Ben Staley is congratulated by Jonny Johnson after setting down the final two Walled Lake Central batters Wednesday afternoon. (Ed Wright photo)

In game filled with non-stop action, Canton holds on for KLAA crown

BY ED WRIGHT
May 27 2010, 4:15 p.m.

  Wednesday's KLAA Association championship baseball game between Canton and Walled Lake Central was jam-packed with just about everything you'd expect to see in a high-stakes encounter.

  There were pickles, bang-bang plays at the plate, bad-hop singles, improbable grand slams and 17 runs.

  But what eventually decided the game that those present won't soon forget was some 85 degree heat thrown on an 85-degree afternoon by a player who had a hunch he'd get a chance to pitch, even though his name was no where to be found on the pre-game pitching game plan.

  Canton junior flame-thrower Ben Staley was summoned from right field to the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning by Chiefs head coach Mark Blomshield with one out, two runners on and the Chiefs clinging to a 9-8 lead.

  Can you say "pressure cooker"?

  "I came prepared to pitch today, even though the chances of me pitching with Kevin (Delapaz) and Andrew (Tidwell) throwing ahead of me were not real good," said Staley. "But pitching was all I could think about last night and it was on my mind all day today.

  "The fans were really loud; you just have to tune them out and keep an eye on the target. I love pressure situations like that. That's why I play baseball."

  Armed with a sharp, biting slider, Staley wiped out the Vikings' seventh-inning threat by striking out Jeremy Cocera and Derek Schulz on just eight pitches.

  "Seth Tschetter, our No. 1 catcher was out, which was a big setback, but our back-up guy, Jason Lynch, got the job done. He did an excellent job," Staley said.

  "This program has gotten better every year the past three years. It's going to be exciting to see how far we can go this year."

  The game started out as a pitchers' duel between Canton's Kevin Delapaz and Central's Jake Paulson, neither of whom yielded a run over the first three innings.

  Canton struck first in a big way in the fifth when they exploded for five runs. With two outs and Garrett Bryden on second base, courtesy of a hard-hit double, No. 8 batter Mark Main brought home Bryden with a double of his own.

  After Kevin Delapaz reached, Bernabie Salinas ripped a hard grounder that appeared to be a taylor-made double play until it hit a rock in the infield and bounced over the shortstop's head for a two-run single. Tidwell and Blakita followed with RBI singles to pad the visitors' lead to 5-0.

  The Vikings countered with a big fourth inning of their own. Blake Burns  and Joe Harris singled with one out before Justin Kucera flew out to left. Shane Daykin reached on an error, which brought home Harris, and Jeremy Kocera doubled, plating Daykin to make it 5-3.

  The Chiefs added a pair to their lead in the sixth when Salinas tagged a one-out single and advanced to second on Tidwell's infield single. They both scored on Blakita's double, extending the Chiefs' lead to 7-3.

  After the first Viking reached to open the sixth, Blomshield brought in Tidwell, a side-arming right-hander who hadn't yielded an earned run since April Fool's Day.

  After striking out Daykin, Tidwell loaded the bases on walks before yielding a game-tying grand slam over the right-center field fence to pinch-hitter Austin Telling.

  The scrappy Chiefs, who haven't been fazed by adversity all spring, regained a 9-7 lead in the seventh when Bryden was hit by a pitch and sacrificed to second by Chris Perkovich. The next batter, Mark Main, was hit by a pitch just before Delapaz laced an RBI single, plating Bryden and making the score 8-7. Salinas followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-7.

  The Vikings threatened in the seventh until Staley put the hammer down on the Chiefs' first-ever KLAA Association title.

Ben Staley had his slider working during the late innings.

Bernabie Salinas tags out a Central base-runner during a pickle.