Kevin Delapaz (17) celebrates the final out as home run-hitting hero Joe Galanty squeezes the ball Wednesday afternoon.

Kings of
the Kensington
Galanty HR lifts Chiefs over Northville, 2-1

BY ED WRIGHT
May 20, 2010, 6:15 p.m.

  As an elementary school-aged youngster several summers back, Joe Galanty was a regular attendee at the Canton High School baseball camps, soaking in instructions from the same players he looked up to so much.

  In middle school, Galanty diligently served as a bat boy for the Chiefs' junior varsity squads, dreaming of the day he'd get to play a meaningful game on the diamond that rests 100 yards west of Canton Center Rd.

  On Wednesday, the senior captain unloaded one of the most dramatic home runs a Canton Chief baseball player has ever hit.

  Talk about coming full circle.

  With the Chiefs trailing 1-0, one out in the bottom of the sixth inning and Cody Blakita on first base, Galanty sent a Colin Gerish fastball over the left-center field fence, igniting a jubilant explosion in the Canton dugout.

  The Mustangs advanced a runner to third base with one out in the top of the seventh, but four-year varsity player Kevin Delapaz slammed the door by striking out Brian Gotberg before recording the final out when catcher Seth Tschetter picked up a swinging bunt in front of the plate and threw a dart to the Chiefs' first baseman, who appropriately enough, was Galanty.

  The drama-filled victory in the KLAA Kensington Conference title game propelled the 21-4 Chiefs into next Wednesday's KLAA Association championship game against the winner of yesterday's Brighton-Walled Lake Central game.

  "I was just thinking, 'Kill the ball,'" Galanty said, when asked about his mind-set as he stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the sixth. "I played with (Gerish) on a summer-league team a couple years ago. I just wanted to hit the ball hard off him. It was an amazing feeling when I saw the ball clear the fence.

  "It's been a while since I hit a home run, a couple weeks at least. I've been hitting the ball pretty well, I've just been in a little bit of slump. It was nice to break out of it today."

  Andrew Tidwell improved to 7-0 by limiting the Mustangs to one run and four hits over 6.1 innings.

  Only one Mustang advanced as far as second base in the opening five innings against Tidwell.

  "I found out last week I'd get to start today and I was very excited about the opportunity," said Tidwell, who also leads the Chiefs with six saves. "My slider was my best pitch today. I could put it anywhere I wanted and they couldn't hit it."

  The Chiefs went old school to prepare for Wednesday's titanic battle with their long-time rivals from the north.

  "Our offensive production has been diminishing week by week, so as a coach, when I saw things were breaking down a little, I wanted to switch things up, so we switched to wood bats at practice yesterday and before the game today," said Canton coach Mark Blomshield. "It's easy to get complacent with aluminum bats because the ball jumps off them.

  "During pre-game, the ball was sailing, so I knew we had a chance to hit one out today. We were having a hard time manufacturing runs, so I told Joe, 'We need somebody to hit one out today,' and he delivered."

  Blomshield had Tidwell (a righty) and Delapaz (a lefty) warm up in the bullpen prior to the game, not wanting to tip his hand and let Northville head coach John Kostreva stock its line-up with left-handed or right-handed hitters.

  "Obviously, with Tidwell bringing it from the side, we didn't want a lot of lefties in their line-up," said Blomshield. "In a game like this, you want to get every advantage you can.

  "John (Kostreva) blocked my strategy, though," Blomshield said, smiling.  "He made out two line-up cards and handed the umpire the one with lefties in it after I turned mine in."

  As effectively as Tidwell was throwing, it didn't seem to matter what side of the batter's box the Mustangs were standing in. Only two of the first 16 batters managed to hit the ball out of the infield.

  Junior catcher Seth Tschetter made a pair of huge defensive plays. In the second, he threw out potential base-stealer Gerish, who had led off with a single.

  Tschetter's most amazing effort came in the fifth when he bare-handed a foul ball off the bat of Davin Montgomery then fired to first to double off Matt Stojkov, who had reached on an error.

  Northville grabbed a short-lived 1-0 lead in he top of the sixth when Cheslik led off with a walk, Joe Close singled, Dan Mills dropped down a perfect bunt single to load the bases before Dylan Breault hit a sacrifice fly.

  That set the stage for Galanty, who with one swing of the bat earned his team a ticket to next week's KLAA title game.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.

Kevin Delapaz earned the save by extinguishing a Northville threat in the top of the seventh inning. (Ed Wright photo)


The Chiefs pose with their latest piece of hardware - the KLAA Kensington Conference championship trophy.