Feeling right at home, Burlington pins another loss on Canton in Hartford

HARTFORD, July 16, 2026 – The Burlington Hunters feel right at home at Dunkin’ Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

In two games this week, the Hunters have blasted five home runs and picked up another two Tri-State League victories.

On Tuesday night, Burlington had 16 hits and put three balls over the fence in a 15-1 win over the Connecticut Sliders. On Thursday night, the Hunters had just seven hits but had a home run and a grand slam in a 9-1 win over Canton in the second game of the Tri-State Summer Showdown Series.

It’s the fourth consecutive year that Burlington has rented out the field to play in Hartford. They have played two games in Hartford for the past three seasons, thanks in part to donations from local businesses to cover the cost of renting the facility.

“This is a beautiful place to play it’s a unique experience for those who get to come here,” Burlington manager Andrew Bunger said. “You feel like a big leaguer for a day.”

With the two victories, Burlington (14-1) keeps their first place lead in the Tri-State League with a two-game lead over second place Candlewood Kraken (12-3) from New Milford.

It’s been an outstanding year for Burlington, who have secured their fourth straight winning season and are looking to content for their first league championship. The Hunters advanced to the semifinals twice in 2024 and 2023 but didn’t get to the finals.

“Every year, we get a little better and better,” Bunger said. “We’re just playing good baseball. Got good pitching. We’ve played pretty good defense through the year, not putting ourselves behind the eight ball.”

Pitchers Derek Duffy, Anthony Izzo and Taylor D’Onofrio have been solid all season.

“We have a bunch of guys who just know how to play clean baseball,” Bunger said. “At the end of the day, you make the plays, you throw strikes, you’re going to win games. Everyone is going to score runs in this league it is about who can limit those mistakes in the field.”

The Hunters made four errors against Canton (8-7) on Thursday but it was of little consequence. An eight-run fourth inning with a pair of home runs was the difference in the game.

Canton, who has won a team-record eight games this season, took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Catcher Danny Petro walked with one out, moved to second base on a single from Jackson Senecal and took third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Angel Christiano.

Veteran Canton starter Jim Spirito held off the Hunters for three innings, giving up two singles and striking out two. But walks and big hits chased Spirito out of the game in the fourth inning.

A double from Sean O’Connell and two walks loaded the bases for Burlington. One runner scored on a wild pitch and three runs scored on Josue Lopez’s three-run home run to left field for a 4-1 lead.

Two more walks and a single from veteran Justin McCullough loaded the bases again. This time, Jeff Osak cleared the bases with a grand slam for an 8-1 lead.

Zaruba made it 9-1 in the fifth inning with an RBI double.

McCullough had a grand slam in Tuesday’s win over the CT Sliders while George Zaruba had a pair of home runs for the Hunters in that same contest.

Burlington has won five straight against Canton and 14 of their last 15 games against the Crushers. Canton beat the Hunters in 2024, 8-3.

Burlington is in the midst of a challenging stretch of seven games in 13 days. The win against Canton was the third game this week for the Hunters, who return to action on Monday and have three games next week.

The Hunters have played two games the past three summers at Dunkin’ Park and have swept them all. The Hunters are 7-0 at Dunkin’ Park. They have played Canton at Dunkin’ Park in each of the last four seasons.

Canton had seven players with one single each in the game –Senecal, Christiano, Ben Sullivan, Jeff Mulhall and Mike Sullivan.

Burlington 9, Canton 1
At Hartford
Burlington (14-1)   000  810  0  — 9-7-4
Canton (8-7)           001  000  0  — 1-5-1
Ty Morin, Zack Rinkavage (5), Tim Krol (6) and Zack Martin; Jim Spirito, Jake Bryant (4), Matt Rose (6), Nate Hiscox (7) and Danny Petro; WP: Morin; LP: Spirito (2-3); 2B: Josue Lopez (B), Sean O’Donnell (B); HR: Lopez (B), Jeff Osak (B); Of note: Lopez hit a 3-run HR in the fourth inning while Osak hit a grand slam in the fourth