Summer magic continues for Junior League team

Canton’s Junior League baseball team pose with the state championship banner.

The Canton Junior League baseball team is headed to Freehold, New Jersey, to compete in the Eastern Regional Championships after out-dueling Swansea two games to none in the 2016 Massachusetts State Finals last weekend in Billerica.

The two wins by the Bulldogs — 6-0 on Saturday and 12-9 in a thrilling comeback on Sunday — clinched the first baseball state title for Canton since 2008, when another Junior League team made a run all the way to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan.

That year, the Canton team won five of six in Freehold to claim the Eastern Regional championship, and this year’s group will look to do the same beginning Friday, August 5, when they square off against Delaware at 7 p.m.

In the meantime, Canton’s hardworking group of 13 and 14 year olds can revel in their recent state championship victory — a well-deserved honor that came after an equally impressive Section 2 tournament championship win one week earlier in North Reading.

In the opening game of last weekend’s state finals, played in the sweltering heat on July 22, Canton starting pitcher Justin Wenstrom was electric as he struck out 13 batters en route to a complete-game no-hitter. Cam Sanchez was also impressive behind the plate, calling a great game for Wenstrom.

The game was actually a lot closer than the final score suggested, as the two teams were scoreless going into the fifth inning. But everything changed when Owen Lehane hit a two-out double to right-center, followed by a Wenstrom single for the first run of the ball game.

Canton went on to score three more runs in the fifth on four consecutive singles from Griffin Lincoln, Matt Connolly, Colby Ciffolillo, and Robbie Gallery. The Bulldogs then scored one more run in both the sixth and seventh innings. Lucas Ragusa, Nathan Quan, Joe Bates, and Connolly didn’t let anything get through the infield the entire game. The outfield of Max Harkness, Ryan O’Connor, Lincoln, and Gallery also played error-free baseball.

The second game was scheduled to take place immediately following, but it was called off due to a power outage and rescheduled to Sunday, July 23. The Bulldogs found themselves down 6-0 after two innings, but then started chipping away. Sanchez got Canton on the board in the third with an RBI single, knocking in Quan to make it 6-1. In a determined effort, Quan’s pitching steadied the ship and allowed the Bulldogs to hold Swansea to two runs over the next five innings.

Canton scored in the fifth when Sanchez and Ragusa each singled to start the inning, followed by a Lehane double that drove in Sanchez. Ragusa scored on a sacrifice fly, but was called out on an appeal for leaving third early. Lehane crossed the plate when Ciffolillo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, making the score 6-3.

Swansea added one more in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-3, but Canton came right back to score four more in the top of the sixth with an opening single by Quan, followed by a double to deep left by Sanchez. Ragusa singled next and Lehane knocked him in with a double to left center. Lincoln then knocked in Lehane with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 7-7.

Canton held Swansea scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and then took an 8-7 lead in the top of the seventh when Gallery walked, stole second, and was knocked in by a Sanchez double. In the bottom of the seventh, Swansea scored one more to tie the game at 8-8 and send the game into extra innings.

Canton started the eighth with the heart of its batting order, and the wheels seemed to fall off the Swansea wagon as they committed three errors, which led to four Canton runs. Matt Connolly took over as the closer in the bottom of the eighth and did his job, giving up just one run and sealing the deal on a fantastic come-from-behind win.

Canton will now represent Massachusetts in the 2016 Eastern Regional Tournament, featuring state champions from Maine to Maryland. The double-elimination tournament gets underway on August 5 and culminates with the championship game on Wednesday, August 10.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jul 29 2016. Filed under Sports, Youth Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.