Softball sneaks into postseason with big finale win

By Jay Turner

It was win or go home for the CHS softball team last week — and the Bulldogs went for the first option as they out-dueled nonleague Watertown on Tuesday to punch their ticket to the Division 2 south sectional tournament.

Sophomore Sarah Reissfelder (Mike Barucci photo)

While Canton only finished with four wins in 20 games this season, most of its losses came against Division 1 teams and therefore did not count against its postseason eligibility. Instead, the girls needed to finish with at least a .500 record against Division 2 opponents in order to take advantage of the Sullivan rule, which applies to teams that play 70 percent of their league games against opponents in a higher division.

For Canton, last week’s 13-6 road win over Watertown proved to be the clincher, as the squad finished at 2-2 to nab the 23^rd and final spot in the D2 south bracket. The team will now move on to play No. 10 Abington on Saturday, May 31, and as head coach Ed Amico was quick to point out, “everyone is 0-0.”

“If we play seven innings the way we are capable of playing, then we will surprise a lot of teams and a lot of people,” said Amico.

As for last week’s big win, the Bulldogs proved that they could get it done with their bats, scoring multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to put the game out of reach. Winning pitcher Sarah Reissfelder had a triple and homerun, while Julie Nagel, Gabby Matthews, Julia Kent, and Hannah Link all had multiple-hit games for the victors.

Earlier last week, the Bulldogs hosted division rival Stoughton and kept it close throughout, falling 4-2. Canton had a 2-0 lead going into the third, but Stoughton came back to tie it up before pushing ahead with individual runs in the fifth and seventh innings.

Prior to the game, the Bulldogs honored their two senior captains, Andrea Tamasi and Emily Buckley. Tamasi did not play due to an injury but has been a key cog for the team this season and is expected back for the tournament. Buckley drove in one of the team’s two runs and came out of the game in the final inning to a well-deserved ovation from her teammates, parents and fans.

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