Canton’s Angel Valentin had two hits and scored four runs in Sunday’s 12-11 loss to Wolcott in 11 innings at Bowdoin Field.
The Wolcott Scrappers erased a four-run deficit to force extra innings and beat the Canton Crushers, 12-11 in 11 innings on Sunday at Bowdoin Field to remain undefeated in Tri-State League action.
Canton (0-3) had a 10-7 lead after seven innings but the Scrappers (4-0) scored two unearned runs in the eighth inning on an error (dropped fly ball) and one in the ninth to force extra innings.
In extra innings, a runner is placed at second base to begin the inning. In the tenth, Blake Stone was placed at second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Stone scored on a sacrifice fly from Carson Lentini to give the Scappers their first lead of the day, 11-10.
But Canton came right back in the bottom of the tenth. Angel Valentin was the runner placed at second base and moved to third base on a ground ball out. With two outs, Jack Rose was intentionally walked. Rose hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning – a two-run blast to left field.
Catcher Jeff Mulhall doubled to left field, driving in Valentin to tie the game at 11-11. After Canton’s Jim Spirito was intentionally walked to load the bases, Wolcott reliever Ethan Stepputtis got a strikeout to keep the Scrappers alive.
In the 11th, Stepputtis was the runner placed at second base. With one out, Wolcott’s Alex James singled to left field to drive in Stepputtis for a 12-11 lead.
In the bottom of 11th, Canton’s Steve Dubois was placed at second base and he moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt from Mike Sullivan. Canton’s Tom Dubois grounded to James at shortstop, who threw out Steve Dubois at home to preserve the Scrapper lead.
One final strikeout from Stepputtis won the game for Wolcott. Stepputtis pitched two innings, allowed one hit and struck out two to earn the victory.
Lentini was 3-for-5 with a double and one RBI for Wolcott while Dillon Fernandes was 3-for-6 with one RBI.
For Canton, Valentin was 2-for-4 with four runs scored and three walks. Rose, who pitched five innings for the Crushers, had a home run and three RBI.
Four Canton pitchers combined to allow 13 hits, walk 10 and strikeout nine. Five Wolcott pitchers combined to allow seven hits, walk 17 and strikeout eight.
For Canton, the 11-inning contest tied a team record for the longest game. The Crushers played 11 inning games in 2023 – an 8-7 loss to Amenia – and in 2014, a 4-3 win over Amenia. Spirito was the pitcher of record for the Crushers in all three games.
Canton dropped a 2-1 decision to three-time defending league champion Tri-Town on Thursday at Bowdoin Field. Spirito pitched five strong innings, allowing two hits, one run and striking out six.
Rose had two hits while Valentin, Spirito, Jake Bryant and Mike Sullivan also had hits for the Crushers.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the sixth, Canton reliever Nate Hiscox gave up two walks. After hitting a batter, the bases were loaded with one out.
One run scored on a Danny McCarthy single to right field but Spirito fired the ball to Valentin at shortstop, who threw out a runner at the plate. The runner was tagged out by Mulhall.
Tri-Town pitcher Dan Livingston retired the side in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the game for the Trojans. Livingston pitched seven innings, scattered seven hits and struck out four.
Canton opened the 2025 season on May 18 with a 13-0 loss to Amenia, N.Y., on the road. Jake Bryant went 3-3 for the Crushers on that day while Spirito was 2-for-2.
Canton has three games in the next week. The Crushers host Torrington at Bowdoin Field on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. and travel to Bethlehem on Thursday to face the Plowboys at 5:45 p.m. The Crushers host Naugatuck next Sunday at 4 p.m. at Bowdoin Field.
Wolcott 12, Canton11 (11)
At Canton
Wolcott (4-0) 001 022 221 11 – 12-14-2
Canton (0-3) 211 202 200 10 — 11-8-4
Nathan Ebner, Fuegen (2), Fernandes (5), Zac Lawlor (8), Stepputtis (10) and Main, Champ (7); Matt Rose, Nate Hiscox (6), Angel Valentin (8), Jim Spirito (10) and Jeff Mulhall; WP: Stepputtis; LP: Spirito (0-1); 2B: Jeff Mulhall (C), Finegen (W); HR: Matt Rose (C); Highlights: Alex James (W) had the game-winning hit in the 11th; Wolcott pitchers walked 17 and struck out eight. Canton pitchers walked 10 and struck out nine
