Canton Little League playing for a spot in World Series Thursday night
BRISTOL, Connecticut -- The Canton Bulldogs will look to punch their ticket to the Little League World Series on Thursday night. To get to Williamsport, they'll need to beat the only team to defeat them this summer.
Canton is set for a rematch against Maine, who handed them a 7-1 defeat Monday afternoon in Bristol, Connecticut. Now they'll meet again in a winner-takes-all clash Thursday night at 7 pm.
Canton advanced to Thursday's New England title game with a 5-0 victory over New Hampshire on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs got a complete game shutout from Andrew Sullivan on Wednesday, and will be looking for another dominant performance out of Nathan Chabot on Thursday.
Chabot was lights out in Canton's 12-0 win over Vermont last Saturday, opening the tournament with a 15-strikeout one-hitter. He'll be opposed by Maine's ace, Kayden Oliver, who also gave up just one hit last Saturday in a 3-0 win over New Hampshire. Oliver fanned 10 batters over his 6.1 innings in the victory.
The Canton bats will look to remain hot against Oliver, after Owen Collins, Will Casey, and Cam Lyons each recorded two hits in Wednesday's win. Collins is 5-for-7 in regional action with three RBI.
Thursday night's New England championship game will air on ESPN.