WINDSOR LOCKS, May 28 – Despite winning seven of its last eight games, the Canton High baseball team came up short in its attempt to win a share of the NCCC championship finishing a strong second behind Ellington, which won its second straight league championship.
The Warriors (16-4, 12-4 NCCC) didn’t let its opportunity to win the NCCC Tournament slip away. With some outstanding pitching and key hitting, Canton won the NCCC Tournament for the first time with an 8-3 decision over Ellington at Veteran’s Park.
“We played five games in five days and the pitching has been great all week,” Canton coach Brian Roy said. On Monday, Canton outlasted East Granby, 7-6 to remain alive in its bid to grab a piece of the league title but the next day, Ellington beat Suffield, 15-3 to clinch its second straight NCCC title.
On Wednesday, Ellington scored one run in the seventh inning to beat the Warriors, 5-4, when Ellington’s Mitch Plourde tripled and scored on Kevin Dwire’s sacrifice fly. Dustin Mocadlo, who got the win in relief, worked a scoreless seventh. The next day, Canton wrapped up its regular season with pitcher Travis Lane improving to 7-0 with a three-hit shutout victory over East Windsor, 5-0. On Friday, Canton played a pair of games in the NCCC Tournament at Veteran’s Park in Windsor Locks.
Some unlikely stalwarts rose to the occasion. In the finals of the NCCC Tournament, the Warriors started sophomore Geoff Brisco on the mound. Brisco had pitched just five innings this year. “He kept us close and threw strikes,” Roy said. Brisco allowed just three runs in three innings of work.
With Canton holding a 5-3 lead, Roy turned to shortstop Nick Quattro to take the hill. In his varsity debut, Quattro struck out eight in four innings to secure the tournament title. Quattro pitched in Little League and in junior high but hasn’t been needed to pitch in high school.
The Warriors received some key hitting as well. They took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI single from Austin Bronson and a sacrifice fly from Tyler Plourd. Trailing by one in the fourth, Colin Gurry scored from second on a groundout to tie the game and three batters later, Lane gave Canton a 5-3 lead with a two-RBI double up the middle and the lead for good. He finished with two hits and three RBI.
Canton earned a spot in the finals with a 3-2 win over Avon in eight innings. The Warriors took a 2-0 lead but Avon cut the lead to one in the fifth. Avon tied the game in the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out. But the Falcons grounded into a double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, three walks from reliever Brendan Telfer loaded the bases leading to Quattro ripping an two-out RBI single between first and second base to win the game. CHS pitcher Kyle Beattie went the distance to earn the win, scattering six hits.
It was Canton’s third appearance in the NCCC Tournament but the first time they had won a game.
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