Early Hits Pay Off in Mansfield Win Over Canton

After a rough start to the season, the Hornets have found some consistency on the baseball diamond, picking up their fourth win in five games against the Canton Bulldogs. Striking in the early innings, the Hornets walked away with a 5-3 win over Canton.

The Hornets are now 6-6 overall and 6-4 in Hockomock League play.

Chris Buchanan got things started for the Hornets in the bottom of the second when his single brought in two runs to give Mansfield an early lead.

Later in the bottom of the third inning, Adam Blake's left field single knocked in Joe Upham and Zach Couier's sacrifice fly ball did more damage for the Hornets.

With Mansfield leading 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Bulldogs finally got on the board after Justin Rudy crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly ball. 

With Mansfield up 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs looked ready to cut into the deficit with two on and no outs. Facing Kyle Delsignore at the plate, the Hornets were able to force a double play to get two quick outs and later end the inning on the next batter.

Unable to get any insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hornets went into the final frame with a three run lead but the Bulldogs had a chance to take advantage of some late Mansfield pitching woes.

After Vartanian drew a walk to start the inning, a hard ground ball up the right field line by Kevin Powers advanced Vartanian to third.

Kevin O'Briens's ground ball though the gap between second and third base cut allowed Vartanian to score and cut Mansfield lead to two.

Performing relief duty for Mansfield, Blake was able to recover after the run by striking out one and getting two more outs to wrap up the win for the Hornets.

Both teams are back in action on May 6 when Mansfield plays King Philip and Canton hosts Milford.