By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
The Canton/Galva baseball team went on the road Tuesday to battle Ell-Saline and came home with a doubleheader split, losing game one 7-5 before scoring a 6-5 victory in game two.
With the split, the Eagles are now 4-8 for the season as they get ready to host Sedgwick on Friday.
In game one, Ell-Saline took a 7-0 lead by the end of the second inning before the Eagles put runs on the board in both the third and fourth innings and then made the game close with three runs in the sixth, only to fall two runs short in the 7-5 loss.
Garrett Maltbie, Ryder Norstrom and Gavin Robertson all pitched for Canton/Galva, combing to give up nine hits, six earned runs and three walks while striking out seven.
Robertson led the Eagle bats with three hits while Andrew Huxman recorded a pair of hits and three runs batted in.
The nightcap began scoreless through the first two innings before Canton/Galva scored a run in the top of the third and Ell-Saline put two across in the bottom of the third. The Eagles poured five runs across in the bottom of the sixth and then held off a three run Ell-Saline rally to gain the final one-run, 6-5 victory.
Maltbie, Ross Burrill and John Burrill worked the mound for the Eagles and gave up just three hits and two earned runs while waling four and striking out six. The Eagle defense committed five errors.
Xavier Westbrook hit for a double as no Eagle had more than one hit in the game.
CANTON/GALVA EAGLES at Ell-Saline
GAME 1:
EAGLES 0-0-1-1-0-3-0=5-9-5
Ell-Saline 1-6-0-0-0-0-X=7-9-3
CANTON/GALVA PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB): Garrett Maltbie 1.0-0-0-0-2-0; Ryder Norstrom 3.0-8-7-6-3-1; Gavin Robertson 2.0-1-0-0-2-2. Team Totals: 6.0-9-7-6-7-3.
CANTON/GALVA HITTING (AB-R-H-RBI-BB): Garrett Maltbie 4-1-1-1-0; Ryder Norstrom 3-0-1-0-0; Andrew Huxman 3-0-2-3-0; Ross Burrill 4-1-0-0-0; Braison Alcala 3-0-0-0-1; Xavier Westbrook 3-0-0-0-1; Dylan Cherry 4-0-1-0-0; Gavin Robertson 4-2-3-0-0; Ben Unruh 3-1-1-0-1. Team Totals: 31-5-9-4-3. SB (4): Maltbie – 2; Huxman, B. Unruh – 1.
GAME 2:
EAGLES 0-0-1-0-0-5-X=6-6-5
Ell-Saline 00-2-0-0-3-X=5-3-3
CANTON/GALVA PITCHING (IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB): Garrett Maltbie 3.0-1-3-0-3-1; Ross Burrill 2.2-2-2-2-3-2; John Burrill 1.1-0-0-0-0-1. Team Totals: 6.0-3-5-2-6-4.
CANTON/GALVA HITTING (AB-R-H-RBI-BB): Garrett Maltbie 2-2-0-0-2; Ryder Norstrom 4-0-1-0-0; Andrew Huxman 3-1-1-2-1; Ross Burrill 4-0-1-2-0; Braison Alcala 4-0-1-0-0; Xavier Westbrook 2-1-1-0-1; Dylan Cherry 2-1-0-0-1; Gavin Robertson 1-0-0-0-0; John Burrill 1-0-0-0-1; Ben Unruh 3-1-1-0-0. Team Totals: 26-6-6-4-6. 2B (1): Westbrook – 1. SB (7): Maltbie, Norstrom – 2; R. Burrill, Alcala, Westbrook – 1.
(William is a free-lance writer covering McPherson County Activities – he can be reached at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)