Game 1: 

The Chiefs fell in the season opener  2-1 to the Ann Arbor Huron River Rats in the season opener.  The Chiefs only allowed two hits, but walked in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a 2-1 ballgame.  Ben Vaughn started and pitched 3 strong innings striking out five and not allowing a hit.  He was relieved by senior lefthander Erik Wright who entered the game with bases loaded and no outs, slammed the door allowing no hits or runs.  Wright finished with 5 k's as well and also didn't surrender a hit.   Dane Staples took the loss (0-1), when the River Rats put together a run in the bottom of the sixth on a  pair of hits, a walk and miscue on a bunt back to the pitcher which eventually led to walking in the winning run on a close full count pitch.    Seth Tschetter, Mike Flis,  Ryan Neu, Nick Tomilenko and Kevin Delapaz contributed with hits. 

The Chiefs got in the winning column on the second game (3-1) behind  strong pitching performances from Sophomore Alex Dixon (1-0) and Senior Will Tidwell (1 SV) who combined surrendered 3 hits and zero earned runs.  The Chiefs were led offensively by Ryan Neu (triple), Dixon and Tomilenko (doubles), Delapaz (2) and Barlyski each had hits.   

The Chiefs will compete against Lakeland in a scrimmage on Tuesday April 8th and in  games vs. Kalamazoo Central (April 10),  Walled Lake Northern (April 11) and in a double header vs. Trenton on Saturday April 12.

Chiefs Record (1-1) 

A moon-shot home run, an out-of-this-world catch and a star-in-the-making pitching performance proved to be key components in Plymouth's 9-3 victory over Canton Friday afternoon in a WLAA Western Division baseball clash on the Chiefs' home turf.

The victory improved the Wildcats' record to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the division. Canton slipped to 4-3 and 0-2, respectively.

The towering three-run home run came in the top of the first inning off the bat of Wildcat first baseman Matt Priebe, who cleared the 355 sign in left center by close to 30 feet, scoring David Harvey and Brad Lineberry.

The Web Gem-caliber catch came in the Chiefs' half of the fourth when Ryan Neu launched a missile toward left-center field. Plymouth center fielder Ronnie Goble twisted his body twice while tracking the liner before going horizontal at the last second to haul in the drive.

The sterling mound performance was turned in by junior Cliff Buttermore who shook off a rough first inning to limit the Chiefs to three runs and six hits in a complete-game showing. Buttermore walked one and struck out four.

Erik Wright took the loss for the Chiefs, yielding four runs and three hits in two innings or work.

Trailing 3-0, the Chiefs cut their deficit to one in the bottom of the second thanks to singles from Dan Stoney and Alex Dixon.

The Wildcats put a couple base-runners on in the second thanks to two Canton errors, but the Chiefs escaped damage when left-fielder Stoney threw out David Harvey, who was trying to score on a Lineberry base hit with two outs.

Plymouth padded its lead to 5-2 in the third when Priebe was hit be a pitch, Goble reached on a catcher's-interference play and they both came around on wild pitches.

The Chiefs sliced their deficit to 5-3 in the third when Kevin Delapaz led off with a walk, went to third on an error and scored on Alex Dixon's sizzling left-center field double that missed being a home run by two feet. With runners on second and third and no outs, the Chiefs failed to score as Buttermore set the next three batters down in order on a pair of K's and a fly out to center field.

Plymouth broke open the game in the fourth with a two-out, four-run rally. With one out, Harvey doubled and was plated by Lineberry's triple. Following a ground-out, Priebe walked and Goble singled before Lineberry scored on a wild pitch. Priebe and Goble were plated by Matt Skubik's single.

Canton relievers Dane Staples, Joel Schweibert and Tim Hemmelgarn did a nice job of quieting the Wildcats' bats over the final two frames.

Plymouth's leading hitters were Lineberry (3-for-3, two runs, RBI), Priebed (1-for-1, three runs, three RBI), Skubik (1-for-4, two RBI) and Harvey (2-for-3, two runs).

Canton was led by Dixon (1-for-3, three RBI), Stoney (2-for-3) and Mike Madias (2-for-3).

"I'm just thankful that all these young men got a chance to come out on this beautiful April afternoon and play this great game in front of their parents and friends," said Plymouth coach Chuck Adams. "Today, one team won and one team didn't, but in the end it's more about getting the chance to represent your school and compete alongside your teammates. one day, the final score from this game will be forgotten, but the memories and friendships will be what lasts a lifetime."

CANTON 12, JOHN GLENN 2: On Wednesday at Canton, the Chiefs captured a mercy-rule shortened contest thanks to a sterling pitching performance from sophomore Kevin Delapaz and big hitting days from Alex Dixon Ben Vaughn and Nick Tomilenko.

Delapaz won his season-opening start by scattering five hits for 4.2 innings of work. Dixon earned the save.

Dixon went 3-for-4 at the late with a home run, triple and four RBI; Vaughn was 4-for-4 with two RBI and Tomilenko was 3-for-3 with a double and two ribbies

W.L. WESTERN 5, CANTON 4: On Monday at Western, the Warriors broke a 4-all tie when Andy Buchanan led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple and scored on a fielder's choice. Senior Erik Wright pitched the first four innings for the Chiefs, yielding four runs and four hits before giving way to Dane Staples, who turned in two solid innings of relief.

Dan Stoney and Alex Dixon continued to swing hot bats for Canton. Stoney was 3-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored while sophomore sensation Dixon went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

The loss dropped Canton to 5-5 overall and 0-3 in the WLAA's Western Division. Western is now 6-2 and 3-0, respectively.

CANTON 10, GRANDVILLE 3: On Saturday at the Milan Invitational, senior right-hander Will Tidwell dominated state power Grandville, striking out seven while walking just one in a complete-game effort.

Canton solid against Wayne

Click image to enlarge

Wayne senior Brent Patterson (13) slides in to second against Canton on Friday. Canton won the game, 12-2, in five innings.

A three-run homer by Canton junior Nick Tominlenko in the fifth inning helped Canton get by visiting Wayne Memorial, 12-2, in five innings on Friday.

Canton was already up 6-2 headed in to the fifth. They put up five rums in the fourth.

“Wayne pitched themselves into trouble with a few hit batters and walks,” said Canton Coach Mark Blomshield. “Nick came through with a three-run homer and we continued to hit contagiously.”

Senior shortstop Ryan Neu was good for two hits for two RBIs. Senior Ben Vaughn added two hits with two RBIs. Sophomore Alex Dixon had two base hits and a double.

The Chiefs had a solid performance from sophomore pitcher Kevin Delapaz on the mound. He struck out nine batters and only gave up three hits in the four innings.

“We did a nice job defensively and the starting pitching was great from Delapaz,” Blomshied said. “He was throwing strikes with a terrific circle that was getting Wayne’s hitters out in front a little bit.”

Wayne looked good on both sides of the game through the first three and half innings.

Wayne knotted the score up, 1-1, in the third inning when junior Rodney Manning scored on an error. Senior Erik Schmitt scored in the fourth to give Wayne a 2-1 lead.

Sophomore Zack Lloyd was steady on the mound through three innings before Canton opened the floodgates in the fourth.

“It was the same old story for us,” said Wayne Coach Paul Cavanaugh. “We have that one bad inning in a game that we don’t recover from.”

Canton 9, Livonia Churchill 7: Winning pitcher Kevin Delapaz improved to 5-0 and Ben Vaughn hit 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Canton (15-8). Scott Jones had three hits, including a double and triple, with an RBI for Churchill.

PREP BASEBALL: Chiefs sweep, Wildcats split

May 13, 2008

Tidwell-led Chiefs register five straight victories

PREP BASEBALL: Canton earns first District title in 19 years

Chiefs upend Salem, 5-3, in championship game

BY ED WRIGHT
OBSERVER STAFF WRITER

A few minutes after 6 p.m. Saturday night, members of Canton’s baseball team partied like it was 1989 in front of their dugout on the Salem baseball field.

The Chiefs hugged, yelled, high-fived and flashed ear-to-ear smiles — things you’d expect from a group of teenagers who were celebrating the end of a District championship drought that was older than they were.

Canton (21-10) earned its first District trophy since 1989 by knocking off its two Plymouth-Canton Educational Park neighbors — Plymouth, 11-6 in the semifinal game; and Salem, 5-3, in the title tilt. The Rocks earned a spot in the final game by edging Livonia Stevenson, 9-8, in a thrill-a-minute semifinal game.

“Obviously this means a lot since we haven’t won one here in 19 years,” said first-year Canton coach Mark Blomshield. “This is an exceptional group of kids and they’ve been improving all year long. We knew we’d have to score some runs to win this District, and the bats really came around today, especially in the first game.”

Canton’s next test will come Saturday when it takes on Novi (21-14) in a Regional semifinal game at Birmingham Seaholm High School. The opening pitch is slated for 10 a.m. A victory would propel the Chiefs into the 3 p.m. championship match-up against the winner of the 12:30 p.m. White Lake Lakeland-Birmingham Brother Rice encounter.

It took a lot more than a few fingernails or a back-scratcher to ease the Chiefs’ close-to-two-decade title itch.

It took clutch hitting from seniors Ryan Neu and William Tidwell — both of whom blasted home runs.

It took sensational defense, particularly from Neu, who spearheaded a pair of double-plays in the win over the Rocks; Kevin Delapaz, who made three diving catches in center field in Game 1; and left-fielder Dan Stoney, who threw out a Rock base-runner who was trying to tag up and tie the game at 1-all on a fly ball early in the championship game.

And it took poised pitching from Tidwell and Dane Staples, who scattered 11 hits in Game 1; and Delapaz, who limited Salem’s potent batting order to five hits in a complete-game effort.

“Kevin kept the ball down, his change-up was good and we turned two double-plays behind him,” said Blomshield. “It’s the first complete game he’s thrown this year; he’s usually a four-inning guy, but he had a couple of quick, seven-, eight- and -nine-pitch innings, so he was able to go the whole way.”

Canton never trailed against Salem after seizing a 1-0 first-inning lead when Neu reached on a one-out error, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ben Vaughn’s sacrifice fly.

The Rocks mounted a threat in the top of the third when Justin Horger ripped a one-out double and advanced to third on Heath Parling’s single. However, Stoney snagged Justin Bashi’s medium-depth fly ball and unleashed a laser to freshman catcher Seth Tschetter, who slapped the tag on Horger to complete the inning-ending 7-2 twin-killing.

Neu padded the Chiefs’ advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of the third when he crushed a David Hales fastball over the left-center field fence, scoring Delapaz, who had singled.

Delapaz contributed what turned out to be a decisive two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Matt Barylski and Alex Dixon to make it 5-0.

It was decisive because the never-say-die Rocks pushed three runs across in the top of the seventh. Salem loaded the bases with no outs on a Sam Ott walk and singles from Drew Grabowski and Joe Posler. Ott was plated by Dana Lorber’s fielder’s-choice ground-out and Jeff Sroka, who was pinch-running for Grabowski, narrowed the gap to 5-2 on the front end of a double-steal.

A two-out error made it 5-3 before Tidwell squeezed Horger’s foul pop-up near the Chiefs’ dug-out to ignite the long-awaited celebration.

Delapaz paced the winners’ offense with a 3-for-4 effort. Parling (2-for-3) and Horger (double, walk) both reached twice for Salem.

Hales pitched well, scattering five hits with two K’s while yielding just two earned runs before giving way to Joe Posler in the sixth.

Canton baseball improves in 2008
The Canton Baseball team showed that it deserved some attention this year with a dramatic improvement under first-year head coach Mark Blomshield.

He led the Chiefs to a 22-11 overall record and won the team’s first district title in 19 years.

“I am very pleased with the way the team finished the season,” Blomshield said. “At one point we were on the fence with a 6 -6 record and I wasn’t sure which way the team would head. From that point on we won 16 out of our next 20 games and ended up as one of the most successful teams in Canton’s history.

“Obviously as a first year coach I’m very excited about that achievement,” he said. “Personally I will never forget this team and how they battled their way to the top and showed a lot of class in the process. Hopefully with the success of this team, Canton baseball can set a new level of expectations and set the bar high for years to come.”

The Chiefs had two players selected to All-District.
Senior hurler Will Tidwell warranted his place on the list with a 7-1 record on the mound with a 1.89 ERA.
Junior catcher Dan Stoney earned his spot with the area’s best by posting a .375 batting average with five home runs and 25 RBIs.

Both Stoney and Tidwell were named to the All-Western Division team along with senior outfielder Ben Vaughn, who posted a .398 batting average. Honorable mentions went to senior shortstop Ryan Neu (.333 average), sophomore pitcher Kevin Delepaz (7-1 record), sophomore pitcher and outfielder Alex Dixon (.350 average and 3-0 on the mound) and freshman Seth Tschetter (.357 batting average).

Blakita's blast sends Chiefs home happy, 5-2

Unfortunately for Livonia Churchill's baseball team, Canton junior first baseman Cody Blakita failed to master the lost art of bunting during the fifth inning of Wednesday's KLAA South Division showdown. With his team trailing 2-0, Seth Tschetter on first base and no outs, Blakita was given the bunt sign by Canton head coach Mark Blomshield. After fouling off Tad Evans' first offering and taking the second pitch for strike two, Blakita rocketed the third pitch over the left-field scoreboard to deadlock the game at 2-all.Four batters later, Dan Stoney singled in Zane Birchler (who had doubled) to give the Chiefs a lead they would never relinquish in their 5-2 victory.“A lot of coaches probably wouldn't have sacrificed down 2-0 in the fifth, but the guys were kind of playing in slow motion up to that point and I was trying to get something going,” said Canton coach Mark Blomshield. “I thought about keeping the bunt on with two strikes, but Cody's been swinging the bat well, so I wiped (the bunt sign) off.“When he hit that home run, it changed everything. It put us right back in the game. It was a huge hit.”Blakita's heroics made a winner out of junior southpaw Kevin Delapaz, who improved his record to 6-0 with three innings of scoreless relief. Delapaz entered the game with a miniscule earned-run average of 0.80.“He has great mound presence,” said Blomshield, when asked why Delapaz has been so successful. “He never gets rattled, he has good velocity and — most importantly — he can throw all of his pitches for strikes.”The Chargers seized a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when Jimmy Szymanski drew a one-out walk and scored two batters later ahead of Tyler Bledsoe's home run to right-center field.   Other than a Szymanski double two innings later, that was the only damage Churchill would inflict on Canton starting pitcher Alex Dixon, who gave way to Delapaz after Szymanksi's lead-off two-bagger in the fifth.

 

Canton's Cody Blakita watches his fifth-inning home run take flight during the Chiefs' 5-2 victory over Livonia Churchill. (YVETTE DIXON)

April 23, 2009

Canton's baseall team more than held its own in Saturday's talent-stocked Milan Tournament. The Chiefs, who improved to 6-3 overall, sandwiched victories over state powers Grosse Pointe North (9-0) and Grandville (10-6) around a 16-6 setback to Ann Arbor Pioneer.   Junior southpaw Kevin Delapaz improved his record to 3-0 in the opener against the Norsemen, tossing six innings of three-hit ball. Delapaz, who struck out eight, received strong offensive support from Nick Tomilenko (two hits, two RBI), Seth Tschetter (two hits, two RBI) and Alex Dixon, who roped a pair of hits. Mike Cisco notched two of North's three safeties.   The Chiefs managed just four hits in the middle-game loss to the Pioneers. Joe Galanty (two RBI) and Dan Stoney (two runs scored) paced the offense.    The Chiefs were bolstered by a strong effort from starting pitcher Ben Staley in the victory over Grandville.   Staley, a junior, scattered eight hits over 5.1 innings before being relieved by Andrew Tidwell, who recorded a save.   Offensive stars for the Chiefs were Tomilenko (two hits, two runs), Dixon (two hits) and Tschetter, who registered a two-run double. Kevin Gebrand and Jason Devries each carded a pair of hits for Grandville, which suffered just its second loss of the season.

Chiefs pound way to regional

By Brad Kadrich • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • June 4, 2009

Canton baseball coach Mark Blomshield got doused by his players pouring the water bucket over his head Saturday afternoon.    But it was the only bad thing that happened to Blomshield — or his Chiefs — all day.     Canton used an 11-run fourth inning, and sophomore Seth Tschetter had three hits and four RBI, as the Chiefs won their second straight district baseball championship with a 15-1 pounding of Plymouth.   The win put Canton in the Novi regional Saturday.    “You don't expect to put up 15 (runs) against Plymouth,” Blomshield said. “We just wanted to keep the game close. We told our kids, ‘Let's win each inning.'”  Canton, which beat Livonia Churchill 8-1 in the semifinal, grabbed an early  lead on a two-run single by Tschetter, which scored Nick Sweda and Dan Stoney, who had both reached on walks.    Nick Tomilenko tripled and scored on an error leading off the third. Stoney walked, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on Tschetter's single.    Plymouth, which beat Salem 9-6 in the other semifinal, got its lone run in the top of the fourth, when Matt Skubic scored from third on a passed ball. Ryan Spencer then struck out swinging, leaving runners at second and third and ending the Wildcats' only rally.    The Chiefs put the game away with their 11-run fourth, scoring seven of the runs after two were out.    Andrew Tidwell had a two-run single and Tomilenko drilled a two-run triple to the wall in right-center field to key the rally, which included Tschetter's third hit and fourth RBI of the game.    “The way we've been swinging the bats lately, I knew we'd pull this one out,” Tschetter said.    “We had a good game.    I didn't have that good a year (offensively), but all that matters is what happens in districts. I felt good today.”   Blomshield said his Chiefs survived a difficult district, despite the fact they outscored their opponents 43-2 in three games, including a 20-0 win over Livonia Stevenson in a pre-district game.   “We came out and swung the bats, and our pitching kept us in the ballgame,” Blomshield said. “It was a tough district ... we're excited about (winning) it.”