Valley Ducks pull away from Crushers, 13-8

Canton’s Jim Spirito had two hits at the plate and struck out six in four innings work on the mound in Thursday night’s loss to the Valley Ducks.

WOLCOTT, June 10, 2021 – Tyler Pelletier and Rick Parenteau each had three singles and two RBI  each as the Valley Thunder Ducks beat the Canton Crushers, 13-8, Thursday night in Tri-State League action at Wolcott High School.

Pitcher Angel Valentin went the distance on the mound for the Thunder Ducks (3-2) to earn the win.

Jim Spirito was 2-for-4 for the Crushers (2-4, 2-3 Tri-State) with a single and a double. Andrew Tremblay had a double for Canton while Braedon Bean, Jim Michanczyk and Cam Gaudet each had singles.

Valley Ducks took a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to doubles from Donny Ek and Nick Forino. But Canton cut the lead to two with four runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning.

The Crushers loaded the bases when Michanczyk and Gaudet singled and Danny Coppenger was hit by a pitch. One run scored on a ground ball to shortstop with a second run coming in when Jake Bryant walked. Two runs scored on Tremblay’s double.

But the Ducks scored another three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to reestablish command of the contest. Five Canton errors didn’t help the Crushers’ cause.

On the mound, Spirito got the start for Canton and pitched four innings, giving up five hits and striking out six.

Canton returns to action on Sunday morning when they head to Gallop Field in Bethlehem for an 11 a.m. start against the Plowboys.

Valley Ducks 13, Canton 6
At Wolcott
Canton (2-4)                   000  041  0  –   6-7-5
Valley Ducks (3-2)         000  634  x  — 13-8-3
Jim Spirito, Mike Sullivan (5), Braedon Bean (6) and Jake Bryant; Angel Valentin and unknown; WP: Valentin; LP: Spirito (1-1); 2B: Andrew Tremblay (Ca), Nick Forino (V), John McMahon (V); 3B: Jeff Maytas (V), Donny Ek (V)

All games, including contests against Connecticut Twilight League teams, count toward playoff seeding.