Canton (Massachusetts) defeats Vermont in Little League Regionals

The Canton Little League 12U team has already made history this summer.

The team is still trying to make more.

Canton, which won the state championship for the first time ever last weekend, is one of four teams left standing in the New England Regionals (they're joined by Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine). Whichever team wins three games will advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Team Massachusetts kicked off regional play by defeating Vermont (St. Johnsbury), 12-0, on Saturday morning in Bristol, Connecticut. Maine (Gray New Gloucester) and New Hampshire (Salem) follow in the other opening-round game at 1 p.m. That game will be on ESPN+. Every team is guaranteed at least two games, and the New England championship is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 10.

The 12-0 victory over Vermont moves Canton just two wins away from going to the Little League World Series in Williamsport. Canton will play the winner of Saturday's game at 1 p.m. between New Hampshire and Maine with a spot in the New England Championship on the line. That game will be played on Monday at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN. Canton is guaranteed to play at least two games at the regionals, even if it loses on Monday.

Vermont will play the loser of New Hampshire/Maine on Sunday at 4 p.m. in an elimination game. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

There were a ton of contributors in Canton's 12-0 opening-round victory on Saturday. Six players had at least one RBI, eight different players scored and nine had hits.

Nathan Chabot: Chabot was untouchable on the mound, earning a complete-game shutout win. He struck out the first 10 batters he faced. Chabot's final pitching line was 6 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 15 strikeouts and 0 runs. He threw 84 pitches, so he'll need four full days of rest before he can pitch again.

Andrew Sullivan: Sullivan belted a two-run home run over the fence in the fourth inning to push Canton's lead to 4-0. Sullivan scored two runs in the win.

Patrick Furbush: Furbush played a key role in Canton's rallies (three runs in the fourth, eight in the sixth). He had an RBI single in the fourth inning and had a two-RBI double in the sixth inning.

Owen Collins: Collins went 2-for-3 and scored two runs in the win. He had a three-RBI double that one-hopped the fence in the sixth inning.

Brendan Ryan: Ryan had a two-RBI double in the sixth inning and went 2-for-2 on the day with a walk.

Canton opens the New England Regionals in style. Nathan Chabot fires a gem on the mound and the team exploded for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning. Chabot struck out the first 10 batters he faced and finished the day with one hit, one walk and 15 strikeouts in a shutout effort.

Canton breaks the game open with eight runs in the top of the sixth inning. Here's how it happened:

Michael Camerano leads off the inning with a single. Miles Mettlach follows with a single that drops in front of the center fielder. Tayton Goodwin responds with a strikeout for the first out. Cam Lyons draws a one-out walk to load the bases. Goodwin is over the 85-pitch count limit, so his day on the mound is done. Barrett Somers comes on in relief. Sam Archibald is hit by a pitch to push Canton's lead to 5-0. Patrick Furbush follows with an opposite-field single to plate two more Canton runs, and it's 7-0. Canton gets caught in a pickle for the second out. Nathan Chabot is hit by a pitch in the shoulder and he barely flinches to load the bases. Owen Collins brings home three RBIs with a two-out double. Vermont changes pitches for the second time this inning. Brendan Ryan laces a two-out, two-RBI double that one-hops off the fence in center field to make it 12-0 Canton.

Nathan Chabot continues to deal. He's over the 65-pitch mark, which means he'll need four full days of rest before he can pitch again. The no-hit bid comes to a two-out single. Chabot ends the fifth with his 15th strikeout. Canton is three outs from opening regionals in stellar style.

Will Casey with a nice rip to center for a one-out single. Brendan Ryan follows with a great, long at-bat to draw a nine-pitch walk. The runners advance to second and third base with two outs on a dropped third strike. Vermont gets out of the jam unscathed with a flyout to center to end the frame.

Nathan Chabot finally allows a base runner with a walk after striking out the first 10 batters of the day. Landon Mosher is the first Vermont player to put the ball in play with a flyout to right fielder Owen Collins to end the inning. Chabot has 11 strikeouts and one walk through four innings.

A big leadoff double by Declan Kelliher starts the top of the fourth inning. Cam Lyons with a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt advances Kelliher to third base with one out. It took a tremendous play by Vermont's catcher to get Kelliher at first. Video replay confirms the call. Patrick Furbush laces a clutch, two-out RBI single down the first-base line. Andrew Sullivan follows with a two-run home run into the trees over the left-center field fence to give Canton a 4-0 lead. There was a big welcoming committee at home plate waiting to celebrate the blast.

In the top half of the inning, Miles Mettlach gets a good piece of a ball, but Vermont left fielder Caleb Decker makes a nice running catch to end the frame.

Have a day, Nathan Chabot. He's faced nine batters so far and set them all down by strikeout. He's only at 38 pitches so far.

Nathan Chabot is locked in on the mound for Canton. He strikes out the first six batters of the day. He's only at 24 pitches through two innings.

Vermont starting pitcher Tayton Goodwin is pounding the strike zone. He's had great success with a 12-6 breaking ball. That is until Owen Collins belts a two-strike triple over the center fielder's head for a one-out triple. Collins was flying out of the box, which allowed him to stretch a double into a triple, great hustle play. Collins' hustle paves the way for him to score on a Will Casey RBI groundout to give Canton a 1-0 lead. Brendan Ryan drops in a two-out single to keep the inning going.

Canton comes out swinging, but hits into a pair of outs on the first two pitches of the day. Vermont starting pitcher Tayton Goodwin needed just five pitches to get through the top half of the inning.

Canton starting pitcher Nathan Chabot strikes out the side in the bottom half of the frame. Both pitchers are dealing early.

Canton and Vermont are about to get started. Check back on this page for updates throughout the game. Remember, Little League games are six innings. Canton is the road team in this one and will bat first.

Canton’s run is the deepest in the town’s history. The team won a state title while making its first appearance in the state tournament. That also means this is Canton’s first time reaching regionals.

It’s a rare achievement for the area. In 2022, Middleboro was the first team in The Patriot Ledger/Enterprise’s coverage area to win the state title this century. Middleboro’s incredible run reached the Little League World Series. That run served as a realization for this year’s Canton team.

"That was cool," Nate Chabot said of a fellow South Shore team playing on the big stage after winning the state title. "I'd had never noticed a team like that (from this area) going that far. I noticed that (last year).”

Middleboro also won state titles in 1999 and 1994. The last team that wasn’t Middleboro to win the state title around here was Weymouth South, way back in 1966.

To reach this stage, St. Johnsbury won a wild one in the Vermont state final. St. Johnsbury defeated Champlain Valley, 8-5, in nine innings to advance to the regionals.

For the team, it's their first state title since 1985.

More:Seven fun facts about the Canton Little League team bound for the New England Regionals

"This team is resilient," St. Johnsbury coach Rene Bathalon said after the win to the Burlington Free Press. "We didn’t back down, we didn’t step down. We all fought, we all came back together and we all won it together."

Canton Little League's Twitter is another great source to follow for updates on the team. Note: Every player in the lineup bats in Little League

22 Sam Archibald Shortstop

9 Patrick Furbush Extra Hitter

99 Andrew Sullivan Extra Hitter

15 Nate Chabot Pitcher

4 Owen Collins Right Field

5 Will Casey Catcher

97 Brendan Ryan Left Field

11 Ryan Roberts Extra Hitter

19 Michael Zollo Second Base

10 Michael Camerano Third Base

27 Miles Mettlach First Base

12 Declan Kelliher Extra Hitter

18 Cam Lyons Center Field

Although Canton is a whopping 14-0 in postseason play, it took a miraculous comeback to reach this stage. In the Sectional 3 final, Canton trailed by four runs in the last inning. The team exploded for nine runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull out a 12-7 thrilling victory over Parkway.

"These kids just never give up," said Canton head coach Ryan Archibald after that victory.

Ryan Roberts was the star in that victory, driving in 6 RBIs.

Right here is one option. We'll continue to update this story with live updates throughout Saturday's opening-round game. We've had Canton covered since early in their postseason run. We were there for their dramatic comeback in the Sectional 3 final, last week's state-championship win and plus some other fun stories.

More:Meet the Canton Little League team that has Williamsport dreams

All of Canton's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ or ESPN this week. Today's game against Vermont will be on ESPN+ (a streaming subscription service).