Canton A’s knocked out of playoffs

The Canton A’s have completed their summer baseball season after getting swept last week by first-place Braintree in the opening round of the Cranberry League playoffs.

The A’s lost the first two games of the best-of-three series (3-0 and 1-0) and finished in sixth place out of nine teams with a 10-14-1 record.

Although Canton pitched well in both games against the White Sox, the bats were relatively silent as the A’s were no-hit in the first game and only had four hits in the second game.

“We played well, got good pitching, but our bats were not there this week,” said head coach Kee Arguimbau. “Our goal was to make the playoffs. We overcame a lot of adversity. We had some injuries. At one point we were 1-5-1 and then won eight of 11 games. We were competitive in every game, and we had a lot of great kids.”

Pitcher of the Year nominee Tyler Hitchcock took the loss in the first game, allowing two earned runs on five hits, including one homerun.

In the second game, pitcher Drew Larusso had his best outing of the season, allowing just two hits. Braintree scored in the fourth inning on a double, a groundout, and a sacrifice fly. The A’s four hits were produced by Alex Posch, Kevin O’Sullivan, and RJ McCann.

Just before the playoffs began, Canton fell to Weymouth 3-1 in the regular season finale. Zack Walker pitched well for Canton, giving up two unearned runs in the seventh inning. Canton scored its lone run when Sean Keady singled, stole second, and came around to score on a double by Posch.

Hitchcock, a senior at Endicott College, had six of the A’s 10 wins, giving up just eight earned runs during the season for an earned run average of 1.02. The team’s leading hitters were Chuck Erickson (.280), John Garabedian (.274), and Keady (.273, 10 SB).

Arguimbau hopes to see a lot of players return next year since he believes the team has great chemistry. He also thanked assistant coach Bob Gibson Jr. and general manager Cab Devoll, both of Canton, for their work this season. Gibson is a Cranberry League Hall of Famer and a coach with great knowledge, Arguimbau said.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=15355

Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 1 2012. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.