Legion Post 24 honored for terrific season

(Front row l-r) Andy Casamento, Yoni Monat, coach Al Jackson, founder and general manager Bob “Brownie” Brown, Matt Shaffer, Kyle Delsignore, Frank Sullivan; (back row l-r) coach Walter Mann, Pat Vartanian, Steve Mullaney, Kevin Powers, Nate Pedersen, Drew Blake, Wyatt Golledge, Brian Gallagher, Jake Fishman, Liam Murphy, and head coach Greg Lyons (Fred Gladstone photo)

On Tuesday, August 13, the American Legion Post 24 honored its regular and junior baseball teams at an end-of-season banquet and awards ceremony held at the Canton Town Club.

Both squads made the playoffs while playing exciting baseball and giving their fans a lot to cheer about throughout the season.

The senior team, under head coach Greg Lyons, posted its best regular season record in years (13-11) and made it to the south sectional playoffs for the first time in team history. Overall, the squad finished 2-2 in the playoffs, with victories over Foxboro and Easton and a pair of losses to Brockton, one of the top teams in District 10.

Longtime Legion coach Al Jackson recalled a pivotal moment in the season in which the team had fallen below .500 after a three-game losing streak. The coaches went to the four captains — Drew Blake, Jake Fishman, Nate Pedersen and Steve Mullaney — and each responded with timely hits and great leadership for the younger players on the team.

The team also battled valiantly through injuries and absences — not to mention a brutal late-season schedule that included a stretch of eight games in eight days.

“This summer’s Legion baseball season was one of the best I have ever experienced as either a coach or a player,” said Lyons, a former standout player at Canton High School. “It was definitely a summer that I will never forget, and I am sure the players and parents will not either.”

“Honestly, during and after tryouts, even on through the first four to five games of the season, myself and [Jackson] did not know what to expect out of this team,” added Lyons, “and we certainly did not realize they were capable of making a run and playing at such a high level as they did. It was a season of getting better and better and better.”

Lyons said it took at least a quarter of the regular season for the players and coaches to get to know one another and “get on the same page.”

“Once the team chemistry was there,” he said, “we really put together a great run of baseball. We were picked to be one of the weaker teams in District 6 East before the season began, so needless to say the fact that we finished in fourth place and only one game out of third was a surprise to the rest of the district.”

Lyons said the team won a lot of its games with a combination of “great defense, solid pitching and timely hitting.” They also had a few games where “everything was clicking,” most notably in Canton’s 16-6 thrashing of Easton — the first-place team from District 9 North — in the second game of the sectional playoffs.

This year’s team MVP award went to Fishman, a Sharon lefthander who dominated on the mound and at the plate. Fishman led the team in batting average and went 6-1 as a pitcher with six complete games and a microscopic earned run average of 0.89.

The team’s best hitter was Drew Blake of Canton, a former Rookie of the Year winner and member of the .400 club. This year, Blake batted a robust .353 and led the team in almost every offensive category, including homeruns with six, stolen bases with 16, and RBIs with 28.

Canton also had a trio of talented youngsters in Kevin Powers, Matt Shaffer and Rob Carmody. “They were all 15 years old this summer but they played like they were 18,” said Lyons.

Powers took home this year’s Rookie of the Year award after going 3-1 on the mound while contributing offensively and playing a stellar shortstop.

Shaffer, who started the summer as a role player, became the team’s leadoff hitter and starting left fielder, batting over .300 for the season. Carmody was impressive in a number of roles, including at catcher and second base and occasionally as a pitcher.

Asked to name the team’s most improved player, Lyons replied that everyone improved one way or another. He did single out Pat Vartanian, a first-year player who started in right field and also saw time at catcher.

“Everyone, one through nine in our lineup, stepped up at one point or another over the course of the season to help us win 15 games and make a run at the playoffs,” he said.

“I think the kids’ hard work and never-quit attitudes really got us through the summer,” said Lyons. “We had some tough stretches of games where we were not at our best and our schedule was very demanding, but the guys never got too down and always seemed to persevere whenever times were at their worst.”

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