By Staff

            CANTON – On Tuesday, the Canton/Galva baseball team hosted Hillsboro and scored a two-win sweep of the doubleheader, winning game one 5-1 and then closing out the day with a 4-2 victory in the nightcap.

            The two wins put the Eagles at 7-7 for the season as they ready for a road trip on Friday to Remington.

            In game one, the Eagles scored twice in the first inning and held a 2-1 lead into the fifth when they added a pair of runs before adding one more in the sixth to gain the final four-run, 5-1 win.

            Gavin Robertson, Ross Burrill, Braison Alcala, and Dylan Cherry each had hits for the Eagles with Cherry accounting for a pair of runs batted in.

            Garrett Maltbie threw 5.2 innings for Canton/Galva, giving up just a pair of hits, no earned runs, one walk and striking out eight on just 60 pitches in getting credit for the win. Gavin Robertson came on in relief.

            “Game one came down to timely hitting, defense, and pitching,” explained Eagle head coach Seth Moddelmog. “Garrett (Maltbie) was lights out on the mound as he was extremely efficient and attacked hitters the entire game. I thought our defense was solid and we were able to produce timely hits to extend the lead a bit.”

            Scoring twice in the first and then adding one in the third gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead through four innings in game two. After Hillsboro scored twice in the fifth, Canton/Galva added one more in the sixth to earn the final two-run, 4-2 victory and sweep of Hillsboro.

            Needing just four hits from Ross Burrill, Braison Alcala, Dylan Cherry and John Burrill, the Eagles had a pair of runs knocked across by Cherry.

            Talking about game two, coach Moddelmog added, “We snagged the lead in the first inning, and I felt like we kind of settled a little bit and had to work to get our focus back. Ross (Burrill) gave us a good start on the mound, and I thought both Gavin (Robertson) and Braison (Alcala) did a good job in relief. All the  pitchers were able to pitch themselves out of jams and were able to prevent that big inning.”

            Ross Burrill started the game on the mound for the Eagles and tossed a 3.2 inning no run, three hitter with five strikeouts on 60 pitches. Both Gavin Robertson, who worked a pair of innings and struck out five, and Braison Alcala closed out the final three innings in relief.

            In finishing out his reflections on the sweep of Hillsboro, Moddelmog said, “Overall, I thought we played pretty well. I am really proud of our pitchers. They all went on the bump, pitched well and really shut down Hillsboro. Those guys needed that after a rough outing last week. I would like our bats to get going as I still think there is more there than what we are showing right now. We will get back to work and see what we can get going.”

CANTON/GALVA EAGLE BASEBALL hosting Hillsboro

GAME 1

Scoring > Hillsboro > 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 = 1-3-5;  EAGLES > 2-0-0-0-2-1-x = 5-4-4.

EAGLE HITTING (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): Gavin Robertson > 4-0-1-0-0; Ross Burrill > 3-2-1-1-0; Garrett Maltbie > 3-0-0-0-0; Braison Alcala > 2-1-1-0-1; Dylan Cherry > 3-0-1-2-0; Ethan Unruh > 2-1-0-0-1; John Burrill > 3-0-0-0-0; Camden Kruse > 3-0-0-0-0; Noah Collins > 0-1-0-0-2.  Team 23-5-4-3-4.  Totals > SB (7) > R. Burrill, B. Alcala – 2; G. Robertson, D. Cherry – 1.

EAGLE PITCHING (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): Garrett Maltbie (W) > 5.2-60-2-1-0-1-8; Gavin Robertson > 1.1-18-1-0-0-0-1.  Team Totals > 7.0-78-3-1-0-1-9.

Hillsboro Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi-bb) > 25-1-3-1-1.

Hillsboro Pitching (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so) > 6.0-115-4-5-1-4-8.

GAME 2

Scoring > Hillsboro > 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 = 2-5-3;  EAGLES > 2-0-1-0-0-1-x = 4-4-4.

EAGLES HITTING (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): Gavin Robertson > 3-1-0-0-0; Ross Burrill > 2-1-1-0-1; Garrett Maltbie > 3-1-0-0-0; Braison Alcala > 3-1-1-0-0; Dylan Cherry > 3-0-1-2-0; Ethan Unruh > 3-0-0-0-0; John Burrill > 3-0-1-1-0; Camden Kruse > 3-0-0-0-0; Noah Collins > 2-0-0-0-0.  Team Totals > 25-4-4-3-1.  SB (2) > B. Alcala, G. Robertson – 1.

EAGLE PITCHING (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): Ross Burrill (W) > 3.2-60-3-0-0-0-5; Gavin Robertson > 2.0-42-2-2-0-2-5; Braison Alcala > 1.1-15-0-0-0-0-1.  Team Totals > 7.0-117-5-2-0-2-11.

Hillsboro Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): 29-2-5-1-2.

Hillsboro Pitching (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): 6.0-98-4-4-1-1-9.

(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)