By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
The Whalers took on Bourne at home on Tuesday and emerged victorious with a 9-0 win. Griffin LaFleur coasts into second base uncontested on a stolen base in the first inning. |
It all starts at the top. The top of the line-up produced for the Nantucket baseball team on Tuesday afternoon, and coupled with a stellar pitching performance from Greyson Leibowitz, the Whalers beat Bourne 9-0 in the season home-opener.
Leibowitz pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, surrendering only six hits while striking out nine and walking two. The offensive power surge came from seniors Griffin LaFleur and Derrick Maxwell in the one and two spots in the order. The pair went a combined seven-for-seven with seven runs scored.
On tap for the Whalers (1-0) this week are scheduled meetings at Harwich on Friday and at home against Mashpee on Saturday.
Without the benefit of a scrimmage under their belts, the Whalers took to the field on Tuesday to test the waters. They felt pretty good.
“Overall I thought we did a fantastic job. We communicated well, kept the tempo up and supported each other. We made the easy play and stayed focused. If we could do that for seven innings I figured we could be successful,” head coach Art Crowley said.
“We are young and we still have some work to do. We missed some signs and we were not getting the proper jumps off the bag.”
But the minor mistakes the Whalers made did not hurt the end result, as the squad played solid defense behind the pitching of Leibowitz. The senior pitcher was hitting his spots with his fastball and stayed ahead of the batters for much of the game, Crowley said.
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Photos by Nicole Harnishfeger
Ryan Laffey (3) congratulates LaFleur on a fifth-inning, two-run home run. |
Leibowitz found himself in trouble in the fourth inning, however, loading the bases on a single and back-to-back walks, but after a visit to the mound from Crowley, the senior pitcher escaped the jam with a strikeout and a ground ball to Maxwell at shortstop to preserve the shutout.
The ball stayed in the infield for much of the game, with solid fielding by Kodi Boughtman at third and freshman Adam Spencer at first.
On the offensive side, the Whalers spread out the hits, knocking in two runs in the first, second, third and fourth innings while tacking on one more in the sixth.
LaFleur went three-for-three, scored four runs and drove in two on a mammoth 360-foot home run over the fence in left field in the fifth inning.
Maxwell had a solid four-for-four day at the plate with two doubles, two singles and two RBI.
“They were key hits and they produced for us. The bottom of the order, we still need to get a little something out of them. But the top guys really delivered
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Photos by Nicole Harnishfeger
Greyson Leibowitz pitched seven innings, allowed only six hits, no runs and struck out nine batters for the win. |
when we needed those runs,” Crowley said.
Geddes Paulsen (one RBI), Leibowitz (two RBI), Spencer, Sean Sosebee, Boughtman and Stephen Trimble all turned in hits for the Whalers against Bourne pitcher Cy Curtis.
LaFleur opened the game with a walk and came around to score on Maxwell’s first double of the afternoon. Paulsen drove in Maxwell with a single to left.
In the second inning, LaFleur started the scoring again this time with two outs, drilling a triple over the centerfielder’s head and scoring on another double by Maxwell. Maxwell came home when the Bourne second baseman dropped a pop-up off the bat of Paulsen.
The duo strung together back-to-back singles with one out in the fourth and came around on a single to left by Leibowitz to open the lead at 6-0. After LaFleur’s two-run bomb in the fifth, Boughtman drove in Spencer with a knock to left off of relief pitcher Tom Grady for the final run of the game.
The Whalers had two runners gunned down at the plate from the outfield in the sixth inning, but the game was well in hand by that point.
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