By Michael Letendre

MERIDEN – The Bristol Eastern baseball team proved to be an irritant to Maloney on Saturday but in the end, the Spartans nabbed a 3-1 edge after one stanza and never looked back, winning by a final score of 9-6.

The contest, played from Maloney High School in Meriden, was the opener for both squads.

Eastern veteran Andrew Lozier played extremely well offensively, zipping up three hits – including two triples – while scoring three times to pace the team.  

And then a new addition helped the Eastern charge as Matt D’Amato blasted out three of the Lancers’ nine hits, all singles, while adding three RBI to the till.

Eastern’s Tyler Martin drew a tough loss on the mound while John Umbach roped up the victory for the Spartans.

Several players tallied multiple hits for Maloney but to commence play, the Lancers drew first blood in the top of the first frame.

Lozier connected on a two-out triple to right-center and when D’Amato roped up his first varsity single, Lozier scored to make it a 1-0 game.

But the Spartans struck right back over the bottom of the inning.

Three unearned runs crossed the plate and Lancers never held the advantage again.

In the bottom of the first frame, Maloney loaded the bases via a double, base-on-balls, and an infield error, before a wild pitch allowed a runner to score to tie the contest at 1-1.

And with two gone, Maloney’s Ted Hinewski’s two-strike single up the middle scored two additional runs, as the home team nabbed a 3-1 push.

The score remained 3-1 into the top of the fourth when Eastern notched a run to get back into things.

The Lancers threatened to retake the game as D’Amato and Tyler Stickels singled while a base-on-balls loaded things up with no one out.

Eastern’s Jaydon Churchill nabbed an RBI via a sacrifice fly, trimming the deficit to 3-2, but the visitors did not score again over the inning.

Maloney scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to help the squad snare a 5-2 lead after four.

In the fifth, Lozier tripled with one gone and scored on a sacrifice fly by Martin that made it a 5-3 game.  

But two more Maloney tallies stretched out the deficit to 7-3 after five completed innings.

However, Eastern had an answer in the sixth.

Pinch hitter Ryan Fradette singled with one out, seizing second base on a miscue in the outfield. 

He later came around to score on an infield error – chopping the deficit to 7-4.

The Spartans held a 9-4 lead through six as a two-run inning spaced the deficit out to five.

But in the top of the seventh stanza, Eastern went back to work – putting a dent in the final deficit.  

Again, the Lancers loaded the bases with no one out and D’Amato dropped in a two-run single, chopping the score to 9-6.

But Eastern could not generate another run-scoring hit, losing the contest by three in the end.

CCC South Baseball

MALONEY 9, BRISTOL EASTERN 6

from Maloney high school

Bristol Eastern (0-1) 100 111 2 – 6 9 3

Maloney (1-0) 300 222 x – 9 10 3

WP – Jon Vumback (M); LP – Tyler Martin (BE).

Battery – BE: Tyler Martin, Connor McCormick (5), Brayden Moore (6) & Cameron Moore; Maloney: John Umbach, Max Giacco (7) & Kam Hartenstein

Bristol Eastern Batting

2B – None

3B – Andrew Lozier (2)

HR – None

SF – Jaydon Churchill, Tyler Martin

Maloney Batting

2B – Evan Avery, Max Giacco

3B – Kim Hartenstein

HR – None

Records: Maloney 1-0; Bristol Eastern 0-1