Canton softball playing well heading into post-season

CANTON — Head coach Charley Batan wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the 2013 edition of the Canton High softball team. There was certainly some experienced players returning but there were plenty questions to answer this spring.

A year ago, the Warriors won 14 games in the regular season and earned another three victories in the CIAC Class S tournament, before bowing in the semifinals to St. Bernard. Five starters graduated from that squad including the entire outfield, the starting pitcher and catcher.

Those questions have been answered and more. Canton went 14-4 this spring and 12-4 in the NCCC – the most wins by the Warriors in the league since they won 12 in 1999. It was good enough for fourth place in the league and a berth in the NCCC Tournament for the second year in a row.

And it was a pretty competitive league this year with nine of the 14 teams earning berths in the CIAC tournaments.

“They went way past my expectations,” Batan said. “They’ve been playing so well.”

Canton has won six of its last seven games. Defense has been the key along with the leadership from the lone four seniors on the squad  — shortstop Katherine Winsor, center fielder Amber Batan, right fielder Jess Falzone and first baseman Brittany King.

Winsor anchors the infield while Batan has made just one error in the regular season. Falzone has made several circus catches in the outfield and King has been exceptionally solid at first base. “You can hit it as hard as you want and she’ll get it,” Charley Batan said.

The aggressiveness and skill of sophomore catcher Katie Hill has also helped. Hill isn’t afraid to throw down to King at first base to try and keep a baserunner from wandering too far off the bag.

“People can’t get a lead and steal on us like they would like to,” Charley Batan said. “It changes the whole dynamic of the game. They’re helping to hold that runner closer to first base.”

Junior second baseman Kiley Delos and sophomore third baseman Liz Graves are also playing well along with left fielder Jillian Petraitis, who has an exceptional arm.

A year ago, junior Morgan Scafuri was the backup pitcher gaining experience. This year, she received the toughest assignments and did well. Through the first 12 games of the season, she was 7-4 with 70 strikeouts in over 62 innings. She allowed 47 hits and walked 33.

She scattered six hits in a 2-1 victory over Sport Medicine Science Academy and allowed just four hits in a 6-3 win over Conard-West Hartford in the regular season finale last week. For added support, Scarfuri was 2-for-3 with a double. In a game earlier this season, she struck out 11 in a win over Bolton.

Petraitis, a sophomore, went 5-0 on the mound. She gave up just one hit in a five inning win over Windsor Locks and one hit in a 15-0 win in five innings over East Windsor. She allowed two hits in a 16-1 victory in six innings over Avon.

She contributed at the plate with a team-leading three home runs.

Through 12 games, King was hitting .545 with four doubles and a triple with Hill hitting .533 with three doubles and three triples. Batan was hitting .466 with a triple and one home run.

King and Batan were named to the All-NCCC team for their performance this spring.

The Warriors are schedule to play in the NCCC Tournament Friday at Veteran’s Field in Windsor Locks if the rain forecast for the afternoon holds off. The semifinals are at 1 and 4 p.m. with the championship game at 7 p.m.

Charley Batan has high hopes for Canton in the Class S tournament. Granby, Suffield and Ellington, the three teams that finished ahead of the Warriors in the NCCC, are all in Class M.

“We have the talent (to be successful),” he said. “The chemistry this year has been awesome.”

Batan also praised the efforts of volunteer coach Jesse Parr, a former Canton High player who has been a big help this season.

For Canton, the Class S tournament will begin on Tuesday, probably with a home game at the high school. Second round games will be Wednesday with quarterfinal action scheduled for Friday and Saturday with the semifinals next week. The championship games are set for June 7-8 at DeLuca Field in Stratford and at West Haven.