Sports

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.

The Canton Eaglettes have been flying high throughout District 14-4A play, winning four consecutive games to improve to 4-1 overall.

In their most recent contest, Canton avenged its lone district loss with a 10-8 win over Emory Rains at home April 5.

Multi-run innings were the story of the game, as Canton put up crooked numbers in the first, second and sixth innings to grab a 10-5 advantage heading into the seventh.

Rains rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh before the Eaglettes slammed the door on any Lady Cat comeback attempt.

The chase for playoff positioning by the Canton Eagles and the rest of the District 14-4A field enters the homestretch this week, with teams beginning the third and final round of district play beginning April 15.

Current District 14-4A standings have Wills Point and Brownsboro tied for first overall with identical 5-2 records, Van alone in third with a 4-4 record, Canton in fourth with a 3-4 record and Emory Rains trailing the pack with a 1-6 record overall.

The Eagles will have one more opportunity to pick up wins against all those teams, traveling to Brownsboro April 15, hosting Van April 19, traveling to Rains April 22 and then closing out district play at home April 29 against the Wills Point Tigers on Senior Night.

The Canton Eagle and Eaglette tennis teams traversed familiar ground April 5-6, traveling to the Judy Musgrave Tennis Center in Canton to compete in this year’s District 14-4A Tournament.

The tournament included coaches from all teams in attendance, including Brent Smith of Brownsboro, Glenn Neal of Canton, Andy Breaux of Rains, Ann Daniell and Len Turner of Wills Point and Melissa Wells of Van, recognizing their senior players.

As part of the Senior Night festivities, each player received and 8x10 framed photograph and were escorted by their parents on to the court.

Following play at the district tournament, coach Glen Neal noted, “The Canton tennis teams have had a successful season in 2016. We are very proud of our players this year.

Neal noted that on top of several duel match victories, the Canton tennis program has enjoyed other recent tournament successes.

Led by Canton High School Golf Coach Paige Peace, the Canton High School boys and girls golf teams, respectively, dominated the District Golf Tournament at Garden Valley Country Club and Van Zandt Country Club (VZCC) over two days of play.

Both teams won first place team District Championships for the second year in a row. The boys had a 14 stroke lead on second place Van and 15 stroke lead on third place Brownsboro after the first round at VZCC March 28 with an overall score of 328.

The second round of play at Garden Valley, April 4, the boys carded an impressive 317. Logan Willeford finished as second overall boys’ medalist with a 74-76 and Patrick

Malouf finished as third individual medalist with a 77-78.

Other team members and scores are: Matthew Allen: 85-82, Will Huddle:  93-81 and Travis Perkins: 93-92.

The boys will compete at the Regional Tournament April 11-12 at VZCC.

The Canton Eaglettes and Van Lady Vandals each wrapped up the first round of District 14-4A play over the weekend, meeting April 2 after rainy weather the day before caused the rescheduling of games for teams all over East Texas.

Canton got the better of its in-county rivals during the contest, holding the Lady Vandals to just a single hit in a 3-1 win.

Senior ace Jenna Stanley notched the win for the Eaglettes, throwing a complete game while allowing just a single hit, two walks and an earned run while striking out nine.

The Eaglettes threatened for a big inning in the top of the third inning, getting multiple runners on base with just one out. Van dodged one bullet, nabbing an advancing Canton base runner at home plate to keep the score tied at 0-0.

Canton would not be deterred, however, as Brooke Arnold battled back from an 0-2 count to single to right field and bring home Kylie Floyd for a 1-0 Eaglette advantage.

The Canton Junior Girls All-Star team won the Regional Tournament and are advancing to National Tournament held in Mexia April 13-16. The girls went 3-0 in the regional qualifier. Team members and coaches include: (back row, l-r) Coach Julie Stern, Darby Adcock, Aivia Strege, Caroline Stern, Emilie Harle, Allison Rickman, Jayden Huff, Coach Justin Huff, (front row) Kodie Adock, Kaylee Crawford, Amrie Clower, Kylee Norman and Graycie Wilson.

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Mother Nature delivered an untimely day of rain showers throughout portions of East Texas, forcing the rescheduling of several games involving Van Zandt County teams. Due to the conditions, the Canton Eagles and Van Vandals were forced to wait 24 hours before their scheduled meeting, taking the field April 2 for a rare Saturday night contest. 

Canton took advantage of every opportunity against the Vandals, capitalizing on three Van errors and other miscues to pull out a 10-3 win.

After two quiet innings, the Eagle offense came to life for the first time during the game in the top of the third inning.

The Canton Eaglettes evened their district record at 1-1 March 25, notching an impressive 12-1, five-inning road victory over the Wills Point Lady Tigers.

The Eaglettes dominated the contest from the opening pitch, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning en route to the win.

Canton loaded the bases with no outs in the frame before Sam Neal singled in two with a sharp single to leftfield. Gracie Chavez followed with another single, loading the bases once again to set up an even bigger inning.

The Eaglettes added runs on a sacrifice fly by Reagan Busby and an RBI double by Grayson Reid before the close of the inning for the 5-0 lead over Wills Point.

Canton continued to build on their lead in the second, adding two more runs on a passed ball and an RBI single by Gracie Chavez.

Already well in control, the Eaglettes added an insurance run in the top of the fourth, and four more runs in the top of the fifth to run rule the Lady Tigers. 

The Canton boys and girls golf teams had a very successful day March 21, taking home several team and individual honors at this year’s Edgewood Invitational held at Van Zandt Country Club.

Despite colder than usual temperatures, the boys team finished in first place with a team total of 320. Patrick Malouf was the first individual medalist with a tournament-best round of 73 and Logan Willeford was the third individual medalist with a round of 78.

Other team members were Matthew Allen shooting an 83, Will Huddle shooting an 86 and Travis Perkins shooting an 88.

Coach Paige Peace James stated, “The tournament included several of a district schools and we are optimistic entering the district tournament on Monday, March 28 and Monday, April 4.”

Brownsboro and Van tied for second with team totals of 335.

The JV boys competing for Canton were Josh Riffe shooting a 105 and Gavin Whitaker shooting a 121.