By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Berlin baseball team got the jump over Bristol Eastern on Monday, scooping up a 9-1 edge through three-and-a-half innings before snaring a 12-8 victory from Clem J. Roy Field in Bristol.

It was Berlin’s first win of the year (1-1) while Eastern fell to 0-2 on the campaign.

Berlin dropped in 14 hits for the game, three by Kasey Ouellette which included a triple and three RBI and two hits apiece from Jamie Palmese, Justin Piskorski, Pat Lukens, and Matt Kozak.

Kozak earned the win for the Redcoats, though the Lancers started to heat up late in the game before running out of innings.

Eastern’s Andrew Lozier has a perfect day at the plate, tallying two home runs, two walks, three runs scored, and four RBI over another outstanding performance.

Brayden Moore picked up the loss for the Lancers on the hill while Logan Schenck threw in relief.

Over the first inning of action, Berlin went ahead 1-0 on an RBI single by Ouellette but the home team had an immediate response to tie things up.  

Lozier canned his first home run to right center, smashing the ball over the fence at the famed ‘Clem Dome’ to make it a 1-1 affair.

But very quickly, the Redcoats took control of the contest for good.

In the second inning, Berlin’s Ben Schutz walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI double by Jamie Palmese and on an RBI single from Justin Piskorski, the visitors led it, 3-1.

Then in the third frame, RBI hits by Pat Lukens and Kozak posted Berlin to a 5-1 advantage.

And in the fourth, the Redcoats turned the showdown into a bit of a blowout. 

Tyler Rice singled to start the rally, then stole second and third base before scoring on an Ouellette single over second base, making it a 5-1 game. 

Following a walk, Moore was relieved by Schenck who was stuck in a tough spot. 

Lukens then blasted out a two-run single, a bouncer between third base and shortstop, and later in the frame, a couple of fielder’s choices and an error allowed the fourth run to score and suddenly, Berlin’s cushion grew to eight at 9-1.

However, the Lancers’ offense started to churn a little bit to make it a game.

In the bottom of the fourth, after Kozak had retired eight straight batters, Lozier walked with one gone.

Singles by Ben D’Amato and Tyler Stickels loaded bases for Cameron Moore.

Moore nabbed a base hit to center, plating Lozier, and when Stickels rounded second base a bit too far, Berlin made a play to get him going back to the bag.

Stickels ended up returning safely, D’Amato scored on the play, and through four innings, Eastern was trailing 9-3.

And in the bottom of the fifth, the Lancers trimmed the deficit to 9-5.

Jaydon Churchill reached base on an error to start things off and with two outs, Lozier flipped out his second home run of the game – again hitting a ball over the right/centerfield fence – to make it a four-run game.

But the Redcoats added three insurance runs in the sixth to make it a seven-run contest.

Two infield hits, followed by a two-run double to right by Justin Piskorski, stretched out the deficit and a sacrifice fly by Rice put Berlin in front, 12-5.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Eastern scored three runs on just two hits to trim the Berlin tally to 12-8. 

With one out, Stickels struck out on a pitch in the dirt but made it to first base safely.

Then with two gone, an infield error put runners on first and third for Eastern. 

Churchill later smoked a single to right for an RBI while a second run scored on a poor relay throw. 

To end the scoring, a base-on-balls, and an infield single by Ryan Fradette loaded up the bases before a Lozier walk forced in the third run of the inning, making it 12-8.

Eastern saw the tying run come to the plate but that big hit never materialized and, in the end, the Lancers fell by four runs. 

NOTES… Lozier has been playing extremely well over his first two games of the season. He has smoked out two triples and two home runs to date.

CCC South Baseball

BERLIN 12, BRISTOL EASTERN 8

from Clem J. Roy Field, Bristol Eastern

Berlin (1-1)                            122 403 0 – 12 14 3

Bristol Eastern (0-2)             100 223 0 – 8 7 3

WP – Matt Kozak (Berlin); LP – Brayden Moore (BE).

Battery – Berlin:  Matt Kozak, Garrett Fallon (6) & Pat Lukens; Bristol Eastern:  Brayden Moore, Logan Schenck (4) & Cameron Moore.

Berlin Batting

2B – Jamie Palmese,  Connor Gileau, Justin Piskorski

3B – Kasey Ouellette

HR – None

Bristol Eastern Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – Andrew Lozier (2)

Records: Berlin 1-1; Bristol Eastern 0-2