Canton Little League falls to Maine in New England Regionals

Jun 28, 2023

The Canton Little League baseball team is two wins away from advancing to the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

On Monday, Canton was attempting to cut that number down to one. At 4 p.m. (the game was initially scheduled for 9 a.m.and 1 p.m. before weather pushed back the time), Team Massachusetts was taking on Maine (Gray New Gloucester) in the winner's bracket semifinal. A victory sends the winner to the New England state championship on Thursday at 7 p.m. A loss sends the losing team to Wednesday's elimination game.

Maine defeated New Hampshire, 3-0, in the opening round on Saturday. Canton defeated Vermont, 12-0.

Monday's game (and every game for the rest of the tournament) will be broadcast on ESPN U (it was originally scheduled to be on ESPN).

Stick here for updates throughout the game.

Maine advances to Thursday's New England championship on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Canton will play New Hampshire on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals. The winner of that game advances to the championship, while the loser is eliminated.

Maine Mason Amergian was a star in the victory. He went 2-for-2 with 5 RBIs, including a grand slam, and pitched 5 ⅔ innings in the win.

Last ups for Canton here. Miles Mettlach has been really strong in relief for Canton.

Andrew Sullivan leads off the fifth inning with a single to left field. Nathan Chabot draws a four-pitch walk, but Maine gets a pair of outs. Will Casey gets credited with an RBI, as he hits into a fielder's choice and Chabot scores from second to put Canton on the board. Maine gets out of the jam despite some errant throws.

Canton puts the ball in play in the top of the fourth, but Maine comes up with a couple solid defensive plays. Patrick Furbush gets a two-out, infield single, but he's left on base.

Sam Archibald gets one out in the inning and Miles Mettlach comes on in relief. He keeps Maine off the board to send the game to the fifth inning.

Maine starting pitcher Mason Amergian is pitching really well. That doesn't stop Canton's Michael Zollo from drawing a one-out walk. Amergian works around the walk by striking out three Canton hitters. He's up to six strikeouts through three innings.

Maine puts the first two runners in the bottom half of the inning on base. That will end Patrick Furbush's day on the mound. Sam Archibald is coming in to pitch. He enters with no outs and runners on first and second base. Maine draws a walk to load the bases. Mason Amergian launches a grand slam over the fence to push Maine's lead to 7-0.

The skies have opened up and a lot of raining is falling. There's a brief stoppage in play for the grounds crew to put some fresh dirt in the batter's box.

Owen Collins leads off the second inning with a double. He takes third base on a wild pitch. Will Casey grounds out to the pitcher. Collins heads for home and the throw beats him, but he's able to slide in safely. That is until video replay reviews the call, and he's out at home. That's a big 1-3-2 double play for Maine.

Maine's Grant Brann leads off the bottom half of the frame with a hard-hit single. Alex Hanlon bloops in a single following a strikeout to put runners on first and second with one out. Both runners advance on a groundout. Mason Westcott hits a hard grounder to shortstop Sam Archibald, who makes a great diving stop, but the throw doesn't beat Westcott, allowing Maine to take a 3-0 lead. Canton gets a groundout to get out of the inning.

Zach Feehan draws a one-out walk and then steals second and advances to third as the ball trickles into the outfield. Mason Amergian laces an RBI double off the center-field fence. Anthony Piccone places a two-out, RBI-single to center field to push Maine's lead to 2-0. Furbush escapes further trouble with a strikeout to strand two runners in scoring position.

Patrick Furbush, Canton's starting pitcher, wastes no time in helping his own cause. He leads the game with a double. After Maine gets a strikeout, Furbush takes third base on a passed ball. Maine's starting pitcher Mason Amergian strands Furbush at third base by striking out three batters.

Maine needed seven innings to defeat New Hampshire in its opener. Kayden Oliver didn't allow a run over 6 ⅓ innings with 10 strikeouts. Caleb Barker broke a 0-0 shutout with a two-RBI single in the seventh inning.

Canton defeated Vermont, 12-0. Nathan Chabot fired a one-hitter with 15 strikeouts.

First pitch between Canton and Maine will be at 4:08 p.m. Reminder: That game is broadcast on ESPN U. Teams are currently on the field warming up.

Canton vs. Maine was originally scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN, but after several delays, that game will play at 4 p.m. on ESPN U.

Canton vs. Maine is now scheduled to start at 4:08 p.m.

A new start time has yet to be announced, as of 2 p.m. ESPN is currently airing the Great Lakes regional elimination game between Indiana and Kentucky.

Live updates of Canton vs. Maine will continue on this page when the game starts.

Canton vs. Maine, which was originally scheduled to start at 9 a.m., will be pushed back again as the tarp has come back onto the field.

Weather has pushed the start time of the game back to 1 p.m. We'll check back in closer to then with live updates.

Canton (Visitor, will hit first)

9 Patrick Furbush Pitcher

22 Sam Archibald Shortstop

99 Andrew Sullivan Extra Hitter

15 Nate Chabot Extra Hitter

4 Owen Collins Right Field

5 Will Casey Catcher

97 Brendan Ryan Left Field

11 Ryan Roberts Extra Hitter

19 Michael Zollo Second Base

10 Michael Camerano

27 Miles Mettlach

12 Declan Kelliher Extra Hitter

18 Cam Lyons Center Field

Maine (Home)

10 George Rioux Catcher

50 Zac Feehan Jr. Extra hitter

88 Mason Emergian Pitcher

34 Caleb Barker Shortstop

28 Kayden Oliver Center Field

19 Anthony Piccone Third Base

14 Nathan Shelley Left Field

12 Grant Brann Right Field

33 Ben Gilmore Second Base

41 Alex Hanlon Extra Hitter

5 Ivan Deemer Extra Hitter

32 Mason Westcott First Base

11 Chase Pacanza Extra Hitter

99 Cam Beckwith Extra Hitter

ESPN showed the tarp coming off the field in Bristol, as the grounds crew gets the field ready for Canton vs. Maine just before 11 a.m.

Canton is raising funds to help pay for its summer trips. The team is currently hosting a raffle with 10 different prizes. The grand prize is a David Ortiz autographed picture. To participate, use Venmo @@Canton-LittleLeague. Tickets for the Ortiz autograph are $35.

There are also $20 tickets for the prizes below. To enter in this raffle, include the number of which prize you're entering your ticket for with the Venmo transaction.

2. Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum

3. Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill

4. Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream Maker

5. Two Red Sox tickets on Aug. 13 vs. the Detroit Tigers

6. Be Greater Than Yesterday/Mark Erickson - five pack of adult or youth personal training sessions

7. Restaurant Tour of Southie - $100 each to Lincoln, Capo, and Hunter’s

8. Dirt Dawgs 3 pack hitting lessons and $35 Dick’s gift card

9. Canton Little League Spring Registration and $75 to Day St. Sports

10. At home care pack… 10 class pass of online group Vinyasa with Caro Bihldorff, 90 minute Human Design Reading with Karen Sullivan, and a bottle of organic wine

The raffle ends on Friday.

We've had coverage of Canton's run throughout the summer.

Staff reporter Kevin Perrington-Turner wrote this story featuring seven fun facts about the team. He also introduced us to the team in this story.

Canton vs. Maine is still in a weather delay without a start time. The forecast looks relatively clear from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The Mid-Atlantic Regionals (Pennslyvania, Washington D.C., Maryland and Delaware) is also being held in Bristol. Maryland and Delaware are scheduled to play in an elimination game at 5 p.m. today.

Canton vs. Maine is still in a weather delay, but there's still Little League Baseball to watch. ESPN is airing Nebraska vs. Kansas in the Midwest Regional in an elimination game.

Checking on the weather around 9:45 a.m. and it could rain until 10:45 a.m.

While we're in a rain delay, take a look back at some highlights from Canton's win on Saturday.

Right fielder Owen Collins starred:

Andrew Fitzgerald has light-tower power:

Nate Chabot was untouchable on the mound:

The start of Canton vs. Maine, which was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., is currently in a rain delay. With our untrained meteorologist (it's me and I'm a sportswriter, so take it with a grain of salt), it looks like the weather will clear up around 10 a.m.

Weather might be causing a delay to the start of Monday's game. Rain is in the forecast in Bristol, Connecticut. Rain is in the forecast until 9:15 a.m., but could continue until around 11 a.m.

More:PHOTOS: Town sends Canton Little Leaguers off to New England Regionals

Canton is 15-0 in postseason play this summer. All the way back in the Section 3 tournament, Canton had to rally back from a 6-2 deficit early by scoring nine runs in the final inning to defeat Parkway, 12-7, in the sectional final. In the state final, Canton defeated Barnstable, 6-2, to bring home the program's first championship at that level. This marks Canton's deepest playoff run in program history.

New Hampshire (Salem) eliminated Vermont (St. Johnsbury) in Sunday's elimination game with a 12-1. The loss knocks Vermont out of the tournament. New Hampshire awaits the loser of Monday's game between Maine and Canton for an elimination on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The winner of Wednesday's advances to the regional championship, which is a winner-take-all game.

Here's Canton's lineup for Monday's game. In Little League, every player on the team hits.

9 Patrick Furbush Pitcher

22 Sam Archibald Shortstop

99 Andrew Sullivan Extra Hitter

15 Nate Chabot Extra Hitter

4 Owen Collins Right Field

5 Will Casey Catcher

97 Brendan Ryan Left Field

11 Ryan Roberts Extra Hitter

19 Michael Zollo Second Base

10 Michael Camerano

27 Miles Mettlach

12 Declan Kelliher Extra Hitter

18 Cam Lyons Center Field

In Saturday's opener against Vermont, Canton kicked off the tournament with a dominant win. Nathan Chabot tossed a complete-game shutout in the victory, as he struck out 15 while allowing just one hit and one walk.

Canton exploded for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning to wrap up a 12-0 victory. Andrew Sullivan blasted a two-run home run into the woods to lead the offense. Owen Collins chipped in a three-RBI double.