Canton A’s clinch playoffs in extra-innings thriller

A bases-loaded single by Steve Delanian in the eighth inning against Plymouth last weekend lifted the Canton A’s to a 2-1 victory and propelled the team into the Cranberry League playoffs.

Earlier in the day, Tyler Hitchcock had pitched the A’s to a 4-0 win in the first game of a home doubleheader, and the second win — the squad’s sixth in nine tries this month — guaranteed Canton the sixth and final spot in the postseason tournament.

The A’s (10-12-1) will most likely play the top-seeded Braintree White Sox (20-3) in the best-of-three opening round series, which begins today at Braintree High School. A’s head coach Kee Arguimbau said the second and third games (if necessary) will be played this Saturday.

Canton came back from a 1-0 deficit in the late innings of the second game on Sunday to preserve the win for Mark Nelson, who pitched the entire way while allowing just one unearned run. Arguimbau said Nelson was one of last year’s team MVPs and was a very dependable pitcher. This was only his third appearance in 2012 as his job has limited his availability throughout the summer.

Besides the obvious playoff implications, the Canton players appeared to have extra motivation to complete the sweep of Plymouth after words were exchanged between the two teams following a close play at the plate in the top of the seventh. A’s catcher Joe Belmosto was able to apply the tag in time, but the Plymouth bench, which had been chirping all game, thought the runner was safe and made a few choice remarks that bothered A’s players.

Canton went on to tie the game in the bottom of the inning after pinch hitter Joe Walsh was hit by a pitch, reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin O’Sullivan, and then came in to score on a long double by Sean Keady.

In the eighth inning, John Garabedian and Belmosto hit back-to-back singles, and Alex Rossi worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Delanian, one of the team’s veteran players, lifted a single over the drawn-in infield to end the game.

In the first game, Hitchcock, who is 5-1 on the season and a candidate for Pitcher of the Year honors, gave up a few hits and was otherwise brilliant, while the Canton offense capitalized on Plymouth errors and put up four runs behind Chuck Erickson, who had a triple, and Belmosto, who delivered some key RBIs.

Earlier in the week, Canton lost to Weymouth 1-0 in what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel between Hitchcock and a very talented Weymouth pitcher. Canton was due to have a rematch against Weymouth in the regular season finale on Tuesday, July 24.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 25 2012. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.