Magical season ends in East Regionals for Canton Junior League team

Owen Lehane’s bat helped keep Canton close against the top teams in the east.

The state champion Canton Junior League baseball team’s magical season came to an end this past weekend in Freehold, New Jersey, at the East Regional Championship Tournament. The level of competition was exceptional, and the Canton team made a good effort before bowing out in consecutive games to two of the tournament’s strongest opponents.

Canton began play on Friday evening against the Delaware state champs. They played to a 1-1 tie through the top of the fifth inning on the outstanding pitching of Justin Wenstrom, who threw five and a half solid innings of two-hit ball before reaching his pitching limit of 95.

Canton appeared to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Griffin Lincoln, but Delaware successfully appealed the call, with the umpire ruling that the base runner, Owen Lehane, had left the bag early. Manager Jerry Lehane protested the decision, arguing that the third base umpire was not in position to see the throw from center and the runner’s foot at the same time. But the call stood, reversing Canton’s momentum in a very tight game.

Delaware went on to score four more runs in the top of the sixth, and Canton never recovered. Highlights in the first game for Canton included a diving catch in right field in the fifth inning by Colby Ciffolillo, who then threw the ball to first base for a heads-up double play. Lucas Ragusa also made a diving catch at second in the sixth and smartly threw to the shortstop for a double play. Lehane led the Canton offense in the game, going 3 for 4 at the plate. Delaware ended up winning 6-1, but the score is no indication of how close the game really was.

Canton’s second game was on Saturday against New York, and it was a dogfight throughout as the two teams battled back and forth. Nathan Quan put up a very gutsy performance pitching for Canton, letting up only four runs over six and a half innings.

New York scored first to take a 1-0 lead, and then Canton tied it up in the bottom of the second when Cam Sanchez knocked in Matt Connolly with a rope to left field. In the top of the third, New York put two more on the board, and Canton again responded with two of its own when Joe Bates hit a bomb to left field for a ground-rule double, knocking in Lincoln and Wenstrom.

New York would add another run in the top of the fourth to go up 4-3; however, Ryan O’Connor made a run-saving, diving catch in right field to sway the momentum back to Canton. In the bottom of the fourth, Quan got it started with a single to left field, followed by a fielder’s choice by Sanchez. The speedy Sanchez stole second, then came home on a bomb double over the right fielder’s head by Ragusa, tying the game at 4-4.

Canton went into the bottom of the sixth with the injured Tim Kelleher leading the cheers from the dugout, and the team proceeded to scored three runs to take its first lead of the game after a single by Quan, walks by Sanchez and Ragusa, a single by Lehane, Wenstrom getting hit by a pitch, and then a sacrifice fly by Lincoln.

Despite Canton’s lead, New York started the seventh inning with the top of their order at the plate and the result was not pretty as Canton let in four runs to fall behind 8-7. Canton needed one run to tie and two to win to stay in the tournament, but the New York team held strong and didn’t allow Canton to get back on the board.

According to Manager Lehane, the Canton team played with great intensity all season, overachieving and giving 100 percent in every game. “This team doesn’t know the meaning of quit, as they always played to the last out,” he said. “They were definitely inspired by the great 2008 Canton team that went to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan.”

The players are thankful to their parents, the Canton Little League organization, and all of the coaches in Canton Little League who helped them over the years prepare for the opportunities they had this season. The team would also like to thank all of the people who generously donated to Canton Little League to help make the trip to New Jersey possible. “It truly was the trip of a lifetime for the players and an experience they will never forget,” said Lehane.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Aug 11 2016. Filed under Sports, Youth Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.