The Vineyard boys baseball team broke little sweat shutting out Sturgis Charter School West 6-0 at the Shark’s baseball diamond on Thursday.
The game began defensively, with no score in the first two innings. Then in the bottom of the third inning senior Atlas Zack took a walk from Sturgis and managed to steal second and third base. A sacrifice into right field put the Vineyard on the board 1-0.
The team never looked back, continuing to pile on runs while Nico Arroyo held Sturgis scoreless at the plate.
The team closes out the regular season on Saturday with an away game against Nantucket and then it’s on to the playoffs.
“We just have to keep playing as a team and doing the little things right and keep grinding as we say,” Coach Crossland said after the game.
Team captain Nick Cranston agreed.
“We’re out on the field every day getting the work in,” Cranston said. “We got a game Saturday, that is our last regular-season game, so I hope it goes well, and we’ll carry that energy into the playoffs. This is the best team I’ve played for, the best people and the most skilled kids that I’ve played with. I think we could go all the way, honestly.”
The seniors.
— Mark Alan Lovewell
Before the game the team celebrated its seniors with a ceremony that included parents accompanying their players on the field.
Coach Kyle Crossland congratulated the graduating seniors and told the crowd where each player was headed after graduation.
Team manager Kaio Pereira will study finance at the University of Rhode Island; Finn Lewis will study business at Dennison University; Silas Abrams will study engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Atlas Zack will study biology at the College of the Holy Cross; Matt Moore will take a gap year in the fall; Ben Mulvey will study information technology at Colorado State University; Hardy Eville will attend Yale University; Tristan Scott will study environmental studies at Colorado University in Boulder; Nico Arroyo will study computer engineering at the University of Rhode Island; and Nick Cranston will study biology at Tulane University.
The seniors and their parents were honored before the game.
— Mark Alan Lovewell
“I’ve caught every home game and most of the away games too,” said Pinto Abrams, father of Silas. “They’ve done well. They had a couple of big wins against tough teams, and then they’ve had some decisive wins against the not-so-tough teams.”
The team now awaits the playoff schedule and their first opponent to be announced.
