Surging CHS baseball team headed to Division 2 state playoffs

Senior Andrew Gillis had the game-winning hit vs. Framingham. (Mike Tureski photo)

Update: The Bulldogs drew the No. 27 seed in the Division 2 state tournament and will travel to Dudley on Monday to face No. 6 Shepherd Hill Regional in the Round of 32.

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Down to the final week of the regular season and in need of a strong finish to solidify their spot in the Division 2 state tournament field, the resilient CHS baseball team emphatically punched their ticket to the playoffs with a trio of wins in a span of just four days.

While they stumbled in the regular season finale on Saturday against nonleague Weston, the 20th-ranked Bulldogs still finished with a winning record at 11-9 overall while placing third in the Hockomock Davenport Division behind co-champs Mansfield and North Attleboro.

The Bulldogs started the week in dramatic style as senior Teddy Shuman hit a three-run, inside-the-park homerun to cap a thrilling comeback victory over Stoughton. Trailing 8-5 going into the seventh inning, Canton managed to push one run across on an RBI single by Daniel Ferrera, and after a JT Norton walk, Shuman brought them all the way back with a single swing of the bat.

Canton’s top slugger this season, Shuman also had an RBI single and drew two walks in the game, while Ferrera went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Seniors JT Norton and Andrew Gillis also drove in two runs apiece, and Will Young added a hit with two runs scored. Tommy Rose earned the win in relief, and Dean Madden pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the save.

Arguably their biggest win of the week came last Wednesday in Mansfield as the Bulldogs outdueled the first-place Hornets 4-1 to sweep the season series.

Madden drew the start for Canton and had another impressive outing, improving to 6-1 on the season while lowering his ERA to 1.08 (tops in the Hock among starting pitchers). Madden lasted six innings and allowed just one unearned run, and sophomore Alex Secord came on in the seventh to close it out.

Shuman paced the offense with three hits, including a clutch RBI single in the sixth to give the Bulldogs some much-needed insurance. Rose and Shane Kelleher had two hits apiece, and Gillis also chipped in with an RBI single.

The following day, Gillis got to play the hero as he delivered the game-winning hit against nonleague Framingham in the opening round of the Harvey Krupnick Classic. Gillis’s hit came with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a 2-2 game. Shuman also had an RBI and a key walk for the Bulldogs, and classmate Chris Pirrera pitched a complete game, scattering five hits and one walk over seven strong innings.

With the victory, the Bulldogs advanced to the final of the Krupnick Classic, where they met their match against a strong Weston team, losing 6-1. Head coach Dave Walsh acknowledged that the team looked “flat and tired,” noting it was their fourth game in a six-day span.

Despite the loss, Walsh was impressed with the resiliency shown by the Bulldogs throughout the week and he fully expects they will bring their “A game” into the upcoming state tournament, which gets underway later this week.

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