Legion Post 24 enters playoffs on a high note

Matt Pigeon and the Legion Post 24 team are hoping to make some noise in the playoffs.

Highlighted by a dramatic comeback win over perennial power Braintree, the Canton American Legion Post 24 baseball team closed out the regular season in impressive fashion last week, finishing in second place in the District 6 East Division at 13-4-1 overall.

Canton won four of five games last week and will likely be seeded third in the District 6 playoffs, which get underway Friday evening, July 20. The top eight teams in the district qualify for the tournament, which features a double-elimination format with games continuing daily until the championship round on July 24.

Last week’s home win against Braintree will be remembered for a long time. Canton starter Justin Wenstrom did not give up a hit over the first three innings but Braintree surged ahead to take a commanding 8-0 lead entering the sixth inning. It was at that point that Canton head coach Greg Lyons heard some disparaging remarks about Canton’s level of play from the Braintree bench. “I just told our guys to let them do the talking and we will focus on playing and let our efforts out on the field do the talking,” Lyons said.

Ruben Gonzalez doubled to start the sixth inning and then hustled home on a deep fly ball by Steven Walker for Canton’s first run of the game. Aidan Arnold followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-2.

The magical seventh inning began with Matt Hadley and Matt Pigeon reaching base on a walk and hit by pitch, followed by consecutive RBI singles from Jake Marglous and Nate Quan to make it 8-4. Andrew Bryant then came through with a booming two-run triple to cut the deficit to two, and Walker followed with an RBI single to make it 8-7. Arnold followed with anther single and Hadley capped off the rally with a bloop single that drove in the tying and winning runs.

For Lyons, the win showed the tenacity of his players but also what it will take to be successful in the playoffs. “Against talented teams such as Braintree, it only takes that one bad inning or one mistake to be the difference between a win and a loss,” he said, “and when you have that in the first inning or two, it is even harder to dig yourself out of the hole and come out on top in the end. It was great to see the team stay up and put together a big inning/comeback at home versus Braintree. However, up until the sixth inning, we were not playing like ourselves and how we’ve played a majority of the season to get us to where we are at now.”

While unable to sustain the momentum in the second game against Braintree, the Canton players showed their resilience in back-to-back wins over Cohasset and Dedham.

“I will say that we have done a really good job all summer having short-term memory and shaking off tough losses and coming right back out the next game ready to go out and get us back in the win column,” noted Lyons.

In the 8-6 win over Cohasset Friday night, Arnold lasted into the fifth inning to notch his second win of the week, and the Canton offense helped stave off a Cohasset rally behind big games from Walker (HR) and Pat Hagerty (2B).

The week ended with a 12-2 domination of Dedham on the road as Walker paced the team with three hits, including two triples, and five RBIs. Bryant and Arnold each had individual hits and RBIs while Quan finished with two hits on the night.

Pitcher Max Tarlin had another strong outing for Canton, allowing two runs on four hits over six innings of work. Walker came on in relief in the seventh and gave up no hits. The Post 24 defense was outstanding in the win with two double plays and great catches by Walker and Matt Casamento.

In other baseball news, the long-awaited CHS baseball scoreboard was installed last week just to the left of centerfield. The scoreboard is colored green and anchored with the name of its sponsor, Bank of Canton.

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