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Kitchen helps Warriors top Sullivan in playoffs

SAMUEL BENNETT/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Sullivan County’s Colton Ammerman swings at a pitch against Canton during Tuesday’s District 4 Class A quarterfinals at Canton.

CANTON — One does not reach 400 wins through talent and strategy alone. Sometimes, it is all about playing hunches and doing what some might not expect.

So Canton coach Bob Rockwell never doubted that inserting freshman Cooper Kitchen to pitch the seventh inning of a one-run District 4 Class A quarterfinal would backfire. Rockwell trusts his players and they trust him. That has been a powerful combination over the past 32 years and Tuesday afternoon it produced an exciting win.

Kitchen threw a hitless seventh inning and closed out Rockwell’s 400th career victory as Canton held off a furious Sullivan County comeback and won, 9-8. Michael Smithers won his seventh game in relief, Cameron Bellows reached base four times and Ashton Huck drove in three runs as the Warriors (13-9) earned a semifinal date with Millville on Thursday at Central Columbia. Sullivan (11-10) scored five two-out runs in the sixth, making it a one-run game, but Smithers ended that rally with a strikeout and Kitchen stranded the tying run at first in the seventh as Rockwell reached rare air.

“I was excited and very nervous at the same time,” Kitchen said. “I wasn’t really expecting it, but when he said my name I knew I could do it.”

“We’ve put him (Kitchen) into pressure situations all year and he’s done it all year so I knew he could do that,” Rockwell said. “We knew what we were getting from Sullivan County. We knew how tough they were. They can hit and I didn’t want them to start getting on fire and they did, but I’ll take it. We found a way.”

Canton (13-8) has been doing that a lot. A team that has 13 sophomores on its 22-man roster has won five straight games and 12 of its last 16 since starting 1-4. The heroes have been many and that remained the case yesterday with Canton scoring seven two-out runs and its relievers maintaining their composure under the most pressure-packed circumstances.

Shortstop Joel Schoonover helped ease Kitchen’s nerves when he went to his left and made a fabulous play to start the seventh, robbing Byron Fitzgerald of an RBI single. Kitchen was a strike from working a perfect inning, but hit Colton Ammerman with a two-strike pitch. Unfazed, Kitchen induced a game-ending flyout that Nick May secured.

An inning earlier, a two-out error opened the door and Sullivan nearly kicked it all the way down. Trailing 9-3, Sullivan scored a run off that error and then started smashing the baseball. Sam Carpenter (3 for 5), Jake Doyle (3 for 4), Nate Higley (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) and Dane Carpenter (4 for 4) hit consecutive RBI doubles, making it a one-run game and putting the go-ahead runs in scoring position. Smithers never became rattled, though, and the senior worked back from a 3-0 count, recording his fourth strikeout and preserving the Canton lead.

“I was pretty confident. I was hitting my spots fantastic. We battled back and we ended up winning,” said Smithers, who also went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs. “We hung in there. When it’s clutch time like that you need to get outs.”

“Not only was that strikeout huge to get us out of the inning, but it kept the top of the order from coming up,” Rockwell said. “Michael has been doing this for four years and he’s a warrior.”

Canton scored at least one run in each of the first five innings and led 3-0 after two, but the Griffins rallied and tied it with three third-inning runs, including Higley’s two-run double. The damage might have been worse had Byron Marnati not picked a runner off second for the second time in three innings. Canton retook the lead in the bottom of the third on an error and erupted for four two-out fifth-inning runs while taking a 9-3 lead.

Smithers helped fuel that rally with a bunt single and pinch-hitter Tyler Williams delivered a clutch two-strike RBI single that made it 6-3 after Taylor Acla reached on a fielder’s choice. Huck ripped a two-run single two batters later and another run came home on an error as the Warriors threatened breaking the game wide open.

“We wanted this because last year we went to the playoffs and didn’t go very far. This being my senior year, it means a lot,” Acla said after scoring twice and reaching base three times. “Knowing this could have been our last game I put 110 percent on every at-bat and every time on the field. It’s what I’ve grown up to do. even practices, it’s 110 percent or nothing. My theory is you practice like you play. If you practice hard, you’re going to play hard.”

Canton has been doing that throughout the season and that has helped spark the team’s turnaround. It has not been one or two players doing the heavy lifting. This has been a team effort and Canton has become not just a good team, but a tough one.

Essentially they have become a typical Rockwell team and is in the district semifinals for one key reason. It is playing Canton baseball.

“We all grew as a team,” Kitchen said. “At the beginning of the year we really weren’t that close and as the year went on we got closer as friends and that helped a lot. The team chemistry has grown and we all get along and are playing well.”

Canton 9, Sullivan 8

(DISTRICT 4 CLASS A QUARTERFINALS)

Sullivan County 003 005 0–8 13 5

Canton 121 140 x–9 8 3

Will Kiner, Sam Carpenter (5) and Jake Doyle. Byron Marnati, Michael Smithers (3), Cooper Kitchen (7) and Ashton Huck. W: Smithers, (7-0). L: Kiner. S: Kitchen.

Top Sullivan hitters: Dane Carpenter 4-4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Sam Carpenter 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 runs; Doyle 3-4, 2B, RBI, 2 runs; Nate Higley 2-4, 2B, 3 RBIs, run. Top Canton hitters: Cameron Bellows 2-2, RBI, 2 runs, 3 SBs; Huck 1-3, 3 RBIs; Carter Route 1-3, RBI, run, 2 SBs; Smithers 2-3, 2B, 2 run, SB; Tyler Williams 1-1, RBI, run; Taylor Acla, 2 runs.

Records: Canton (13-8), Sullivan (11-10).

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