By Staff

            It was a good day for the Canton/Galva baseball team on Tuesday as they took care of challenge number one at the Class 2-1A regionals with a 10-7 win over Bennington.

            Now 9-10 for the season, the Eagles look to battle top seed and number one ranked Little River (18-1) on Wednesday in the regional semi-final with hopes of advancing to the regional finals against either Salina Sacred Heart or Ellis.

            Against Bennington, the Eagles jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning and held a 6-1 advantage after four before Bennington cut the lead to just two with three runs in the fifth. After Canton/Galva pushed four more runs across in the sixth, Bennington tried valiantly to make a comeback in the seventh by putting three more runs on the board before the Eagles defense and pitching put a stop to the rally and secure the final three-run victory.

            Gavin Robertson and Ryder Norstrom led the Eagle bats with two hits each with Norstrom getting three runs batted in as well. Robertson, Norstrom, and Garrett Maltbie all pounded out doubles while Norstrom and Ross Burrill each swiped three bases and Robertson stole a pair.

            The Eagles used four pitchers in the game with Gavin Robertson throwing three innings and striking out five while Ross Burrill and Garrett Maltbie each worked a pair of innings and struck out five and four, respectively. Noah Collins cleaned up the final outs of the seventh.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLE BASEBALL vs. Bennington at Class 2-1A Regionals

Scoring: Bennington > 0-1-0-0-3-0-3 = 7-1-5;  CANTON/GALVA > 5-0-0-1-0-4-x = 10-8-3.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLE HITTING (ab-r-h-rbi-bb): Gavin Robertson > 4-2-2-1-0; Ross Burrill > 3-2-1-0-1; Garrett Maltbie > 3-1-1-0-1; Braison Alcala > 3-2-0-1-0; Dylan Cherry > 4-1-0-0-0; Ryder Norstrom > 2-1-2-3-2; John Burrill > 2-0-0-0-1; Ethan Unruh > 3-0-1-1-0; Emmitt Neufeldt > 3-1-1-0-0.  Team Totals > 27-10-8-6-5.  2B (3) > G. Robertson, G. Maltbie, R. Norstrom – 1.  SB (9) > R. Burrill, R. Norstrom – 3; G. Robertson – 2; G. Maltbie – 1.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLE PITCHING (ip-p-h-r-er-bb-so): Garrett Maltbie > 2.0-42-0-1-0-3-4; Ross Burrill > 2.0-45-0-2-0-3-5; Gavin Robertson > 3.0-58-1-1-1-4-5; Noah Collins > 0.0-18-0-3-1-2-0.  Team Totals > 7.0-163-1-7-1-12-14.

Bennington Hitting > 21-7-1-3-12, 5-SB.  Bennington Pitching > 6.0-127-8-10-4-5-7.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)