Big inning lifts Amenia past Crushers

Canton hurler Cam Gaudet and the Crushers dropped their fourth straight game Thursday night in Amenia, N.Y., in a 11-2 loss to the Monarchs.

AMENIA, N.Y., June 24, 2021 – Three Monarch pitchers combined to allow five hits and strike out 15 Canton batters to lead the Amenia Monarchs baseball team to a 11-2 win over the Canton Crushers at Doc Bartlett Field Thursday night in Tri-State League action.

Leshawn Thrasher got the start and allowed three hits and struck out six in three innings work. Reliever Mackenzie Dunlop pitched two innings, gave up one hit, fanned four and picked up the victory. Colby Dunlop pitched two innings, gave up one hit and struck out five Canton hitters.

Amenia (7-1) had 11 hits in the victory, led by leadoff hitter Sam Foley, who was 3-for-4 on the evening.

It was a 1-1 game after three innings before Amenia exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning off Crusher starter Cam Gaudet, who took the loss. Nick Michanczyk led the way for Canton (2-7) with three of the Crushers’ four hits, including a double and a home run.

There was a special moment in the game when Amenia’s Russell Boyles got his first at-bat of the season. Boyles was born with cerebral palsy and loves the game of baseball. He got to the plate and worked a 2-1 count before he was hit by a pitch and took first base. He tried to reach second base on a passed ball but was thrown out on a close play at second. It was a memorable moment for the Monarchs team.

The Crushers return to action on Saturday when they face Bethlehem (4-5) at Municipal Stadium at 4 p.m. in Waterbury. The Plowboys were scheduled to face the Fat Orange Cat Brewers from the Connecticut Twilight League but the Brewers had to step aside.

The Tri-State League and the Connecticut Twilight League (CTL) will have five other interleague games scheduled on Saturday – three at Municipal Stadium beginning at 10:30 a.m. when CTL’s Elmer’s Angels from Newington face the Wolcott Scrappers and Amenia faces the Rocky Hill Rockies at 1:30 p.m. The final game at Municipal is the CTL’s Connecticut Orioles battling the Southington 66ers at 7 p.m.

In other interleague games the CTL’s New Britain Rock Cats will host the Tri-Town Trojans at Beehive Stadium at noon while the Valley Thunder Ducks will host the CTL’s Wethersfield Dodgers at 11 a.m. at Wolcott High.

The Crushers will play the Torrington Rebels on Sunday night at 6 p.m. at Fuessenich Park in Torrington to complete a busy weekend for Canton.

Amenia 11, Canton 2
At Amenia, N.Y.
Canton                         101  000  — 2-4-6
Amenia                        001  730 – 11-12-0
Cam Gaudet, Jim Michanczyk (5) and Jeff Mulhall; Leshawn Thrasher, Mackenzie Dunlop (4), Colby Dunlop (5) and unknown; WP: Dunlop; LP: Gaudet; 2B: Nick Michanczyk (Ca); HR: N. Michanczyk (Ca)