Canton 4 – Ticonderoga 10
The Bears hosted the Sentinels for the first Sub-Regional game in school history. Senior David Zuhlsdorf was on the bump, hoping to silence a strong Sentinel offense. He stranded four runners over the first two innings, keeping the Sentinels scoreless. However, he was already at 58 pitches, which is not a good thing when the maximum is 125 pitches. He then pitched a quick inning in the third, trying to get his pitch count back on track. The Bears’ offense came to the dish in the third after only having one baserunner in the previous two innings. The Bears scored off some “small ball” in the third: three walks, a hit by pitch, an infield single, and a bunt plated three runs for the Bears.
The Sentinels almost cracked Zuhlsdorf, who scored in the previos inning, but Zuhlsdorf limited the Sentinel threat to only one run. The weak liner that got through the hole between first and second was the hardest hit ball off of Zuhlsdorf all day. Despite missing the barrel of Ticonderoga’s bats, multiple walks and errors caused his pitch count to increase at an alarming rate. The Bears’ offense went back into hibernation, just as it was in the first two inning, as they held the lead at 3-1 going into the sixth.
Zuhlsdorf was quickly approaching his limit, and a quick sixth inning was all he was able to complete. He retired the third out in the sixth inning on his 125th pitch, meaning he had to come out of the game. Sophomore Charlie Todd came into the game to shut the door on the Sentinels in the seventh. After walking eventual winning pitcher Jackson Dorsett and Garrett Drinkwine, Nathan LaCourse blasted a dagger of a two run double to left, plating Dorsett and Drinkwine. That wasn’t all for the Sentinels, as catcher Dom Crossman scored LaCourse on a sacrifice fly. The Sentinels had battled back to take the lead, 4-3.
With the top of the order up, and four of the first five hitters being seniors, the Bears felt confident. They knew that the seniors would fight tooth and nail to scratch out a victory in Canton’s inaugural state playoff game. After Senior Erich Zuhlsdorf was hit by a pitch for a third time, David Zuhlsdorf laid a perfect sacrifice bunt down to move him to second. Senior Nate Romano proceeded to drop a single into right center, moving Erich to third. After Romano stole second, Todd laid down a squeeze bunt to score Erich and move Romano to third. With the game now tied, Canton had their hottest hitter at the plate. Senior Luke Wentworth batted .667 (10-15) in the playoffs, and had the opportunity to win the game. He ripped a fastball into the same spot Romano hit his, but the right fielder had repositioned himself and made the catch. This dramatic game was heading for extras.
Todd stayed on the mound, and was hoping for a bounceback inning. He started to find the zone with his fastball, but unfortunately for him, the Sentinel bats had awoken. At the end of the miserable inning for the Bears, the Sentinels had plated six runs to take a 10-4 lead. They sent eleven people to the plate, and Todd gave up five hits and walked three others. The Bears couldn’t muster anything in the bottom of the eighth, and they lost the game by six.
D. Zuhlsdorf finished 6 IP, 5 BB, 3 H, 1 ER and Romano finished 3 for 4 in the loss.