Softball delivers wins against Mashpee and Cohasset

By Joel Silverstein

Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger Rose Madden is called out at third base after clearing the bases with a double against Cohasset on Saturday. The Whalers won 19-3.

I&M Staff Writer

The Whalers’ bats finally found success this week, as the Nantucket High School softball team took two out of three games and scored 38 total runs, improving their record to 3-9 overall.

Up next for the Whalers are Chatham at home today, followed by a double-header at home against the Parker Charter School Saturday, and away games against Harwich and Cohasset Monday and Wednesday.

In Mashpee on Monday, with senior captain Rose Madden on the mound, the Whalers dominated play, winning 16-7.

After Nantucket sprinted out to an 8-2 lead in the early innings, Mashpee closed the gap to 9-7 at the end of the fifth inning. But the Whalers scored six runs in the sixth inning to again widen the gap.

Madden pitched a complete game in the win, giving up five hits and striking out five while only four of the seven runs Mashpee scored were earned. Junior Aislinn Dugan went 4-for-5 with a walk and drove home three runs, and junior Desire Beaumont went 3-for-5 with two singles and a double.

Junior pitcher Kelsey Fredericks was missing from the line-up for Monday’s victory, after being suspended for two weeks under Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Assocation rules for an alleged alcohol violation at Saturday’s Junior Prom. According to MIAA policy, student athletes that consume or possess any beverage containing alcohol during a season of play shall lose eligibility for the next two consecutive athletic events, or two weeks of the season – “whichever encompasses a greater number of contests.”

Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger Alex Devendorf hits the ball in the game last Saturday against Cohasset.

School officials and coaches refused to comment on Fredericks’ absence from the field.

Fredericks was a catalyst in the Whalers’ 18-3 victory in Cohasset Saturday, allowing only four hits, with no hits after the third inning. Fredericks also went 3-for-5 from home plate, notching her second home run of the season.

Dugan went 2-for-3 with a double and a single, and junior Lauren Fry went 2-for-2 with two singles and two runs batted in.

Nantucket cruised into the bottom of the sixth inning with a 12-3 lead. After they scored six more runs, umpires invoked the 16-run mercy rule and called the game.

Against Dennis-Yarmouth at home last Thursday, the Whalers scattered four hits over seven innings in a 10-4 loss.

Fighting a nearly 30 mph wind blowing in from center field, the Dolphins scored three runs in the second inning. After two batters walked, Nicole Abbott doubled to drive in both runners before coming around to score on a sacrifice bunt. Dennis-Yarmouth added another run in the top of the third before the Whalers responded in the bottom of the inning. With one-out Cassie Moran walked, followed up by a single by Dugan (1-for-3). With two outs Kelsey Fredericks (2-for-3, RBI) singled to left, driving home Moran with the Whalers' first run.

Nantucket would never get any closer though, as the Dolphins relied on aggressive baserunning and well-timed hits to add one run in the fourth, three in the fifth and two more in the seventh to expand the lead.

In the sixth, Luciana Moran (1-for-2, two RBI) singled to drive in Whitney Butler and in the seventh inning the Whalers added two more runs on four walks and a passed ball.