Nantucket Whalers Take Softball Battle with Sturgis East

Sturgis East freshman Gabby McKinnon held the Nantucket bats in check for five innings but the Whalers prevailed Wednesday in Cape & Islands League softball action.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos

WEST YARMOUTH – There’s one thing about the young but talented Sturgis East softball team: they never give up.

Down 2-0 after the top of the first inning to the visiting Nantucket Whalers, The Storm lived up to their name and retaliated with three runs in the bottom of the frame for an early, 3-2 lead.

Ultimately, though, Nantucket (5-3) prevailed, with a 12-3 win in spite of the hosts keeping it a one-run game through the fifth. The Storm fell to 1-5 on the campaign, but head coach Nick Conti said that his girls – mainly freshman and sophomores – are unwilling to cease battling.

“The girls played well and I couldn’t ask more of them to be in a game as close as they were to the end,” Coach Conti said. “We are a young team that is getting better every game.”

Storm freshman ace Gabrielle “Gabby”McKinnon held the Whalers scoreless in the second inning but the visitors took the lead back with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to make it a 4-3 contest.

That’s the way the score remained until the top of the sixth as McKinnon pounded the strike zone and kept the Whalers off-balance. A combination of walks, hits and fielding miscues, however, spelled a Whaler rally that The Storm could not answer. All totaled, Nantucket plated six runs in the sixth for a 10-3 lead, and then tacked on a pair on the top of the seventh for 12-3 finale.

Sturgis East shortstop Mia Gavin paced The Storm offense with a double and triple and went 2-3 on the day, while McKinnon and Clifford both added hits, with Clifford belting an RBI-triple in the first inning for the hosts.

The Storm take on powerhouse St. John Paul II Thursday at the Sandy Pond Recreation Complex at 4:00 pm. The Lady Lions are led by senior co-captain Hadley Tate who now has 10 home runs on the season.

“We’re a young team that will be a playoff-like team in two years,” Coach Conti said.

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm