Legion team keeps playoff hopes alive

Recent CHS grad Mike Oldenburg (pictured during the CHS baseball season) helped spark a comeback against Westwood last week.

With five games in five days last week, the Canton American Legion baseball team went 2-3 with two exciting come-from-behind wins. As of July 3, the team was tied for sixth with Westwood with a 5-8 record – one game behind fifth-place Norfolk. The top five teams in the District 6 West Division make the playoffs.

Canton went 1-1 against Westwood last week, beating them 7-6 and then losing the following day 8-4. On Wednesday, June 27, Canton could not hold a three-run lead and lost 14-8 to Medfield. On Thursday, Canton pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh to beat fourth-place Franklin 4-3, and on Friday the team fell to league-leading Walpole 7-2.

In the first game against Westwood, Canton fell behind 6-3 but came back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for the victory. Mike Oldenburg started the rally with his third hit and a stolen base. With two outs, Dan Friedman’s single cut the deficit to 6-4. Both Steve Mullaney and Brennan Sullivan walked to load the bases. Casey Sullivan then kept the rally going with a single, and Colin Clapton knocked in the winning RBI with a two-run hit.

The other highlight for Canton last week was its victory over Franklin with ace pitcher Dave Roberto on the mound.

Down 3-0 in the second inning, Canton stormed back with RBIs by Matt Nichols, Casey Sullivan, and Friedman. Roberto, with the game tied, settled down nicely and did not allow another run the rest of the way, aided by Nichols, who threw out two base stealers, and the middle infield duo of Drew Blake at short and Matt Bernstein at second. On the day, Roberto had five strikeouts, walked none, and limited Franklin to six hits.

With two outs in the seventh, Bernstein, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then came around to score on an RBI single by Blake. A few innings earlier, Bernstein had hurt his back when he was hit by a pitch. But he stayed in the game and continued to play well at second base and scored the winning run with some great hustle.

Canton almost had a third win, but could not hold a 7-4 lead over Medfield as the lack of pitching depth on consecutive days began to show its effect. Canton did, however, have a good day at the plate, with multiple hits by Oldenburg, Blake, Brennan Sullivan, Nate Pedersen, and an RBI single by Mullaney. Canton tied the game at 8-8 in the fifth, but Medfield pushed across six runs in the sixth inning for a commanding 14-8 lead. The game was called after six innings because of darkness.

On Friday, Canton had one bad inning against Walpole (12-2), but it proved to be costly as Walpole exploded for six runs in the second inning. The inning didn’t start well for starter Casey Sullivan, who hit a batter to load the bases following a single and an error. A wild pitch and a bunt hit pushed across two runs. A sacrifice fly knocked in a third run, and two singles knocked in three more runs. Sullivan settled down after that inning, however, and Jake Fishman pitched well in two innings of relief.

Canton scored its runs in the third and seventh on RBI singles by Blake and Friedman. Brennan Sullivan also made a great catch in left field.

In the 8-4 loss to Westwood, Brennan Sullivan led the team with two hits, and Casey Sullivan, Blake, Oldenburg and Roberto each had a hit.

Post 24 has one final push to make the playoffs with a game every day this week from Tuesday to Saturday. Canton was due to travel to Norwood on Tuesday and Franklin on Wednesday, then host Norfolk on Thursday at 5:45, travel to Needham for a 7 p.m. game on Friday, and end its regular season at Medfield on Saturday at noon.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 6 2011. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.