Sharon Baseball Blanks Canton

The Sharon High baseball team started off a pivotal week in its season with a convincing 5-0 shutout victory in Canton on Monday, snapping their three-game skid.

Eagle southpaw Will Ginsberg said, “Good win. We played really well in the field. We made every play. Hitting was really great. And I was able to get guys out.”

Ginsberg was dominant on the hill, hurling a complete-game, two-hit shutout against the Bulldogs. “I was able to keep the ball down, command the strike zone inside and outside. A lot of first-pitch strikes – that was the big key today,” he said.

“Will pitched a gem today,” said senior captain and catcher Colin Gray. “He hadn’t pitched that well all year. That was a pretty good lineup that we faced, but I thought he pitched really well.”

Ginsberg says that the key mechanics-wise was being strong with his front side and releasing out in front. “When I’m doing that, I do well. That’s all it is – being consistent, hitting the corners,” he said.

The lefthander threw 92 pitches, 59 of which were strikes. He walked two, struck out three, and picked off two Canton baserunners, recording his second victory of the season.

Ginsberg’s effort was a dramatic rebound from a poor outing his prior start. Gray said, “He wanted it. He pitched like absolute crap in that Plymouth South game. He really worked last week - he knew that he had to get our team a win.”

Peckham said of Ginsberg’s outing against Canton, “That was big, because he’s so important for us. The last game he started, he was horrible. So for him to pitch as well as he did was great as far his ability to come back.”

Sharon’s defense was sharp in support of Ginsberg all afternoon. Peckham said, “[Junior] Colton Bader played great at shortstop [in his first varsity start]. He had three or four assists. [Senior captain] Nate [Pedersen] did a nice job at first base. We made a couple of plays in the outfield.”

Canton starting pitcher Sam Larson limited Sharon to six hits, but the Eagles’ offense batted well with runners in scoring position.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard in the third inning when Pedersen delivered a two-out, two-run single, bringing home junior Max Bauman and senior captain Brad Kaufman.

The next frame, Bauman launched an opposite-field RBI triple, scoring Bader. Sharon tallied its fifth and final run in the fifth inning, when junior Frank Sullivan knocked home Pedersen with a two-out, RBI single.

Peckham said, “This was a big game for us because [Larson] had been very effective against other good teams - he struck out 11 versus Attleboro. We swung the bats all day long. They made some plays, too; it wasn’t a bad game on their part, either.”

Sharon’s victory came on the heels of a 3-2 walkoff defeat in Milford last Wednesday. Gray was pleased with how the Eagles responded on Monday. “Especially against a league team like Canton, who we’ve had trouble with in the past, it feels good to get a win.

“Three straight losses was tough, but we bounced back in a big way, and we’ve got some momentum going,” Gray added.

Next up for the Eagles (5-3, 4-3 Hockomock) in a week of three Davenport Division tilts is a matchup with archrival Oliver Ames at Eagle Ballpark on Wednesday.

The most recent Sharon-OA game was last May 15, with Sharon taking a thrilling 10-inning victory, and Gray expects another competitive game.

“Very big game. They’ve got some good players, but so do we. I think we can pull it off, get some more momentum, and get back to .500 in [Davenport] play,” Gray said. “Like we did [Monday], we’ve got to have timely hitting, play solid defense. I think we can do it.”