Streaking A’s win 3 more, clinch playoff berth

With three more wins last week, the red-hot Canton A’s have climbed over .500 for the season and captured the fourth seed in the Cranberry League playoffs. The A’s will begin the playoffs this Saturday as the home team in a “play-in game” against the No. 5 seed, most likely Rockland, beginning at noon at Rockland Stadium.

The winner of the Saturday game will play top-seeded Braintree on Sunday, July 20, at noon at Rockland Stadium. The winner of that game would then go on to play the winner of the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds (Easton and Acushnet) at 3:30 p.m. in Rockland. The two losing teams on Sunday will square off at Frothingham in Easton starting at 3:30 p.m.

In last week’s action, Canton swept a doubleheader against Rockland at CHS on Sunday, with the A’s winning the first game 4-1 and the second game 5-1. The A’s also lost to Braintree 2-0 and beat Easton 6-1 to end up with a 13-10 record. Rockland’s record was 11-11 as of July 13 with an additional makeup game scheduled for this week.

Early in the season, Canton stood at 3-9 before the team got hot behind the pitching of Zach Walker, Dave Roberto, and Mike Baryski and the torrid hitting of Steve Delanian, who has 18 hits in his last 27 at bats with 11 doubles, 11 RBIs, two triples, and a homerun. Delanian is now batting over .450 for the season and was recently named the Cranberry League Player of the Week and a league all-star.

“We are playing very good ball going into the playoffs,” said A’s head coach Kee Arguimbau. “We have outstanding starting pitching, good defense, and timely hitting.”

In the 6-1 win over Easton, Roberto, who previously played for the Canton American Legion team, earned his first complete game, limiting the Huskies to one run on three hits while striking out four batters. Offensively, Travis Ritchie led the way with three hits and an RBI, while Delanian had another big game with two hits and four RBIs. Aiden Farrell also chipped in with two hits and an RBI, and Cory Albanese finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored.

In the first game of the Sunday doubleheader, Walker limited Rockland to five hits and an unearned run while pitching a complete game. Delanian had two hits and two RBIs, and Anthony Perriello and Andrew Vandini had one RBI apiece.

In the second win against Rockland, Baryski scattered four hits while striking out three batters. Perriello and Billy Mitchell each had two hits and one RBI, and Farrell had a pinch-hit RBI double. Delanian reached base in both of his at bats with a hit and a walk.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 17 2014. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.