Scrimmages begin on Aug. 31
CANTON, Aug. 25 – The Canton High football team will host four teams in a scrimmage on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at the high school. Lewis Mills, Bulkeley, St. Paul and Sports Science will face the Warriors beginning at 4 p.m. Canton will compete in additional scrimmages on Saturday, Sept. 4 at Rocky Hill and on Thursday, Sept. 9 at Capital Prep in Hartford.
Benefit golf tournament is Sept. 23
CANTON – The sixth annual Friends of Canton Football benefit golf tournament will be held Thursday, Sept. 23, at Simsbury Farms Golf Course beginning at 10 a.m. Dinner is at 5 p.m. Entry fee is $135 and includes 18 holes of golf, a cart, a box lunch and beverages. Proceeds go to fund the football and girls lacrosse programs.
Boys golf
Canton boys golfers finish 2nd in Division IV
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press.com
CANTON, June 10 – It’s has never been easy for the Canton High boys golf team this season. The Warriors came into the season hoping to contend for a NCCC championship. The first obstacle was losing three-time All-State senior Ryan Allen for the first month of the season as he recovered from breaking his leg last February.
A one-stroke loss to Granby on opening day didn’t help. Eventual league champion Coventry won the league title with back-to-back wins over Canton (12-3-1, 8-2-1 NCCC) and Avon in May on its home course.
At last week’s CIAC Division IV golf tournament, a battered Warriors team took the course at Timberlin Golf Course in Kensington. Junior Blayne Houlihan was under the weather but still played. Allen had a hole drilled into his thumbnail after accidentally getting his hand slammed in a car door over the weekend.
Still, Canton came home with the second place trophy, finishing 11 strokes behind Northwest Catholic of West Hartford, 314-325. It’s the best finish ever in team history. They had finished sixth a year ago.
Senior Brad Parliaman led the Warriors with a six-over-par 78, good enough to finish tied for third in the tournament. Senior James Solomon had a 79 while Houlihan shot an 83. Allen shot an 85 and junior David Roux scored an 86.
Northwest’s top two golfers Ryan Strid and Brendan Lemp each shot a 75 to win the tournament.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” Canton coach Bill Phelps said. “They did an outstanding job all year along. I’m ecstatic about about our golf team in Canton. We don’t have a golf course in town anymore.”
Canton played with three Catholic schools in the tournament, including Northwest Catholic. The Warriors beat Trinity Catholic-Stamford (340) and Immaculate-Danbury (345).
Parliaman earned All-State honors. Allen would have been named All-State but he didn’t compete in at least 10 matches during the season.
At the NCCC Tournament at Skungamung in Coventry, Canton was fourth with a 319. Ellington easily won the tournament with a 296. Suffield (314) and Coventry (317) finished ahead of Canton. Avon was a distant sixth with 328.
“It was the first time we’ve played 18 this year and we didn’t shoot well,” Phelps said. “We didn’t play the course well. We don’t like the narrow, short courses but it was a good lesson to help get ready for the state tournament.”
Parliaman, Houlihan and Allen each earned All-NCCC honors. Canton finished tied with Avon for third place in the league with an 8-2-1 record. Coventry (10-1) won the league title with Ellington (9-2) finishing second.
How challenging was the NCCC this season? Three league teams finished second in CIAC tournaments and six finished in the top five of their respective state tournaments.
Canton was second in Division IV, Granby was second in Division III and Avon was second in Division II. League champion Coventry was fourth in Division IV with a 330 while Suffield and Ellington were fourth and fifth, respectively in Division III.
Baseball
Warriors run ends in semifinal loss to Cromwell
By GERRY deSIMAS, Jr.
Collinsville Press.com
CANTON, June 8 – For three innings, the Canton High baseball team was in control of its Class S semifinal game with No. 1 Cromwell at Muzzy Field. Senior pitcher Travis Lane had his way with the Panthers striking out five and not allowing a hit.
The Warriors had five hits and two stolen bases. But its lead was precarious. Canton managed just two runs and stranded five runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the first inning.
Cromwell (20-4) rapped out five hits and scored five runs in the fifth inning to break open a one-run ballgame and eliminate the Warriors (18-5) from the Class S tournament with a 6-2 victory.
And Cromwell hurler David Grande got stronger as the game progressed. After allowing six hits and two runs in the first four innings, he gave up just one hit and struck out five in the final three innings.
After finishing second to Ellington in the regular season, the Warriors won the NCCC Tournament for the first time with an eight-inning win over Avon and a victory over Ellington in the title game. A pair of one-run decisions in the Class S tournament over Coventry, 2-1, and Coginchaug, 7-6, put Canton in the semifinals for the first time since 2005.
“We played hard all year,” catcher Tyler Plourd said. “We won a lot of games that way.” Plourd, Lane, Brian Magna and Kyle Beattie have been playing on the varsity for four years. Plourd has caught every inning the last four years and is a two-time All-NCCC player. Lane went 8-1 this year and earned All-State honors. Magna earned All-State honors in cross country and indoor track earlier this year.
“It’s been a great four years,” Canton coach Brian Roy said. “These kids have been unbelievable.”
Many of these players have been playing baseball together for years in the spring, summer and sometimes the fall. “They work hard every day,” Roy said. “The unity has been unbelievable.”
The game started well against Cromwell. Lane had his way against the Panthers in the first three innings. However, Canton couldn’t take advantage of its opportunities against Grande.
Nick Quattro ripped a one-out double in the first inning and scored on Lane’s two-out RBI single to centerfield. A single from Austin Bronson and a walk to Plourd loaded the bases but Grande got Aras Banevicius to fly out to right field to end the threat.
In the third inning, Canton made it 2-0. Beattie led off the inning with a walk, stole second base and scored on Plourd’s two-out single to right field. But Plourd was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double.
In the fourth inning, Banevicius led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a successful sacrifice bunt by Tyler Detorie. But that was it. Grande got the next two batters to ground out and end the inning. From this point, Canton had just one hit remaining.
Cromwell cut the lead to a single run in the fourth. Grande led off the inning with a single, stole second base and scored on an RBI single from Bobby Jordan. In the fifth, Steve Radziewicz coaxed a leadoff walk and moved to second on a one-out single from Dan Smith. Both moved up one base on a passed ball.
Leadoff hitter Chris Edelbaum ripped a shot that deflected off Banevicius at third base, allowing Radziewicz to tie the game at 2-2. Grande followed with a dribbler that just went up the third base line, scoring Smith. Jordan broke the game open with a two-RBI double to left field for a 5-2 lead.
