Canfield wins third straight district title

July 12, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

By DAN HINER

BOARDMAN

With one swing of the bat, Nate Shaw helped Canfield’s 11 and 12-year-old baseball team repeat as the Division 2 District champs after Canfield defeated Boardman 8-3 on Monday night.

Shaw gave Canfield an 8-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grand slam to center field. Shaw also controlled the game on the mound. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two Boardman runs in the first inning.

“The biggest game of the year we’ve had all year and he comes out on the mound, takes the hill, and we fall behind 2-0. He doesn’t fall apart — he’s a competitor. He got gritty, he fought hard and he helped himself out at the plate,” Canfield head coach Kevin Burdette said.

Boardman jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning after Luke Ryan drove in Ryan Sam.

Canfield allowed another run after a batter was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to give Boardman a 2-0 lead later in the inning.

Canfield cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first after Shaw scored on an RBI single to right field by Tony Pannunzio. Jake Grdic tied the game at 2 after a ground rule double hopped over the right field fence, allowing Pannunzio to score.

“I tried to keep the pitch count down. The first inning was shaky, 30 pitches, but we came back and got the bats rolling — we got ourselves back in the game,” Shaw said.

Canfield took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second after Pannunzio scored on a sacrifice fly by Christopher Altiere to center field. Ryan Petro scored on a passed ball by Boardman to extend the lead to 4-2

Burdette said the players on this season’s team haven’t lost a District Tournament game in the last three seasons. Burdette said the team’s chemistry is unlike any other team in the area. He said the core of his team has been together since the players were 8-years-old and they understand how to play together.

“It’s all part of the teamwork. All of the signals we have, knowing where we are rotating in the field—if someone else is making a mistake, then someone else is picking them up,” Burdette said. “For me as a coach, a manager and my coaches, when you are with players for an extended period of time, you can pick up on strengths and weaknesses.

“And it helps us be better coaches because it can help us analyze the players and we can understand what players can handle what situation well and who might struggle in certain situations. It’s a positive in a lot of different ways.”

Last season, Canfield made its way through the state tournament, but came up short against Dover in the championship game. Shaw and Burdette said the team is ready for another shot at the state championship and learned from their loss last season.

“Last year, in 2015, we made it to the final game and we lost to a tough Dover team, finished state runner-up,” Shaw said. “We were hungry ... it left a bitter taste in our mouth last year. We’ve worked very hard this winter to get to this point, and now we’ve punched our ticket to the State Tournament.

“We came back to win state this year, and maybe even regionals and maybe even Williamsport,” Shaw said.