Legion back in playoff chase with 3 straight W’s

The Canton American Legion Post 24 baseball team is back in the thick of the playoff hunt after taking three out of four last week behind excellent pitching, aggressive baserunning, outstanding defense, and power hitting.

The 3-1 week propelled the team into the fifth and final playoff spot in District 6 East with a 7-6 record, although there is plenty of baseball left to be played, including a pair of makeup games.

As of Monday morning, Canton was right behind fourth-place Milton, which beat Canton early last week 3-0 and has a record of 8-8.

Head coach Greg Lyons had issued a challenge to his team at the beginning of the week, noting that it was a “make or break” week to get into the playoffs.

“And they responded by playing very well,” he said. “Our defense has been strong all season, our pitching is getting stronger, and we had some timely hitting.”

The week featured strong hitting by Drew Blake and great pitching performances from Jake Fishman, Sam Larson, Kevin Powers, and Frank Sullivan.

Fishman got the ball rolling with a complete-game win over Weymouth, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out five batters.

Fishman also helped himself at the plate with an RBI single. Blake added two RBIs in the 6-2 win, including a booming triple to the deepest part of the field. Other runs were driven in by Robert Carmody, Kevin O’Brien, and Nate Pedersen.

The next night, Larson came back with a gem, limiting Cohasset to five hits in a complete-game 3-0 shutout. He also struck out three batters and induced two well-executed double-play balls.

Blake smacked a homerun to deep right field, and Wyatt Golledge and Matt Schaffer both had RBIs. Canton also played outstanding defense, led by Powers at shortstop, Pat Vartanian in right field, and catcher Steve Mullaney, who threw out a runner attempting to steal second.

After the game, Larson said he felt great and was able to keep ahead of the hitters and keep them off balance by mixing in his fastball and breaking pitch.

On Friday, Powers pitched five solid innings against a hustling Holbrook team and left with a 5-4 lead. Sullivan came on in relief and performed quite well, keeping Holbrook hitless over two innings — aided by a diving catch by Schaffer in left field. Liam Murphy then came on in the seventh to close out the game.

Offensively, Canton had arguably its best game of the season, coming back from deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 to eventually build a commanding 11-4 lead. Blake had a monster game with two doubles, two singles and five RBIs, while Powers, Vartanian, and Pedersen had two RBIs apiece. Fishman also had a triple.

In the loss to Milton, Sullivan pitched well as he allowed just one earned run over six innings while striking out four. Canton struggled at the plate, however, and was limited to four hits in the game.

This week, Canton was due to host Morrisette on Monday and Braintree on Tuesday. The team will then travel to Catholic Memorial on Thursday (today) to take on Parkway at 7:30 p.m., followed by a home game tomorrow against Weymouth and then a slew of road games — at Stoughton July 14, Cohasset July 15, Morrisette July 16, and Holbrook July 17. For a complete listing of game dates and times, go to www.district6baseball.com.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 12 2013. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.