Baseball Game Preview: Mashpee Falcons vs. Nantucket Whalers

Mashpee is 9-1 against Nantucket since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Falcons will head out to challenge the Whalers at 11:00 a.m. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

On Friday, Mashpee didn't have quite enough to beat Middleborough and fell 2-1. That's two games in a row now that the Falcons have lost by just one run.

Brandon Baptiste

Base on Balls Against

05/02/25 @ Middleborough	2
04/16/25 @ Norwell	1
04/10/25 vs Upper Cape Cod RVT	0
04/04/25 @ Cohasset	1

Brandon Baptiste was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched 6.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Mashpee saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jason Merkman, who went 1-for-3 with one run.

St. John Paul II hit Nantucket with a six-run second inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Whalers came up short against the Lions, falling 12-2.

Nantucket has also traveled a rocky road recently, having lost four of their last five contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-7 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.2 runs over those games. As for Mashpee, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-6.

Mashpee beat Nantucket 11-8 in their previous meeting back in May of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Falcons since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.