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Canfield Baseball Club celebrates big year
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
The Canfield Baseball Club has many reasons to celebrate this summer.
In fact, when it does celebrate, it has to do so in triplicate.
After its boys district team won the 10-and-under Little League state championship last week, it joined the 12-and-under boys counterparts and 9-10 year-old girls softball entry in the state winners circle.
Very few baseball clubs in any state can make that claim.
“We are extremely proud to have been able to bring home a state championship to the Canfield Baseball Club,” manager Kevin Burdette said. “It’s really an exciting time to be involved in Canfield baseball because our 12-under boys’ team just won their second state title in three years, then participated in the regional tournament against other state championship teams with a shot at earning a trip to the Little League World Series. With our 9 to 10-year-old softball team also bringing home a state title as well, three state championship teams in one year for our club is truly something to celebrate.”
Burdette’s squad sealed its title last week with a 16-3 win over Dover at Bryan’s Garver Park, posting an 8-0 tournament mark (in both district and state play) while outscoring opponents 70-16.
“Our 12 team members know each other really well, but the key was that they were very unselfish,” Burdette said. “Many played out of their regular season positions, yet never complained because they always wanted to do what was best for the team.
“They say you need solid pitching, good defense, timely offense and some speed in order to win and we had all of those components going for us right from the start. Our players are very athletic and can play six or seven positions, if needed.”
The majority of Canfield’s team has been playing together for three years with many taking part on a year-round travel team, and then in a multitude of spring travel tournaments.
“The travel tournaments provided the kids with an opportunity to play against top-tier travel teams from a variety of communities and neighboring states,” Burdette said. “They then played in a recreation league, which is held at the Canfield Baseball Club from March to June so that has also helped their overall play while keeping them together.”
Canfield’s 12-member roster included Ryan Petro (shortstop, pitcher); Tony Pannunzio (shortstop, third base, pitcher); Colin Burdette (catcher, pitcher, first base); Drew Carrocce (second base, first base); Jake Grdic (pitcher, left field), Gianni Gaetano (left field, right field); Josh Juliano (center field, right field); Landon Beidelschies (catcher, left field); Ben Slanker (pitcher, center field, catcher); Alex Rothwell (first base, left field); Nick Hewko (pitcher, left field, first base) and Christopher Altiere (third base, center field).
The three newest roster additions were Hewko, Altiere and Slanker.
With lots of pitching depth, Burdette relied on seven players throughout their tournament run.
The staff included Hewko, Burdette’s son Colin, Pannunzio, Petro, Grdic, Slanker and Juliano.
After outscoring opponents 25-7 in district action, Canfield followed that up by limiting four opponents at state to a combined nine runs (the offense scored 46 runs), including one shutout while not allowing more than three runs in any of its other three contests.
“Depth was definitely a huge advantage for us and we felt that if we fell to losers bracket play, then it was up to our pitching to keep us alive. Fortunately, we stayed in the winners bracket throughout the tournament,” Burdette said.
Burdette threw a one-hitter against Austintown while Petro and Grdic combined to also toss one-hit ball against Boardman.
At state, Petro, Pannunzio, Hewko and Slanker combined to toss a no-hitter in their opener against Ironton (14-0) with Grdic and Slanker pairing up for yet another no-hitter during their 16-3 win over Dover in the title contest.
Offensively, Drew Carrocce hit two home runs, including a grand slam against New Albany in their second outing; Gianni Gaetano added three circuit blasts while Pannunzio added a grand slam in the state championship game.
Burdette and Beidelschies shared the catching duties.
“Yes, we assembled an excellent staff but do not underestimate our catchers’ worth,” Burdette said. “They were excellent defensively and did an exceptional job in both district and state play. I was honored to have coaches Jim Petro and Tony Pannunzio to work with. Like the team, the staff worked together as well and that was very special during our run. Also, Craig Antush, YSU pitching coach, spent many hours this past winter working with the pitchers, helping them with fundamentals as well as how to throw an effective changeup. Jim Devine at Diamond 9 also lent valuable hitting insight.”
Their goal next year remains very simple.
“We’d like to get back to state next year while in two years, the goal is to make a run much like Coach George Beck’s team this year with a chance to advance to the Little League World Series,” Burdette said.