By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The varsity baseball team continued to find success on the diamond this week, extending its win streak to four straight with victories over Sturgis 12-5 Wednesday and Blue Hills 5-3 Thursday.
The Whalers received contributions from the complete line-up this week as the younger players have started to find a groove against varsity pitching.
“We are clicking right now. We have a little bit of confidence going in,” head coach Nick Duarte said of the team’s upcoming games. “Our defense is a little better now. Everybody is making the plays we need to make.”
The inclement weather has wreaked havoc on the squad’s schedule as Saturday’s game against Martha’s Vineyard and Tuesday’s game at Provincetown were both postponed. Tuesday’s meeting with the Fishermen was rescheduled for Wednesday, too late for this edition of Sports.
The Whalers, who improved their record to 4-2 overall, are set to be back in action today at home against Sturgis and again tomorrow against New Testament.
After the long bus ride to Blue Hills Thursday, the Whalers came out a little sluggish in the early innings. The Warriors took the early lead with a run in the first inning. Nantucket finally woke up in the third with two runs and kept the pressure on from there.
“We got a couple runs, got the lead, and then they started to get pumped up. The next thing you know, they started plucking away at them and taking advantage of the little mistakes they were making,” Duarte said.
Chris Welch scored on a passed ball and Zach Moran drove in Michael Molta from third base to get things started. In the fourth, Hunter Slade scored on a passed ball to put Nantucket out in front.
Molta kept Blue Hills off-balance through most of the game. The sophomore starter tossed all seven innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out five. He also picked two runners off base and benefited from a caught stealing by catcher Tim Marsh and solid play in the field.
After the Warriors tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning, the Whalers added runs in the fifth and sixth for the win. Troy Sullivan drove in Moran in the fifth and Eric Lowell scored from second on an error in the infield in the sixth.
Andrew Benson and Taylor Hughes came through as clutch hitters for the Whalers Thursday at Sturgis. Benson hit 3-for-4 with three RBI on three singles, while Hughes hit 3-for-5 with two RBI also on three singles.
“That was key for us, the bottom of the order. They really stepped up. The freshmen all stepped up to the plate, we had runners on base all the time. It was timely hitting and they were all over it. They were in the zone,” Duarte said.
The Whalers scored three times in the first inning and broke the game open with five runs in the second on consistent singles through the order. Sturgis found a little life with two runs later in the game, but Lowell capped things off with an RBI triple in the fifth.
Lowell got the start on the mound and pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs while striking out five. Nick Lombardi came on for the final three innings and allowed one run in the sixth, while striking our four.
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