A’s lose 3 straight as bats go silent

The Canton A’s lost three consecutive close games last week despite some very good pitching. The team was hurt by a lack of depth — with some pitchers being forced to play in the field due to injuries — as well as spotty defense and an overall team batting slump. Only newcomer Brian Williams is having a great offensive year with a .380 batting average.

The A’s fell to 4-14 in Cranberry League action with losses to Weymouth 5-1, Braintree 2-1, and Brockton 2-1 in eight innings.

The most disappointing loss came against Brockton as pitcher Tim Bonham had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning with one out. The catcher dropped a called third strike; a hit batsman, an error, and a base hit tied the game, and Brockton went on to win in the eighth inning.

The A’s played very well against Braintree — the league’s best team at 17-2 — and actually led 1-0 going into the third inning and was tied at 1 going into the seventh. The A’s Tyler Hitchcock pitched a gem of a game, limiting Braintree to just four hits. Both of Braintree’s runs were unearned. Mike Trachtenberg knocked in Canton’s only run with an RBI single.

Earlier in the week, Canton’s Chris Smith pitched well against Weymouth, limiting the opponents to six hits, but four of Weymouth’s five runs were unearned.

“The pitching has been great, but the lineups are less than expected, which is really hurting us,” head coach Kee Arguimbeau said.

The A’s close out the regular season this week with away games July 6 at Weymouth, July 7 at Rockland, and a doubleheader against South Shore on Sunday at CHS beginning at 11 a.m. The Cranberry League’s one-game elimination tournament gets underway July 12.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 8 2010. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.