The Martha's Vineyard Sharks is a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team based on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It was a charter member of the

Futures Collegiate Baseball League The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2011. Entering the 2025 season, the league has two active franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and ...

(FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising seven teams from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

to western

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The Sharks played in the FCBL from 2010 to 2018 before switching to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), where they began playing in 2019. In 2019 the Sharks posted the best regular-season record in the league and won a best-of-three series against the

Newport Gulls The Newport Gulls are a wooden-bat, collegiate summer baseball team based in Newport, Rhode Island. The Newport Gulls Baseball Club is a member of the Coastal Division of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Since 2001, the Gulls have pla ...

to win the Southern Division, but ultimately lost 2–0 in the NECBL Championship to the

Keene Swamp Bats The Keene Swamp Bats are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,40 ...

. The team's mascot is likely a reference to the film '' Jaws'', which was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and made it a popular tourist destination. The team's home games are played at Vineyard Baseball Park, located on the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School campus in

Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts Oak Bluffs is a New England town, town located on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,341 at the 2020 United States census. It is one of the island's ...

, where $200,000 has been invested in field upgrades and construction of a field house, public restrooms, and a pro-style backstop with netting and brick facade.

History

The Sharks began operations in the 2011 FCBL season. The Carminucci Sports Group sought to place a New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) franchise on Martha's Vineyard, but the NECBL declined to expand, so the Sharks and the organizers of the Nashua Silver Knights formed a separate league. Opening Day attendance was 2,139. The Sharks were in first place for a majority of the season, before injuries and a team-wide viral illness caused them to fall behind. They completed the season in third place, with a record of 23–20. The Sharks won their first FCBL Championship in 2013 and shared the title in 2018. The Sharks moved to the NECBL in 2019 and posted the league's best regular-season record in their first season, including a 12-game win streak. In the postseason, the Sharks won a best-of-three series over the Newport Gulls, before ultimately losing two straight games to the Keene Swamp Bats in the league championship series. The Sharks broke a single-game attendance record with 3,567 fans in attendance on the last regular-season home game of the season. In 2022, they went 5–0 in the playoffs to win their first NECBL league championship, and also hosted the 2022 all-star game with attendance exceeding 5,000 fans. For the 2024 season, the Sharks ranked first in the NECBL and ninth in all of summer collegiate baseball with an average attendance of 3,056 per game.

Field staff

;Head Coach: Sean Stevens ;Assistant Coaches

References

External links

Martha's Vineyard Sharks official site

NECBL official site
Amateur baseball teams in Massachusetts New England Collegiate Baseball League teams Futures Collegiate Baseball League teams Martha's Vineyard Baseball teams established in 2010 2010 establishments in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-baseball-team-stub