The Canton Bears Modified baseball team opened its season in dominant fashion, improving to a 3-0 record, with a 12–5 victory over Norwood, a 14–1 win over Salmon River, and a 19–1 triumph over Potsdam.
In the season opener against Norwood, Jake Hayes and Brendan Todd each recorded two strikeouts on the mound, while Darren Potter paced the offense with a pair of key hits and multiple RBIs. Noah Hogan and Hayes also added two hits apiece to help secure the win for Canton.
The Bears carried that momentum into game two against Salmon River.
Mak Brassard and Sean McCluskey each pitched two innings, striking out four batters apiece while combining on a no-hitter to stifle the Shamrocks’ offense.
Offensively, Hayes set the tone with a leadoff triple to deep right field. Brassard followed with a gap double, and Todd kept the rally going with a line-drive single to ignite a strong first inning for Canton. Hayes and Brassard combined to go 7-for-7 at the plate while scoring seven of the Bears 14 runs. Kullen Buchardt added two key hits, while McCluskey, Jeremy Potter, Ayden Mousaw, Andrew Shipman, and Luke Elvy all contributed key hits in the victory.
Canton continued its hot start in game three with a commanding 19-1 win over Potsdam.
Andrew Shipman pitched two innings of shutout baseball with two strikeouts, while Brendan Todd followed with three innings of one run ball and five strikeouts.
The Bears also turned in several standout defensive plays. Jake Hayes had an inning ending double play with the bases loaded on a line drive to third, and catcher Sean McCluskey picked off a runner to end another threat.
At the plate, Canton’s offense continued to roll. Hayes, Brassard, Todd, and McCluskey each collected two hits and scored three runs, while Brassard and Todd each had 2 RBIs. Jeremy Potter delivered the biggest blows of the day, blasting a pair of big time doubles into the gap, including one with the bases loaded, finishing the day with four RBIs and two runs scored. Kullen Buchardt also tallied two hits and had two big RBIs.
Arturo Terrance, Wyatt Lamarche, Ayden Mousaw, Darren Potter, and Andrew Shipman all added hits for the Bears, and Hunter Richardson also had two RBIs.
Through three games, the Canton offense has totaled 37 hits, stole 41 bases, and scored 45 total runs.
