Martha’s Vineyard pulls away from Valley late, 8-2

By Graham Goodman

The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks put an end to the Valley Blue Sox’s undefeated start to the season with an 8-2 win June 9 at Mackenzie stadium, scoring five runs in the final two innings of the game.

The Blue Sox kept things close after scoring first, staring at a 3-1 deficit entering the eighth inning, but a two run home run from the Sharks’ Jackson Taylor (Clemson) put things out of reach for a Blue Sox offense that stumbled most of the night.

Coming into Tuesday’s matchup, Valley’s bullpen had only allowed two earned runs across 18 innings pitched. In the late innings of the loss, the Blue Sox gave up three earned runs and five runs total. 

“That's kind of a product of playing four in a row,” head coach John Raiola said. “We got more guys coming in but 13 arms is what we've been carrying, which is a little lighter than what you would want it to be. … That allows you to keep guys a little bit fresher and put guys in spots that are a little bit better when you get to the end of a four game stretch.”

LHP Kaden Kimble (Mt. Saint Mary’s) and RHP Owen Basso (Lafayette), two bullpen arms, combined for three innings and each threw two innings two days prior in the 14-6 win over Upper Valley.

Late runs from the Sharks overshadowed an offense that had one of its slowest days of the season. Despite this, Chris Carson (Stony Brook) stayed efficient at the plate. Carson drove in both of the Blue Sox runs, the first on a bases loaded fielder’s choice and the second on a bases loaded sacrifice fly. Carson upped his RBI total to six this season, which is tied for the second most in the league. 

Carson entered the lineup in game two of the season after sitting on opening day and has not left since. He has now recorded an RBI in three consecutive games. 

Carson, who is a returning player for the Blue Sox and the captain of his team at Stony Brook, said the team’s showing at the plate is nothing that the players are worrying about.

“I think it's just baseball,” Carson said. “You know, you'll have it one day, the next day you won't. And then you just got to talk to each other. Talk to guys, see what they're seeing, see what you're seeing.”

Martha’s Vineyard’s pitching held a cruising Blue Sox offense to two runs on five hits, four of them coming in the final two innings, after the Blue Sox were already facing a five run deficit. The team went without a hit from the fourth to eighth inning. 

Raiola did not appear fazed by the underwhelming offensive output. Even with a slow night at the plate, the Blue Sox still rank second in the NECBL in RBI and have scored first in every single game this season.

“I've been in this league a long time, and there have been plenty of times that you don't have a lot of .300 hitters on the bench, and they haven't done it at any point in their career, and you're kind of wondering where it's gonna come from sometimes,” Raiola said. “That is not the situation that we're in right now.”

Raiola rolled out a lineup with six right-handed hitters, the most he has put in a lineup this season, with the Sharks starting a left-handed pitcher. The Sharks pulled their starter after two innings, throwing five different pitchers in the game which made it tougher for Blue Sox hitters to adjust to each new arm.

Blue Sox starting pitcher Alex Hill (Mary Hardin-Baylor) could not finish five innings in his first Blue Sox appearance. Hill recorded two quick outs in the inning but allowed four straight hits to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead before the Blue Sox dipped into their bullpen.

That inning ended one pitch later on a caught stealing from catcher Scott Donahue (UMass Lowell), who caught two of three runners stealing in the game. It was only Donahue’s second start behind the dish all season, but a vast improvement from his last start where four runners stole safely. 

The rest of the Blue Sox defense was not as stellar. For the second time this season, the Blue Sox made four errors in the field, even though it was closer to three, considering a line drive broke through the webbing of third baseman Matt Wolfe’s glove (Middle Tennessee).

“Errors are gonna happen, you just hope that they don't happen in big spots,” Raiola said. “Obviously, you hope you don't compound the mistake, you hope that someone makes a play on the next one or a pitcher gets a big punch out.”

The three true errors for the Blue Sox did end up costing them. An initial error from Wolfe in the fourth inning allowed room for a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1. A dropped line drive and bobble from second baseman Jack Myers (Georgia Southern) put a runner on base that later scored, and a throwing error from shortstop Nick Tomasetto (Seton Hall) took away an inning ending double play opportunity in his first start at his natural position this season.

Second baseman Trey Spees (Western Carolina) and outfielder Lucas Alberti (George Mason) made their first starts and each recorded hits the day after joining the Blue Sox. Alberti slid into the three spot in the batting order and started in left field, walking once in addition to his base hit. Spees hit seventh in the DH spot, leading off the ninth with a line drive into left field.

The Blue Sox take a day off before hitting the road for three consecutive days, starting with a trip to the North Shore Navigators starting at 6:05 p.m. June 10 at Fraser Field.