A’s make strong statement in CBL playoff opener

By Mike Berger

Entering as the No. 3 seed with an 18-8 regular season record, the Canton A’s took care of business at home in the opening round of the Cranberry Baseball League playoffs with a dominant, 9-1 victory over the No. 6 Northeast Lions.

The Lions, who are based in the Marshfield/Duxbury area, had gone into the game with an extra jolt of confidence after defeating Canton 5-1 just days earlier in the regular season finale. However, in Sunday’s rematch played at CHS, the A’s looked like the clearly superior team on the strength of excellent pitching, timely hitting, and aggressive baserunning.

Despite the win, A’s head coach Lucas Carr said he wants his team to continue to improve. “We need to improve if we are going to advance,” he said. “We can play better.”

A’s starting pitcher Steve Connolly was credited with the victory after holding the Lions to three hits over six innings of work while striking out six batters. Sharon’s Max Tarlin came on to pitch the seventh, and the defense stepped up with strong performances from shortstop Steve Burbank of Canton and first baseman Steve Waxman.

The A’s tied the game at 1-1 with a 324-foot homerun by Jay Wladkowski and then took the lead in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Jake Levine and a wild throw on Andrew Bryant’s attempted steal.

Canton would then break the game open with a six-run outburst paced by RBIs from Bryant, Levine (two-run double), Burbank, and Adam Wladkowski. Kyle Doolin added two stolen basses and came home to score on an error.

With the victory over the Lions, Canton continues in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will next face the No. 7 South Coast Mariners, who upset the second-seeded Mass. Hurricanes 3-2 in opening round action. Also winning their playoff openers were the top-seeded Braintree White Sox and No. 4 Hock Valley Panthers.

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