12:30 pm, held at the MVRHS Fennessy Courts.
Led by trio of seniors, girls’ tennis moves to 5-1 in Cape and Islands play
This past week, the Vineyarders had two matches: against Nauset on Wednesday, May 3, and against Barnstable on Friday, May 5. The so-called “Tenacious 20” beat the Warriors 3-1, and then proceeded to dominate the Red Hawks 5-0.
MVRHS continues to be led by senior singles hitters Cali Giglio, Evelyn Brewer, and Andrea Morse, who didn’t drop a single set this past week. Against Barnstable, the trio were especially on their game, and only dropped a total of two games between the three of them. Reigning Cape and Islands MVP Giglio went 6-0, 6-0, at one singles. Aside from a tight super-tiebreaker loss versus Newton North, Giglio is undefeated this season.
With these victories over Nauset and Barnstable, the Vineyarders have now won 28 of their last 29 Cape and Islands League meetings, and are sitting comfortably in second place behind Falmouth. Up until their matchup with the Clippers on April 28, MVRHS was riding a 26-game winning streak against league opponents.
This upcoming week, the Vineyarders will have three more Cape and Islands matchups in Sandwich, Dennis-Yarmouth, and finally Nantucket, all away. MVRHS defeated Sandwich and Dennis-Yarmouth earlier this season, but is yet to face the Whalers. Their April 29 showdown was rained out, so the Island rivals will play a doubleheader on Nantucket this Saturday at 11 am.
MVRHS sailors take on the Terk
Going into this past weekend, the Vineyarders were ranked No. 11 out of 60-plus public and private high schools in the New England Schools Sailing Association, qualifying them to compete in the “Terk” on Saturday and Sunday. Held annually at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s sailing camp, schools ranked Nos. 9 through 16 battled for a spot in the National Invitational Tournament for team racing — also known as the Founders Trophy — happening later this month.
After day one, the Vineyarders had raced everybody once, and separated themselves from most of the pack. East Greenwich (Rhode Island) and Sharon, however, were right there with them, so MVRHS had to come back sharp for day two.
“We were in contention after day one,” explained Coach Andrew Burr. “The wind was tricky, but it didn’t die … We had to be ‘on’ mentally, all day long.”
On day two, though, the Vineyarders dropped a couple of heartbreakers, ultimately pushing them out of reach of first. “There were some photo finishes … we let some go that we should have won.” After the second round robin, MVRHS ended up with an 8-6 overall record, good for third behind East Greenwich and Sharon.
But despite the outcome, Burr and Co. aren’t totally disappointed. “We felt like we should have won first, but all in all, it was a fantastic weekend … There was some great competition, and it was a lot of fun.” He added, “MIT’s venue is spectacular, and everything was run seamlessly. It was the best Terk I’ve ever been to.” Third place at the Terk was a school record for MVRHS sailing.
Taking Monday to lick their wounds and rest up, the Vineyarders bounced back on Tuesday, beating Falmouth 4-1. With this victory, and 3-0 wins over Old Rochester Regional and Bishop Stang over the past few weeks, MVRHS is still undefeated against Cape and Islands opposition this season.
They’ll participate in the NESSA O’Day (New England fleet racing championship) Qualifiers this weekend.
Track and field athletes ramp up the intensity
Over the past few weeks, the Vineyarders have continued to put in the work as they prepare for the Cape and Islands, Divisional, State, and National Championships at the end of the season. Recently, their work has really begun to pay off, as Vineyarders across the board have experienced breakthrough races and events.
In the relays, the girls’ 4x200m and sprint medley (200m-200m-400m-800m) teams have been fantastic as of late for MVRHS. At the MSTCA Division V Relays on April 29, sophomore Camille Brand, junior Caroline Bettencourt, junior Maia Donnelly, and senior Shantavia Whylly broke the 4x200m school record by four seconds, with a time of 1:53.64.
Also at the Division V Relays, Brand, Bettencourt, and Donnelly teamed up with senior distance specialist Wren Christy to finish fourth out of 19 teams, with a time of 4:29.73.
At the qualifier-only Weston Twilight Invitational on May 6, the sprint medley relay team outdid themselves by a whopping seven seconds, good for second overall, as well as a spot at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Ore., this June.
After their showing in Weston, Coach Joe Schroeder said, “They absolutely crushed it; it was an unbelievable meet. Wren hammered that last relay … After their performance at the Division V relays, I told them, ‘Ladies, we’re all in.’ We had to go for it.”
On the distance team, Daniel Serpa has continued his incredible senior season, recently setting personal records in both the 800m and mile run. At the Warrior Invitational on April 20, Serpa won the mile outright with a PR of 4:32.44, beating out 76 other participants. He then qualified to run the 800m at the all-State Meet of Champions with a time of 1:58.6 at the Weston Invitational.
Meanwhile, sophomores Rodeo Purves-Langer and Broden Vincent have emerged as talented distance runners as well, getting closer and closer to the five-minute threshold in the mile. In early May, they set respective personal records of 5:04 and 5:09 for the mile run. “I’m really happy for these guys,” Coach Schroeder stated.
Finally, in the field, underclassmen Xeandre Miller and Camille Brand have continued to impress. In Middleboro on May 5, Miller threw for an eight-foot personal record of 112 feet, 4 inches, finishing as one of two freshmen in the top 12. In the high jump, Brand won the Warrior Invitational outright with leaps at 5 feet, 2 inches, and then took third overall at the Weston Invitational. She has qualified to compete at the Massachusetts Meet of Champions as well as the Nike Outdoor Nationals in June.
This Wednesday, the Vineyarders will have a dual meet against Falmouth at home, after our paper’s deadline, and then travel to Norton for the MSTCA Coaches’ Invitational on Saturday. They then will compete in the Cape and Islands Championships on Monday, May 22, which will be their last chance to individually qualify for the Division V Championships at the end of the month.
Softball gets first win of the season
MVRHS’ young team had a major breakthrough a couple of weeks ago, getting their first win of the season in a 19-7 rout of Boston English on May 1.
In the win, eighth grader Kelly Pacheco and senior G.G. Deblase paced the offense, each plating multiple runs for the Vineyard. Meanwhile, freshman Bella Webster also earned an RBI during her multi-hit game, and sophomore Madison Mello managed a triple.
On defense, freshman Isabella Bollin had “a big stop at second,” preventing runs from scoring, and completing a double play. On the mound, senior Genevieve Hyland kept the Eagles at bay with seven strikeouts, and Kelly Pacheco was “outstanding” behind the plate.
After the win, Coach Tiffany McCarty stated, “It was a defining moment. At one point we were behind five runs or so, but everyone started to jump on it. We finally saw it all clicking.”
The Vineyarders also played Nantucket, Rising Tide Charter, St. John Paul II, and Dover-Sherborn the past couple of weeks. The Nantucket and Rising Tide games were slugfests, in which the Vineyarders scored a total of 23 runs.
Against the Whalers, Bella Webster pitched her best game of the season, with a solid K/BB ratio. Meanwhile, Mello, Deblase, and eighth grader Isabella Arters all slugged in multiple RBIs, including a home run from Mello. She also made a huge catch in center field to prevent runs from scoring. On the basepaths, Pacheco, Bollin, and seventh grader Stella Debettencourt all recorded steals.
Against the Herons, the seniors led the way for MVRHS. Hyland pitched a complete game with six strikeouts, and Vivian Peak and G.G. Deblase had a day at the plate, each getting three hits (including a Deblase home run) and multiple RBIs. Mello also made an impact with some more great defense in center field, and Debettencourt made a solid, inning-ending play at first herself.
Reflecting on the season thus far, Coach McCarty said, “This team was still learning fundamentals when we started. Now they are getting huge hits, stealing bases, and making big plays … As a coach, this is just amazing to see after just six weeks, and with players that are so young!”
Of Coach McCarty’s 19 players, only seven of the Vineyarders were returners; the rest are all rookies. Her bunch includes six middle schoolers and eight freshmen. She’s confident that as they continue to develop, they’ll get more and more wins under their belts.
Baseball goes 2-2 for the week
This past week, the Vineyarders split four games total, beating Nauset and Monomoy, and losing to Boston English and Barnstable.
MVRHS’ game against Nauset last Wednesday wasn’t even close, with the Vineyarders sprinkling seven runs across five innings, and senior ace Cam Napior pitching a complete-game shutout. In the 7-0 win, the top of the order delivered for MVRHS, with junior Brian Sornas, senior Tobey Roberts, and sophomore Hunter Johnson recording seven hits and four RBIs among themselves. Meanwhile, Napior allowed only three hits over his seven innings pitched.
Against Monomoy, though, it was a different story for the Vineyarders, who got three of their four runs in one inning to put the Sharks away 4-3. Their rally started in the fifth, as Napior led off with a double, and then stole third. Then Roberts hit an RBI double, and two batters later, senior Micah Simmons plated Roberts on an error. Finally, sophomore Wyatt Loughman scored Simmons to get their third run of the inning. Coach Kyle Crossland stated, “Wyatt hit the ball hard all game.” He finished two for three.
On defense, senior Liam Marek pitched a complete game with six strikeouts. Remaining efficient on the mound, and with the help of some double plays keyed by Jack Debettencourt and Axel Abrams in the infield, Marek held strong for the complete game win.
In the Vineyard’s losses to Boston English and Barnstable, the bright spot for Coach Crossland and Co. was the pitching, as MVRHS allowed a total of only seven runs across both games. Against Boston English, junior Sam Zack had a complete-game, six-strikeout performance. Against Barnstable, Roberts held the “bullies of the Cape” to only four runs and six hits all game. The Vineyarders actually outhit the Red Hawks with nine, including a triple from Loughman.
Looking ahead, the Vineyarders will host three games in a row: Dennis-Yarmouth on Wednesday at 3:15 pm, after our paper’s deadline, Sandwich on Friday at 3:15, and Bristol-Plymouth Tech on Monday at 3:15.
