Faithful Nolan Canfield and Manteno top Bradley-Bourbonnais

BRADLEY – Manteno senior right-hander Nolan Canfield admittedly didn’t have a very good start to the season, but has since gotten back on track as he took the mound for the Panthers’ second-to-last regular season game at Bradley-Bourbonnais Saturday.

And when Canfield was in a fifth-inning jam that saw the Boilermakers with a run already in and runners on base with nobody out in a two-run game, he turned to the same place he did when he struggled earlier in the season.

“I turned to my faith,” Canfield said. “That’s what I did, it’s powerful, and I encourage other people to do that too.”

After a pep talk with the man above, Canfield forced Andrew Kubal to pop up and stuck out leadoff hitter Mason Shaul to preserve a Manteno (20-7) lead that swole late to a 6-1 victory. Canfield threw all seven innings, allowing an earned run on five hits, a walk and seven strikeouts.

Aside from his faith, Canfield said that as he faced an aggressive and talented Bradley-Bourbonnais (16-15) lineup, a stiff wind blowing in kept balls in play for a defense that played error-free ball behind him in Saturday’s nonconference rivalry game.

“Honestly, when I came out here today I noticed the wind was blowing in, and my coach (Matt Beckner) made note of that,” Canfield said. “I knew I was going to be able to throw fastballs, I knew my defense was going to be able to go to work because it was hard to break that wind barrier.

“It was that, and just coming in there was a lot of energy from our team going back and forth,” he added. “It’s a pretty big rivalry, not a huge one, but towns next to each other, so just coming out with that energy and being ready to go.”

Canfield had a one-run lead before he threw a pitch Saturday, as Tyler Buehler scored on a fielder’s choice before catcher Brady Hespen drove in two more runs in the second.

Hespen, who finished the day 2 for 4 and later scored as part of a three-run seventh, said that Canfield’s religious conviction has been contagious throughout a team that’s now won 11 of its last 14 games.

“He’s got us going to a little Bible study that’s really helped a lot of us connect together,” Hespen said. “I feel like that has helped me and Nolan connect from that pitcher and catcher standpoint.”

Hespen scored on a Boilers error in the seventh, followed by a Maddox Toepper RBI single and Braden Campbell sacrifice fly as the Panthers doubled their run total to give Canfield plenty of breathing room as he closed out his gem.

“I thought our approach was great today,” Beckner said. “The biggest thing was putting the ball in play. Some of those may not have been the hardest ball, but we forced them to make a play.”

On the flip side, while Boilers head coach Brad Schweigert was quick to credit Canfield for being locked in from the first pitch, he also thought the Panthers did a better job of applying defensive pressure.

“He threw really well, he’s a good pitcher,” Schweigert said of Canfield. “I don’t think we did a great job of hitting line drives, hard ground balls to make them make plays. We popped up a little too much, and with the wind blowing in those will be held up. We were a little too aggressive early, but he was filling up the zone too.”

The Boilers’ Eric Rainbolt also pitched a complete game, allowing three earned runs on eight hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Ty Alderson had an RBI double that brought in Kason Bynum.