Preseason outlook
Warriors preparing
for spring
CANTON, March 31 – Canton High softball coach Doug Clements has high hopes for the Warriors this season in terms of contending for a league championship and a Class S state championship.
Eight on nine starters from last year’s team that went 16-4 return include junior pitcher Mo Gauthier, senior catcher Jess Schroeder and junior infielder Melissa Parente, who each earned All-NCCC honors last spring. The three hitters combined for 15 home runs while Schroeder belting six and Gauthier hitting five. Parente had four. Clements added two non-league games with New Britain to the schedule to challenge the Warriors.
BASEBALL: Seven players return for the Canton High baseball team (10-9) including four juniors who will start for the third year. Catcher Tyler Plourd, pitcher/outfielder Brian Magna, pitcher/outfielder Kyle Beattie and pitcher/infielder Travis Lane broke into the starting lineup as freshmen and will be on the field this spring for coach Brian Roy.
Outfielder Chris Melite and first baseman Aaron Deaver are the only two seniors on the team.
GIRLS GOLF: Canton’s top four players all return from the squad that won the Southern Connecticut Girls Golf League championship last spring. Senior Tessa Newell, junior Sarah Getz, sophomore Megan Roux and junior Kelly McAlindin each return for coach John Manners. McAlindin earned first team All-League honors. Canton (11-5, 7-3 SCGGL) finished 12th in the CIAC Tournament.
BOYS GOLF: Junior Ryan Allen, an All-State selection who was the first Canton golfer to win an individual NCCC championship, returns for the Warriors (8-9-1, 6-5-1 NCCC). Juniors Brad Parliament, James Solomon and Jon Phelps return for Canton, which qualified for the CIAC Division IV tournament for the first time since 2000, finishing 11th – its best finish in at least 25 years. Sophomore Dave Roux looks to make a positive impact on the team.
TENNIS: All-NCCC singles player Kelly Howland graduated but the Canton girls tennis team (10-8, 10-7 NCCC) return a solid team that coach Jerry Havrl thinks can be competitive with anyone this year. Senior Anne Rhea looks to move into the No. 1 singles spot with juniors Maggie Bahre and Mary Beth Davis, a successful doubles team a year ago, looking to take two spots in singles.
Sixteen girls are out for the squad including a nice mix of veterans and youngsters. On the boys side, the Warriors are looking to build on an 8-6 record and a fourth place finish in the league.
TRACK AND FIELD: Canton looks to build on a successful indoor track campaign with some solid performances this spring. Senior Erik Nystrom, who won the Class S title in the 3,200 meters in indoor track, is out for the team along with seniors Chris Hyde, Dyan Petruskevicius and Nate Scull along with junior veterans Mike LeDuc, James Rosshirt and Connor Smyth, who set new school records in the javelin and triple jump last year.
On the girls side, senior Katie Bussiere, junior Lucy Mentzer and sophomore Tyisha Alexander lead up the Canton girls. Bussiere set a new school record in the 800 meters last year while Alexander set a new school mark in the long jump.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Canton will field a junior varsity team for the second year.
Basketball
3 All-State players for Canton
CANTON, March 25 – Three Canton High basketball players have earned All-State honors. Senior Chris Robitaille, junior Andrew Crowley and sophomore Sarah Benedetti were each named to the Class S team by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. It’s the first time that Canton has had multiple All-State basketball players in a single season. All three also earned All-NCCC honors.
Robitaille and Crowley helped Canton to a 19-1 record in the regular season and 22-3 overall. Robitaille, a 6-foot-5 center, led the NCCC in scoring with 19.6 points per game. He also pulled 13.8 rebounds a game and had a team-high 113 blocks. Robitaille played in the CHSCA Senior All-Star game on Wednesday, scoring seven points. Crowley averaged 17.3 points a game and led the team with a school-record 52 three-point shots.
Benedetti helped the Canton girls team (17-7) to its first winning season since 2004 by averaging 18.5 points a game and hitting a team-high 38 three-point shots. She scores 20 or more in 12 of Canton’s 24 games this season.
Running
Chisholm, Stoeffler share win at Collinsville race
COLLINSVILLE, March 8 – Farmington’s Chris Chisholm and Tolland’s Brett Stoeffler each ran 11 miles along the bike trail in Collinsville and up to Nepaug Resevoir in 1:09.41 to win the sixth annual Collinsville Dam road race on warm, sunny March afternoon. Jennifer Caley of North Granby won the women’s race in 1:23.35. The runners ran two loops of 5.5 miles in the race sponsored by the Hartford Track Club as part of its winter series of races. The race was known as the Collinsville Bake-Off from 2004-08.
Week 4, April 27-May 2
Hilly Tower Ridge is advantage for Canton
CANTON – Every high school golf team has the advantage of familiarity playing a match on their home golf course. It’s the course they practice on for days and weeks during the spring.
Playing at Tower Ridge Golf Course at the base of Talcott Mountain in Simsbury gives the Canton High boys and girls golf teams an added advantage. Walking up and down the steep hills that create the course can be difficult for a visiting team.
“You get tired lugging your own bag,” Canton boys coach Bill Phelps said. “It’s a huge advantage for us. We get used to that playing every day. It’s not a big deal walking up and down those big hills.” Canton has been playing a Tower Ridge since 2003 when the Canton Golf Course was closed to build the Shoppes at Farmington Valley.
The Canton boys posted its fourth lowest score ever at Tower Ridge last week with a 159-161 win over Somers. Canton’s David Roux led the way with a 37 for nine holes while teammate Jon Phelps had a 39. Blaine Houlihan had a 41, Ryan Allen had a 42 and Brad Parliament had a 43.
Still, Canton (5-2-1, 3-1-1 NCCC) won by just two strokes, reinforcing the fact that the NCCC is very competitive. Allen was medalist with a 35 at Tallwood in Hebron in Canton’s 155-186 win over Bolton earlier in the week.
“If we keep playing together like we can play, they’ll have a very good next few weeks,” Phelps said.
Canton still has league matches left with Avon and Tolland. The league champion is the team with the best record after 13 league matches.
GIRLS GOLF: The Canton girls golf team remains undefeated at 6-0 with a 187-208 victory over Suffield. Sarah Getz had a 44 at Airways in Suffield to lead Canton. The 21-stroke victory is the second closest bout of the year. Avon came within nine strokes of the Warriors in early April.
Freshman Nikki Liucci, Megan Roux, Kelly McAlindin and senior Tessa Newell are playing well, which has challenging matches remaining against Middletown, Cheshire and Lauralton Hall as they battle for the Southern Connecticut Girls Golf League championship.
TRACK & FIELD: The Warriors set six school records at Saturday’s 78th annual Greater Hartford Invitational at Simsbury High. Rachel Schwartzman continues to break her own school record in the shot. With a throw of 28 feet, 6 inches, she broke her old record set earlier this year by nearly two feet.
Senior Alaina Casioppo set a new school record with a leap of 31 feet, 1.25 inches in the triple jump.
The Smyth brothers brought home a pair of school records. Connor Smyth broke the long jump record mark with a leap of 19 feet, 3 inches, snapping the old mark set by Jasen Watson in 2007. Dylan Smyth set a new record in the discus (94 feet, 3 inches), with a throw that was nearly 10 feet longer than Eric Comeau’s mark set in 2007.
Canton’s 4x100 girls relay team of Tyisha Alexanders, Alessandra Summa, Casioppo and Lucy Mentzer finished 11th in 54.55 seconds, breaking the old record set in 2007. The boys 4x100 relay team of Brian Lochner, Chris Hyde, Luke Talbot and Ryan Gallagher finished 13th in a record time of 47.19, over two seconds faster than the old record set in 2005.
Among the boys, Canton was sixth out of 15 small school teams with 35 points and 14th overall in the field of 29. The CHS girls were 14th among small schools and 27th overall.
Schwartzman was the only athlete to finish in the top 10. Casioppo, Collin Glasson (shot, 39-0) and Connor Smyth (37-10) were each 11th in the triple jump. Connor Smyth was 12th in the long jump while Dylan Smith (javelin) and Kevin Kurnat (1,600) each finished 13th.
In dual meets, Granby handed the Canton boys (4-1) its first loss in a 103-49 decision. The Canton girls slipped to 2-3 with a 100-42 loss to Granby.
BASEBALL: The Warriors (5-5, 3-4 NCCC) are getting some hits but are struggling to get some key two-out hits to drive in runs. Canton lost three of four games last week, each by two runs. They had eight hits in two games and 10 in the third contest.
Canton lost to Somers, 6-4, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Warriors dropped a 6-4 decision to Ellington and had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth inning but failed to score. On Friday, Canton fell to Windsor Locks, 6-4 in eight innings on a two-run home run from Joe Bogli.
“We’re hitting the ball hard but it’s right at someone,” Canton coach Brian Roy said. “We’re just not catching a break.”
First baseman Aaron Deaver had a strong week with two hits each against Windsor Locks and Ellington and a hit against Somers. Deaver had a key two-RBI single in a 3-0 win over Enfield two weeks ago.
Catcher Tyler Plourd was 2-for-3 with a single, triple and two RBI in a 6-5 win over Stafford last Monday. He added a home run, single and an RBI against Somers.
Kyle Beattie has been providing consistent hitting and solid play in the outfield, infield and on the mound. Travis Lane also hit a homer against Somers.
SOFTBALL: The Warriors (7-3, 4-2 NCCC) have found key hits hard to find as well. In the much-anticipated game with New Britain two weeks ago, Hurricane pitcher Kelsey Newberg allowed just four hits and fanned 16 in a 10-3 victory.
Canton rebounded with a 6-0 shutout over Enfield but stumbled in a 1-0 loss to Ellington at Canton as Purple Knight pitcher Morgan McPartland allowed just two hits. The Warriors had 15 hits and ripped Stafford, 13-0, last Monday but had just three hits and struck out 10 in a 3-1 loss to Somers.
Week 3, April 20-24
Win over Enfield snaps losing streak for CHS 9
CANTON, April 26 -- The Canton High baseball team (6-2, 2-1 NCCC) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout win over Enfield on the road last Thursday. Canton dropped its first game of the season in an 8-0 loss to Avon and then gave up 14 hits in a 10-4 non-league loss to Rocky Hill at Bowdoin Field on Monday.
Terrier sophomore Anthony Marzilli had two doubles and two RBI while Justin Sitaro had a double, HR and two RBI. Pitcher Corey Armstrong struck out five and allowed just five hits over six innings to earn his second win of the season. He also had a home run.
SOFTBALL: Canton (6-2, 3-1 NCCC) had just four hits in a 10-3 loss to New Britain on a rainy Wednesday afternoon last week. Hurricane pitcher Kelsey Newberg struck out 16 to lead the visitors (4-1). Three errors didn’t help the Canton cause, either.
Canton recovered with a 4-0 shutout victory over Enfield as pitcher Mo Gauthier scattered four hits but Ellington stunned Canton in last week’s Saturday matinee at the high school, 1-0. Purple Knight P Morgan McPartland scattered two hits in the victory. Ellington (6-1) pushed across its only run in the fourth inning.
TENNIS: The Canton boys tennis team had the week off due to spring break. The Warriors went 1-3 in its first four matches. The Canton girls team also had the week off and began this week with a record of 2-3.
TRACK & FIELD: The Warriors had the week off due to vacation. The boys are 4-0 while the girls are 2-2.
GOLF: Neither the boys or girls golf teams had matches to spring vacation. The boys are 0-2-1 after tying Suffield two weeks ago. The girls team is 3-0 and the closest anyone has come to the Warriors after two matches is nine strokes in Canton’s 212-221 win over Avon.
Week 2, April 13-18
Undefeated softball team looks forward to New Britain challenge
CANTON, April 18 – Before the first pitch was thrown this season, there was the anticipation surrounding the challenge of New Britain by the Canton High softball team this spring. With eight starters returning from a team that won 16 of 20 games a year ago, Canton coach Doug Clement wanted to make sure his team received some challenges.
Canton (5-0, 2-0 NCCC) hosts New Britain on Wednesday (April 22). But Canton’s road to the contest wasn’t without its bumps. They've been pushed in several contests. “We had some nice wakeup calls,” Clement said regarding the opposition. “Everyone is scrappy and hangs around. Everyone has improved.”
In the second game of the season, Canton (5-0, 2-0 NCCC) scored four runs in the sixth and seventh innings to break open a three-run contest in a 9-2 victory over East Granby. Junior pitcher Mo Gauthier had a RBI triple in the seventh inning when Canton iced the contest with three runs. Sarah Sabia added a two-RBI double in the fourth inning.
Last week, Canton earned its fourth win of the season with a 5-2 win over Coventry. The Patriots allowed just nine hits and cut the lead to one run, 3-2, before freshman outfielder Stephanie Gauthier had an key RBI triple in the fifth inning. Shortstop Melissa Parente, catcher Jesse Schroeder and Fran Klimczak each had two hits in the victory.
Canton had three victories last week. Not only did they beat Coventry but Canton had 12 hits and Parente belted a home run in a 15-4 victory over Bolton. On Friday, Canton’s Mo Gauthier allowed just one hit and struck out eight as the Warriors beat a young Avon team by a 17-0 score in five innings.
Parente and Mo Gauthier each had three hits while Klimczak, Schroeder and Nicole Batan had two hits each. Parente had two home runs and a triple.
BOYS TENNIS: It may be a season of paying their dues but the Canton High boys tennis isn’t afraid to throw its chips on the table and see what happens.
In singles, sophomore Nate Scott is at No. 1 singles with sophomore Ned Furtney at No. 2. Scott and Furtney played doubles a year ago with Scott getting some matches at No. 4 singles. Junior Kevin Soucy is a rookie at No. 3 singles but is making solid progress. Sophomore David Shaverdian is at No. 4 singles.
Juniors Steve Carpenter and Sean Mullins are playing at No. 1 doubles. A mix of players are playing at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles for Canton coach Tom Peterson. Sophomore Sam Crowe, Matt Herman and Mason Case have seen playing time in the first four matches.
Canton (1-3, 1-3 NCCC) owns a 6-1 win over Ellington but were shutout by Avon, Bolton and Tolland. “As a group, I think we are pretty much on the same page,” Peterson said. “We approach each match attempting to learn something about ourselves and our opponents push us. We have our eyes open.
“Often, they’ll leave the court after a match, stand together and talk about the match,” he said. “Someone will mention next season and the season after that and the chatter gets excited. They start talking about what they need to do for the next match. This group has a long-term focus and it’s exciting to be around.”
BASEBALL: After winning three straight games to open the season, Avon handed Canton (3-1, 1-1 NCCC) its first loss of the season on Friday, limiting the Warriors to just six hits in an 8-0 defeat.
Earlier in the week, Canton hurler Kyle Beattie allowed just three hits and struck out two in a 3-0 win over Bolton. Travis Lane had an RBI triple in the fifth to give the Warriors an extra run. In a 10-6 win over Coventry, hurler Brian Magna helped scatter 10 Patriot hits.
GIRLS TENNIS: It was a tough week for the Warriors (2-3), who dropped two of three matches. Canton shutout East Granby, 7-0 but was nipped by Tolland, 4-3 and fell to defending league champion Avon, 7-0. Earlier in the week, Tolland beat Avon by a surprising 7-0 margin.
GOLF: Play in the North Central Connecticut Conference (NCCC) will be challenging this spring for Canton. Despite Ryan Allen’s low score of 35, Avon beat Canton by five strokes last week, 165-170. A day later, Canton and Suffield battled to a 162-162 tie at Crestview in Agawam, Mass. The Canton girls golf team remained undefeated (2-0) with a nine shot win over Avon, 212-221.
TRACK & FIELD: With an 89-60 win over Suffield and a 98-47 win over East Granby, the Canton boys track team remained undefeated at 4-0 overall and in the league. The Canton girls (2-2, 2-2 NCCC) split a tri-meet, beating East Granby, 80-43 but falling to Suffield, 122-36.
Week 1, April 8-11
Ellington stuns boys golf team
CANTON – With the entire squad back and the addition of junior Blaine Houlihan, the expectations this spring for the Canton High boys golf team are high – a possible league championship and a top three finish in Division IV.
But it won’t be easy and Canton found that out on opening day with a one stroke loss to Ellington last week, 176-177 at its home course, Tower Ridge in Simsbury. Matt Ussery had a sparkling 38 to lead the Purple Knights, who finished fifth in Division III last year, while teammate Brad White had a 40.
Canton’s All-State junior Ryan Allen led the Warriors with a 42 while junior Brad Parliament and sophomore Dave Roux each checked in with a 43. Junior Jon Phelps had a 49 while Houlihan had a 50.
“They have high expectations,” Canton coach Bill Phelps said. “They know their ability. We have seven kids who can legitimately shoot in the low 40s (over nine holes) and a few in the high 30s. It is a very competitive team.”
While Bill Phelps believes Canton has a chance to be a contender in the CIAC Division IV tournament, winning a NCCC league championship could be more elusive with Canton competing with Ellington, Granby and Suffield, who all qualified and finished among the top12 in Division III last spring, and Avon, which was tenth in Division II.
GIRLS GOLF: Canton made a statement on opening day with a dominating performance in a 29-stroke victory over Cheshire, a team that finished tenth in the state a year ago. Canton freshman Nikki Liucci had a 45 at Tower Ridge in Simsbury to lead the Warriors (2-0, 1-0 Southern CT Girls Golf League) while junior Kelly McAlindin had a 49 and junior Sarah Getz had a 50. Senior Tessa Newell was fourth for the Warriors with a 52. Canton had a 212, which was five strokes better than Mercy-Middletown (217). Cheshire finished with 241.
TRACK & FIELD: The Canton boys opened the season with pair of victories over Enfield, 90-54, and Stafford, 89-56. David Kucia set a pair of school records with victories in the 110 hurdles (17.2 seconds) and 300 hurdles (47.4). Colin Glasson set a new school record in the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 6.5 inches.
Ryan Gallagher (400), Erik Nystrom (3,200) and Wesley Nichols-Wright (triple jump) also picked up individual victories for the Warriors (2-0, 2-0 NCCC). Canton’s 4x4 relay team (Dylan Petruskevicious, Connor Smyth, Ryan Gallagher, James Rosshirt) also earned a victory in 3:46.
The Canton girls beat Enfield, 76-64 but narrowly lost to host Stafford, 78-70. Rachel Schwartzmann broke her own school record with a throw of 26 feet, 10 inches to win the shot put while Alaina Casioppo established a new school record with a victory in the triple jump with a leap of 27 feet, 8 inches.
Senior Katie Bussiere and sophomore Tyisha Alexander each won a pair of events. Bussiere swept the 800 and 1,600 meters while Alexanders won the 200 meters and captured the high jump. Camila Rich won the 300 hurdles in 57.5 while the 4x4 relay team of Bussiere, Alessandra Summa, Cheyenne Douglas and Casioppo won in 4:43.0.
SOFTBALL: Canton pitcher Mo Gauthier struck out 12 and threw her first career no-hitter over five innings to lead the Warriors (1-0, 1-0 NCCC) to a 15-0 victory over East Windsor on opening day. Gauthier allowed just one walk in the first inning. It was the first no-hitter for the Warriors since the 2006 season. Canton had 11 hits in the victory.
BASEBALL: Canton hurler Travis Lane scattered five hits and struck out seven to lead the Warriors to a 18-1 victory over East Windsor on opening day. He had just one walk. On the strength of 15 hits, Canton scored 13 runs in the first three innings.
