Sports

Chelsea Chitty competed against 80 other girls from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma and was selected as a catcher/3B for the U.S.A. Elite Select All American Softball Team that will compete against 15 other teams from across the nation in August in Orlando, Fla. 

She finished first in catcher velocity, catcher POP time, overhand velocity, 5-10-5 shuttle run and ball exist speed.

She is a fifth grader in Canton Intermediate School and is the daughter of Kris and Sherre Chitty.  

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The three biggest school districts in Van Zandt County, Canton, Van and Wills Point, all sent athletes to Emory Rains High School for the second consecutive week. On April 13-14, that trio of schools all sent track teams to compete at the District 14-4A Meet. Qualifying athletes once again returned to Emory Rains April 21, competing against some of East Texas’ best athletes at the 4A District 13-14 Area Meet.

Varsity boys results included:

-100: Cooper Bledsoe, Van, sixth

-200: Dylan Cox, Canton, third; Kendrick Jones, Van, fourth; Joseph Paddock, WP, fifth; Bradley Fitzgerald, Van, seventh

-400: Bryce Wilkens, Canton, second

-1600: Jacob Carter, Van, fourth; Cordale Harrison, Canton, fifth; Austin Slenk, Van, eighth

-3200: Jacob Carter, Van, fourth; Matthew Hook, Canton, sixth; Austin Slenk, Van, seventh

-110 Hurdles: Tre Lovett, Van, second

-300 Hurdles: Tre Lovett, Van, first

-4x100: Van, third; WP, fifth

The Van Lady Vandals and Canton Eaglettes each entered Friday night’s district finale with plenty on the line, including bragging rights over a chief rival and, more importantly, a District 14-4A Championship.

The game lived up to the hype and more, with Van rallying from a 3-0 deficit to pull out a 4-3 extra inning win over the Eaglettes.

After a scoreless first inning, Canton drew first blood against Van with a three run surge in the bottom of the second. Van recorded two quick outs before an error, a four pitch walk, and another error allowed Reagan Busby to score the game’s first run.

Kylie Floyd followed suit by loading the bases with a single to left, and Jenna Stanley helped her own cause on the mound with a two run single to right to make the score 3-0.

The Eaglettes were bitten by the error bug in the top of the fourth inning, allowing Van to get its first run on the night with two misplays in the top of the fourth.

The Canton Eagles and Van Vandals met on the diamond April 23, playing a makeup game that as originally scheduled to be played April 19. The four delay did nothing to cool Eagle hitters, with Canton racing out to an 8-0 lead against the Vandals, and never looking back in the eventual 10-2 win.

Canton got going offensively in the bottom of the second inning, plating four runs to take an early lead. Hunter Moore got the Eagles on the scoreboard, singling home Simon Miller to take a 1-0 lead. Bryce Branson, who had reached on a single of his own earlier in the inning, came home to score on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead. With runners on second and third with two outs, Zach Brown tripled to center to double the advantage to 4-0.

A Vandal error in the bottom of the third continued to help Canton build its lead, allowing Simon Miller to score his second run of the night.

Glenn McNeill, Jr. won the Texas Senior Games free throw and around the world competition at San Antonio April 14.

The win marked his 13th first place wins in the free throw competitions. He cannot advance past state championship because there are no free throw or around the world contests in the national championships - only 3 on 3 teams and games.

Glenn was shooting with the 80-year-olds since he will be 80 this year. This year, he made 21 out of 25 free throws. The second place competitor made 20 out of 25 shots. Glenn was not up to par because of having bronchitis for two weeks, which has made him very weak.

In around the world, in which there is no set number of shots, Glenn made 20 points in one minute. His closest competitor made 19 in and third place was 18.

Three Van Zandt County track teams, representing Canton, Van and Wills Point, all converged at Emory Rains High School April 13-14 to compete in the District 14-4A Track Meet. Other schools in attendance included event host Emory Rains, as well as Brownsboro.

Varsity boys results included:

-100: Cooper Bledsoe, Van, first; Tyreq Peterson, WP, sixth; Fernando Lopez, Canton, seventh

-200: Dylan Cox, Canton, first; Bradley Fitzgerald, Van, second; Kendrick Jones, Van, third; Joseph Paddock, WP, fourth; Bryce Wilkens, Canton, seventh; Nathan Johnson, WP, eighth

-400: Bryce Wilkens, Canton, first; Connor Houston, Van, fifth; Aidan Phillips, WP, sixth; Saul Rojo, Van, seventh; Tristan Ramos, Canton, eighth

-800: James Vogt, Canton, fifth; Cordale Harrison, Canton, sixth; Aidan Phillips, WP, seventh; Carter Day, Canton, eighth; Danny Campa, Van, ninth

The Canton Eaglettes continued to tighten their stranglehold atop the District 14-4A standings over the course of the past week, sweeping their season series with both Wills Point and Brownsboro in consecutive games.

The Eaglettes were red hot to start the week, pouncing on rival Wills Point early and often in a 15-0 shutout win over the Lady Tigers April 12.

In two games during the 2016 season, Canton has outhit Wills Point 23-3 and outscored the Lady Tigers by a 27-1 margin.

During their meeting April 12, Canton plated multiple runs in each inning played, tallying seven in the first, two in both the second and third innings and four more in the bottom of the fourth.

Sam Neal, Taylor Durham and Brooke Arnold led the Eaglette hit parade, going a combined 8/9 with two doubles, a triple, 7 RBI and seven runs scored in the four inning win.

The Canton boys and girls golf teams had an excellent week at Van Zandt Country Club at the Region 2 Golf Tournament hosted by Tyler ISD under the direction of Greg Priest. Over 16 schools and 100 individuals were represented and in attendance each day for the boys tournament April 11-12 and the girls tournament April 13-14.

The Canton Boys had an extremely successful tournament and completed their goal of a return trip to the State Tournament in Austin April 25-26. The boys team finished Monday's round in 4th place, 10

strokes back from Bullard. Pleasant Grove was in the lead followed by Argyle after the first round. After day two, the Canton boys’ golf team not only carded an impressive 310 team total, they edged Bullard by two strokes to clinch third place and a trip to the State Golf Tournament at Onion Creek Country Club in Buda, Texas.

The Canton Eagles kept themselves in fourth place overall in District 14-4A play last week, recording a come from behind win against Wills Point April 12 before struggling to find their rhythm offensively in a loss to Brownsboro April 15.

Canton started its week by capitalizing on an opportunity to exact some revenge on one of their biggest rivals, rallying from a late deficit to pull out a 3-2 win over the visiting Wills Point Tigers.

The two teams had already crossed paths once this season, meeting in Wills Point back on March 25. In that contest the Tigers trailed Canton 4-1 late before pulling out their own 5-4 come from behind victory on the Eagles.

On April 12, Riley Ramsey put the Tigers in front 2-0 in the top of the first inning with a double. Those would be the only runs that Wills Point would tally, as Hunter Moore and the Eagle defense slammed the door on any additional Tiger offense.