Legion baseball team in playoff hunt with one week to go

With exciting wins over Norwood and Dedham last week, the 6-7 American Legion Post 24 baseball team is still in the playoff hunt with a week remaining in the regular season. As of Sunday, July 4, Canton was tied for seventh place, but just two games out of fifth place with five games left to play.

The top five teams make the playoffs. Currently, Norfolk is in fifth place at 7-6, followed by Foxboro at 6-5, and Canton and Medfield in a tie for the seventh spot. Canton had games earlier this week against Walpole, Foxboro, and Westwood, and tomorrow the team will travel to Needham before closing out the regular season on Saturday at Medfield at 5 p.m. District playoffs begin July 13.

If anything, Canton is an exciting team that is aggressive on the bases and has staged many a comeback this year. Canton’s Trevor Boyce is having an outstanding year at the plate with several multiple hit games and is playing well in the field both at third base and in the outfield. Other players having good years are Adam Freedman, Brennan Sullivan, Dave Zabinsky, Brad Asnes, and Dave Khrakovsky.

Canton’s Matt Nichols has shown some occasional power, including a game-tying homerun against Norfolk, and catcher Chris Puliafico has rediscovered his power stroke, delivering a long double and a towering homerun in a doubleheader against Norwood.

Last week, Canton beat Dedham 13-3 and lost to Norfolk 6-3 on a walk-off, three-run homerun. The team then beat Norwood in a nail-biter 6-5, but dropped the second game of the doubleheader 9-5 despite entering the fifth inning with a 3-3 tie.

In the first game, Canton trailed Norwood 5-1 in the third inning but came back with four consecutive hits by Asnes, Boyce, John McGonigle, and Puliafico to pull within one run. Canton then tied the game on a triple by Boyce and a sacrifice fly by McGonigle. Norwood started a rally in the sixth inning, but the umpire called player interference on a play at second base, which killed the Norwood rally.

Canton took advantage with a single by Adam Freedman, a sacrifice by Sullivan, and a perfectly executed bunt squeeze by Khrakovsky, with Freedman racing home for the winning run. Starter Dave Roberto hung in for a complete game victory, shutting out Norwood after the second inning.

Canton played well in the second game but a series of wild pitches allowed Norwood to pull ahead 6-3 in the fifth. Puliafico’s two-run homerun brought Canton back to within a run, but the team’s relief pitching didn’t hold up as Norwood pushed across three additional runs for a 9-5 win.

Earlier in the week, Canton sprinted to a 4-0 lead against Dedham in the first inning and never looked back. A double by Boyce, singles by McGonigle and Puliafico, and a triple by Zabinsky sparked the early Canton rally.

Boyce started the rally in the second when he singled, stole second, and then scored on an RBI single by Zabinsky. Freedman added a two-run triple, and Sullivan delivered a hit as Canton built a commanding 8-0 lead after three innings. Asnes, Roberto, and Sullivan, who had four hits on the day, each knocked in additional runs.

Khrakovsky pitched six strong innings, allowing three runs, while reliever Rob McCarty of Canton had a good outing, striking out two in the seventh inning.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 8 2010. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.