By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Derrick Maxwell slides safely into second base in the second game of a double-header against Norwell on Saturday. The Whalers lost both ends of the double-dip, 16-10 and 7-4. |
After defeating Sturgis handily last Wednesday at home, the baseball team lost three straight games this week: 12-2 to Mashpee and both ends of a double-header to Norwell, 16-10 and 7-4.
The Whalers, who fell to 4-9 on the season, were scheduled to face Martha’s Vineyard yesterday, too late for this edition of Sports. On tap for the baseball team will be Upper Cape at home on Friday and a trip to Avon on Saturday.
Against Mashpee on Tuesday, the Whalers felt the effects of the double-header on the pitching staff, while continuing their struggles in the field, head coach Art Crowley said. Geddes Paulsen pitched four innings and allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks while striking out eight batters. The Whalers managed to scatter 10 hits while scoring only twice. Ryan Laffey went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple, Paulsen was 2-for-3 with a double, Derrick Maxwell hit two singles and Adam Spencer added a double. Maxwell came on to pitch the final two innings in his first appearance of the season.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Ryan Laffey swings in Tuesday's game against Mashpee. |
Over the weekend against Norwell, the Whalers, who have struggled with the bats against strong pitching so far this season, broke out with 10 runs in the first game after the departure of the Norwell ace but responded with only four runs in the second game.
“Our defense was a little better, but still we have holes and it seems like these other teams in the pinch are finding those holes. But it is certainly better and we are going in the right direction and playing better ball than we were two weeks ago, and that is a positive,” Crowley said.
In game two Nantucket scattered two hits over the first five innings before breaking out in the last two frames. In the sixth inning Griffin LaFleur led off with a single and scored on a single by Paulsen. In the seventh, Kodi Boughtman led off with a double and with the bases loaded and no outs, LaFleur singled to drive him home. With the bases still packed, Laffey was hit by a pitch, allowing Stephen Trimble, who had walked, to cross the plate.
LaFleur came in to score the final run on an error on a ball hit by Greyson Leibowitz.
In game one the Clippers took a 4-0 lead in the fourth and expanded that lead to 12-0 in the next inning. Paulsen pitched the first five innings for the Whalers, striking out nine batters and falling victim to a handful of errors in the field. Boughtman and Sean Sosebee came on in relief in the sixth for the final two innings.
“The defense made some mistakes, they found some holes and things
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Geddes Paulsen thorws the ball. |
compounded,” Crowley said.
The Whalers, up against Norwell’s best pitcher for five innings, scored once in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth and seventh innings, Nantucket strung together some hits, including a home run from Paulsen, against the Clippers’ relief pitcher scoring nine times.
Against Sturgis at home last Wednesday, the Whalers sent 24 batters to the plate in the first inning, exploding for 18 runs on 14 hits. LaFleur and Laffey each had three hits, including a triple, and three runs scored. Paulsen, Leibowitz, Maxwell and Trimble had two hits and two runs scored apiece. All in the first inning.
By the third trip through the order, the starters were taking a rest on the bench while some of the underclassmen got in a few swings. Nick Slade and Josh Stone hit the ball well, Crowley said.
“It was good to have these guys swinging away. Certainly in a game like that we are not running the score up, but we are not going to tell our guys not to hit,” Crowley said as the Whalers took it one base at a time for the remainder of the game.
Boughtman pitched the first five innings, allowing only the three unearned runs in the third inning. The sophomore hurler allowed only three hits and two walks, while striking out six batters. Sosebee came on in relief and pitched the final two innings without allowing a run.
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