Slumping CHS baseball team slips below .500

After a strong start to the season, the Canton High baseball has fallen into a slump, losing five of their last six games to fall below .500 at 4-5 overall.

Senior Matt Chafin (Mike Tureski photo)

In both of their games last week, the Bulldogs were competitive but couldn’t quite get over the hump. On Monday at Oliver Ames, they were held to just four hits but managed to push across single runs in the fifth and seventh innings in an eventual 3-2 loss.

Brendan Clegg had two of Canton’s hits and Andrew Gillis and Hayden Rose each had one RBI. Sophomore Kyle Redquest, typically used in a relief role, earned a spot start and pitched well, allowing two earned runs over six innings of work.

Later in the week, the Bulldogs hosted Foxboro and while the offense picked up, the overall team defense didn’t execute as well as usual as Canton fell to the Warriors 7-5.

Matt Chafin had a big day at the plate for the hosts, finishing with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored, while Rose, Matt Hart and Gillis each drove in a run. Rose drew the start and allowed two earned runs over 3 1/3 innings while striking out two batters.

Freshman Chris Pirrera came on to relieve Rose in the top of the fourth and pitched the remainder of the game, allowing two earned runs and striking out four. Head coach David Walsh said that going forward, Pirrera will be used as either a starter or reliever depending on the situation.

Walsh said the defense has been a concern as of late, with errors on routine plays costing the team late in the game. “If we clean up the defense, we will start winning games,” he said.

As of April 28, Canton was ranked 18th in the MIAA Division 2 power rankings, which still puts them firmly in the conversation for a postseason spot with the top 32 teams earning an automatic bid.

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Posted by Mike Berger on May 4 2023. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.