Canton A's in fight for
final playoff spot
By Mike Berger
Citizen Staff
With two
games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Canton
Athletics went into this week in good position to clinch the
fifth and final playoff spot in the Cranberry League and advance
to the Stan Musial Tournament.
The A’s
(16-11-1) actually held the fifth spot in the standings as of
Sunday, leading the sixth-place South Shore Warriors (16-12) by
one point after going 2-2 last week with wins over Taunton and
Braintree and a pair of losses to undefeated Easton.
Along with
Easton, the teams ahead of Canton in the standings as of Sunday
were Weymouth (21-8; 42 pts.), Braintree (19-8; 38), and
Rockland (18-10; 36). The closest team to the Warriors, the
Taunton Knights at 12-14-1 (25 pts.), have already been
eliminated from contention.
The A’s were
due to play last-place Wrentham (6-20) at CHS on Monday, and
were due to travel to Middleboro (10-16) tonight for the season
finale.
Canton got
off to a hot start last week, beating Taunton 7-1 on Wednesday,
and then edging out Braintree 5-4 on Saturday. Unfortunately,
the A’s then had to play a Sunday doubleheader versus Easton - a
Husky team that had won 24 times in 24 tries going in - and
ended up bowing out 6-3 in game one and 9-4 in game two.
Against
Taunton, the team rallied behind a solid pitching performance
from Canton’s Greg Lyons, who allowed just one earned run in a
complete game, six strikeout effort. The A’s did have a scare in
the outfield, when Rico Sullivan and Chris Kalgan collided when
chasing down a bloop single, but both were reported to be
uninjured and able to play.
Canton
scored four of its seven runs in the bottom of the second inning
when Bill Curry scored on a wild pitch that went to the
backstop, and Bill Murray and Greg Tympanick each walked with
the bases loaded. The A’s then added insurance runs in the sixth
inning when Steve Delanian led off with a triple and scored on
Joe Belmosto’s single. Mike Trachtenberg also added an RBI
single.
July 17, 2008
Return
to Past Articles Page
|
