CHS baseball team impresses despite dropping 2 of 3

All told, it was a good opening week for the CHS varsity baseball team as the Bulldogs played competitively in a 9-6 loss to Sharon, came back to win 7-6 in extra innings over Franklin, and played well in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Oliver Ames.

Against OA, Canton got a great pitching performance from junior Mike Hallett, who threw 80 pitches and allowed just three hits over seven innings. Unfortunately, the Tiger pitcher also had a strong outing, limiting Canton to just two hits on the day, including a double by David Corcoran and a base hit by Matt Bernstein.

In Canton’s extra-innings win over Franklin, Bernstein was credited with the victory after allowing no runs on two hits while striking out a pair of batters over 2 2/3 innings. Trailing 6-4 in the sixth inning, the Bulldogs came up with two runs to tie the game. Then, in the eighth inning, Joey Wilkinson singled, was sacrificed to second, and came home with the winning run when a pop up was misplayed into an error.

Wilkinson led the team with three hits and an RBI, while Matt Nichols had two hits and an RBI, and Tom Nickle had a hit and two RBIs. Nickle was the team’s starting pitcher and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits while walking six and striking out two.

In the season opener, Canton came back from a 5-1 deficit to make it a one-run game in the sixth before Sharon pulled away for the 9-6 win. Wilkinson started and lasted 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out three. Bernstein pitched well in relief. Leading the way on offense was Nichols with two hits and three RBIs, and senior captain Mike Cleary with two hits and an RBI.

CHS head coach Tom Healy said the team could easily be 3-0 with a little luck. He was impressed with Hallett’s pitching as well as the defense of the infield, including the play of Kevin Rooney at third and Bernstein at second. The team has only four seniors and Healy has liked the spark and hustle of the younger players.

Canton was scheduled to play three games this week, including a home game Monday against Foxboro, an away game Wednesday at North Attleboro, and an away game at Stoughton this afternoon. The team next plays at home on Patriots’ Day, April 19, against nonleague Abington with a special start time of noon.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Apr 15 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.