Softball team shows promise despite 0-4 week

The losses are starting to pile up for the Canton High softball team, which fell to 2-14 after dropping four in a row last week.

Sophomore Gabby Matthews (Mike Barucci photo)

However, despite their less than stellar record, the Bulldogs continue to flash their potential against some of the top teams in the Hockomock League, including regional powerhouses Taunton and Milford.

In fact, head coach Ed Amico called last week’s 13-0 loss to Taunton — the current leaders in the Kelley-Rex Division — “one of the most deceiving scores of the year,” as the game was neck and neck until the fourth inning before the Tigers broke out for a dozen runs over a two-inning stretch.

“Although the team is very young — seven of the starting nine were ninth or tenth graders — they are realizing that if they play their game, they can play with anyone,” said Amico. “But that level needs to be there for the whole game.”

In other action last week, the Bulldogs battled an always tough Mansfield team on Monday and ended up on the losing end of a 4-0 final score. Once again, the girls played three nearly flawless innings defensively before allowing three runs in the fifth on a combination of walks and errors.

On Wednesday, Canton hosted Milford, the top team in the Davenport Division, and they managed to keep the score reasonable (6-1) despite a tough day at the plate. The Bulldogs did produce a few defensive gems throughout the game, including great catches by Gabby Matthews in foul territory and Julia Kent and Emily Buckley in the outfield.

The final game of the week proved to be a different story as the bats came alive while the defense struggled mightily in an eventual 16-4 loss to Oliver Ames. The Bulldogs started strong with two runs in the top of the first inning, but OA responded with three in the bottom half of the inning and took advantage of several Canton errors over the subsequent innings to put the game out of reach.

Despite the lopsided score, Amico was encouraged by the team’s offensive output after putting some extra work into that area at practice on Thursday. Canton pounded out nine hits in the game and seven of the nine starters reached base safely, led by Hannah Link, Julie Nagel, and Gabby Matthews with two hits apiece. The Bulldogs also loaded the bases on three separate occasions; however, they stranded too many runners and couldn’t come up with enough timely hits.

Although they have yet to put together a full seven-inning effort, Amico said he has seen “incredible improvement” in many areas and is hopeful that the girls will be able to string together a few wins over the final two weeks of the season. The team could actually still clinch a playoff berth by beating either Foxboro or Watertown — two of the only Division 2 opponents on its schedule.

The team was also due to play at Sharon earlier this week and will play its final home game of the season on Monday, May 19, against Stoughton.

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Posted by Jay Turner on May 15 2014. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.