Legion Post 24 baseball team stumbles after fast start

Although the summer baseball season started off strong for the Canton American Legion Post 24 team — with two sparkling wins over Brookline and Foxboro — the young team hit a few bumps in the road with losses to Walpole (18-2) and Norwood (12-1), considered the two best teams in District 6 West. And despite a good pitching performance by Matt Bernstein, Canton also suffered a 5-2 loss to Norfolk on Sunday evening, June 19, which left the team at 2-3 and in sixth place in the 10-team District 6 West Division.

The week began on a high note as Canton beat Foxboro 3-1. Sharon’s Dave Roberto pitched a sparkling game, limiting Foxboro to five hits while striking out five batters. Canton runs were driven in by Matt Nichols and Dan Friedman. Brennan Sullivan just missed a homerun when his double hit the top of the fence. Nichols, playing catcher, threw out a runner at second, and Sullivan played well at first, scooping up some low throws. Friedman also had a nice catch in center field.

“Dave had a real solid outing against Foxboro,” head coach Colin Clapton said. “He had great control and changed speeds well and kept the batters off balance.”

Following the losses to Walpole and Norwood, Canton had a legitimate chance to beat Norfolk Sunday evening, but didn’t get enough run support. Bernstein had one bad inning in the first, but he recovered to pitch strong for the balance of the game.

Friedman pitched in the Walpole game, and although Canton played competitively in the first few innings, the Walpole bats exploded in the fourth inning to win 18-2.

“No doubt Walpole and Norwood are great teams, but we have to figure how to play to beat these great teams,” Clapton said. “We have to hit more consistently.”

After two weeks of play, Canton’s most consistent hitters are Drew Blake and Friedman.

Canton had a key week scheduled with multiple games between Tuesday and Friday and a Sunday contest. The team was due to play Needham at home on Tuesday, June 21, followed by another home game on Wednesday against Medfield.

Canton will travel to Medfield on Thursday, June 23, and to Foxboro on Friday, with games starting at 5:45 p.m.

The Legion team will return home Sunday, June 26, to face Brookline at 5 p.m. at Memorial Field, and will host Westwood on Monday, June 27, at 5:45. The team then travels to Westwood on Tuesday, June 28.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jun 22 2011. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.