State champion Canton makes Eastern Regional debut on Sunday

The Canton Junior Little League baseball team, celebrating after winning the state championship last weekend, begins play Sunday in the Eastern Regional tournament in Dubois, Pa. at 2 p.m. against the Delaware state champion.

The Canton Junior Little League baseball team is venturing where no Canton has been before – the Eastern Regional championships.

Canton won the first Little League state championship in any division a week ago with a two-game sweep over Somers to claim the Junior Division (ages 13-14) state championship.

Canton (4-1) will be facing Laurel, Delaware on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the East Regional in Dubois, Pennsylvania. Laurel blanked Cambridge/Tri-City of Maryland, 10-0 on Saturday on the first day of the 10-team, double-elimination tournament.

Kalib Thompson was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a pair of triples for the Delaware state champions while Tristen Johnson was 1-for-2 with three RBI and three runs scored. Laurel had seven hits with three Laurel pitchers giving up just four hits and striking out four.

“We want to have fun and experience the situation,” Canton manager John Cottingham said. “It would be nice to win a game or two and I wouldn’t put that past them. They play hard and they’ve been doing it for a long time.”

Several players on this Canton team played on the 2023 Junior Division team that won the District 6 title but lost to Seymour in the Section I final and on Canton’s 2022 Major Division baseball team that lost to Simsbury in the semifinals of the District 6 tournament.

Canton has a pair of talented pitchers to begin the tournament with righthander Mason Morabito and lefthander Shea Flaherty. Morabito (2-1) pitched a complete game win over Somers in game one of the series, 9-1. Flaherty (1-0) picked up the win in game two, striking out six in a 5-1 victory.

Canton got contributions from throughout the lineup in their sweep over Somers with Lucas Steniger getting a single, double and two RBI in game one along with a double and two RBI from Cole Cottingham. Kyle Hiscox had two singles.

In game two, Jack Siana was 3-for-3 with three RBI with Kyle Rossi going 2-for-3 and Morabito hitting a double and driving in a run.

2024 Eastern Regional
At Dubois, Pa.
Saturday, July 20
Game 1: New York 15, Washington, D.C. 0
Game 2: Delaware 10, Maryland 0
Game 3: Pennsylvania 10, Rhode Island 0
Game 4: Massachusetts vs. Dubois PA
Sunday, July 21
Game 5: New York vs. New Jersey, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Canton vs. Delaware, 2 p.m.
Game 7: Maine vs. Pennsylvania, 5 p.m.
Game 8: Maryland vs. Loser game 4, 8 p.m. (elimination game)
Monday, July 22
Game 9: Rhode Island vs. loser game 5, 11 a.m.(elimination game)
Game 10: Washington, D.C., vs. loser game 7, 2 p.m.(elimination game)
Game 11: Winner game 8 vs. winner game 9, 5 p.m.
Game 12: Winner game 10 vs. loser game 6, 8 p.m. (elimination game)
Tuesday, July 23
Game 13: Winner game 5 vs. winner game 4, 11 a.m
Game 14: Winner game 6 vs. winner game 7, 2 p.m.
Game 15: Winner game 12 vs. loser game 13, 5 p.m. (elimination game)
Game 16: Winner game 11 vs. loser game 14, 8 p.m. (elimination game)
Wednesday, July 24
Game 17: Winner game 13 vs. winner game 14, 11 a.m.
Game 18: Winner game 16 vs. winner game 15, 2 p.m. (elimination game)
Game 19: Winner game 18 vs. loser game 17, 5 p.m. (elimination game)
Thursday, July 25
Game 20: Winner game 17 vs. winner game 19, 11 a.m. (final)
Game 21: If needed, 2 p.m.