By Michael Letendre
MIDDLETOWN – Bristol Central’s baseball showdown at Middletown on Wednesday could have been a trap game after the huge victory over Newington the previous day.
But the Rams took care of business early, racking up four second inning runs, adding a little insurance along the way, to stave off the Blue Dragons by an 8-4 final from Palmer Field in a CCC South engagement.
The Rams (9-5) were missing starters Mike Lorenzetti and JT Clark, but the squad shuffled a few players around and got the jump on Middletown, never looking back.
“It wasn’t a clean game by any means, but it was effective,” said Central coach Bunty Ray. “We are able to get the win on the road after playing an emotional game yesterday against a good Newington team, and down a couple starters [against Middletown], I was expecting to be flat. I thought we could have done some more things offensively.”
“But you jump on the bus two days in a row, they’re kids, and luckily, we did just enough to win.”
After a quiet opening frame by the Rams, Middletown attacked Central pitcher Sean Wininger (5 IP, seven Ks, two ER) with two gone in the bottom of the first but could not hang a number on the scoreboard.
Ryan Michaud (2-for-4, RBI) and Adam Passamano generated back-to-back hits while Cam Brooks drew a full-count walk to load things up.
But Wininger fanned Kai Cottle to end the inning as the Blue Dragons stranded three runners.
And then in the second stanza, the Rams went for four runs off Middletown chucker Caleb Reed.
Wininger (2-for-4, two RBI) and Frank Spirito posted consecutive singles and when Matt Beaucar walked on four straight pitches, the bases were juiced for Roberto Negron-Cruz (2-for-3, two RBI).
Cruz dropped in a single to center for an RBI tally and when the ball was fumbled, Spirito came home from third to make it a 2-0 contest.
Ryan Ring then grounded out to third but Beaucar scored as Central’s lead reached 3-0.
To end the scoring frenzy, Dylan Hudson (2-for-4, three RBI) blasted a one-hopper to left – plating Cruz – as Central completed the inning with the visitors ahead by four.
In the bottom of the second, Reed (2-for-4) reached on an error, but a runner never made it to second base safely as the Rams took their 4-0 cushion into the third tilt.
After walking Adam Caron (1-for-3) to open the top of the third, Reed bounced back by fanning the side, but the home team still trailed by four.
Middletown’s Dan Laphan reached base via error in the bottom of the third as his shot to centerfield was dropped off a hustling play and with one gone, Wininger plunked Passamano with a pitch as the Blue Dragons had two on.
But Wininger worked hard to get out of the jam, fanning the final two batters he faced in keeping it a 4-0 contest.
“He hit 110 pitches after five innings and usually, he’s more efficient,” said Ray of Wininger. “There were a couple defensive plays [that kept him out there]. For the most part, he didn’t have command of anything today but that’s a good performance from him. When you don’t have command and you’re still able to get your team in a position to win a game, hats off to him.”
However, Middletown finally hung a crooked number on the board in the fourth after Reed had retired six straight batters.
Reed singled and Mason Newman and Ryan Quinn each drew walks to load the bases up with one out.
Dan Laphan grounded into a fielder’s choice, but all the runners ended up safe as Reed scored to make it a 4-1 game.
Michaud then grounded out to first base for the second out with Newman scoring from third as the home team cut the deficit in half, 4-2, through four completed frames.
In the fifth, Central’s Ryan Ring reached base via error and with one out, Caron slipped a single up the middle to put men on first and second.
Both runners moved up on a groundout by Banks and Wininger did the damage from there.
He drained a single to left, clearing the bases, as the two out, two-RBI tally gave the Rams its four-run edge back – this time at 6-2.
And error allowed a Middletown runner to reach in the fifth and Reed helped his cause with a single to right to place men on first and third.
Newman singled Cottle home to make it a 6-3 contest but with runners on first and second – and the tying run at the dish – Wininger fanned Quinn for his seventh K and through five, Central held a three-run lead.
At that point, the Blue Dragons had stranded 10 runners as Central’s defense made big outs with men in scoring position.
“We made some good defensive plays,” said Ray. “We didn’t get a lot of swing and miss today so we had to make plays. We have a lot of guys out of position. With JT [Clark] out, we had a couple different shortstops out there and a young centerfielder out there.”
Newman came into pitch to open the sixth and Cruz greeted the reliever with a one-out single to center.
And then the ball was thrown away at first on an offering to third by Zach Vanasse and quickly, Central had runners on second and third with one out.
Ring was fanned by Newman, but Hudson ended the suspense with a single to right that plated Cruz and Vanasse as Central snared an 8-3 lead.
Cruz came on to replace Wininger on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, got into a jam, before a 1-6-3 double play erased two runners that had Central on the verge of getting out of the inning.
However, Brooks singled in Laphan who reached on a passed ball strikeout, and through six, Central was in front, leading 8-4.
The Rams were retired in order to end its portion of the seven and even off an inning opening miscue by Central, Middletown did not notch a run as Cruz helped to retire the side from there to close out the game.
“It was good to see us win a couple games this week, trying to weather the storm,” said Ray.
CCC South Baseball
BRISTOL CENTRAL 8, MIDDLETOWN 4
from Sal Romano Field (Palmer Field), Middletown
Bristol Central (9-5) 040 022 0 – 8 8 4
Middletown (2-9) 000 211 0 – 4 7 4
WP: Sean Wininger (BC); LP: Celeb Reed (M)
Bristol Central Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Middletown Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Records: Bristol Central 9-5 overall; Middletown 2-9
