By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – After a rough 0-7 start to the campaign, the Bristol Eastern baseball squad has been playing .500 ball as of late and have been on the rebound.

But the story goes even deeper than that.

The Lancers made its playoff push, winning three straight games – capped by Wednesday’s 6-3 come from behind victory against East Hartford in a CCC Interdivisional tilt from Muzzy Field.

The Lancers improved to 6-13 overall with just their game against Bristol Central left on the docket.

East Hartford fell to 8-11 but are already playoff bound.

With the victory, the Lancers have moved into the field of thirty-two squads in the Class L postseason bracket.

Trailing 3-2, Eastern scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to snatch the win away from the Hornets over another huge effort.

Jaydon Churchill pitched the first six-plus innings for Eastern, allowing only four hits, three runs, and three walks while striking out three to earn the badly needed victory. 

Churchill was strong during the middle innings of play, retiring the side in order in the fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas. 

When the first two East Hartford batters reached base in the top of the seventh, Brayden Moore relieved Churchill on the mound, generating the final three outs for the save.

Eastern had only three hits for the game as Trevor Nohilly and Churchill each singled in the third inning and Stickels nabbed a base hit in the sixth.

Each squad scored a run in the first frame, making it 1-1 after one completed inning.

In the top of the first, Churchill walked leadoff batter Xavier Quiles.

He then stole second, and after two outs, a base-on-balls and an infield single loaded things up for the Hornets.

Jacob Carrion singled to center for an RBI tally as the visitors were on the board.

Then on the flip side, Churchill was hit by a pitch, stole second after a botched pickoff attempt, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Andrew Lozier’s sacrifice fly to tie the event up at 1-1.

In the top of the third, a hit batter led off the inning and Jacob Carrion’s two run homer to right field gave East Hartford a 3-1 lead.

However, the Eastern defense – playing error free ball – held the Hornets scoreless the rest of the afternoon.

The Lancers threatened in the bottom of third but could not score a run despite two hits. 

With one out, singles by Nohilly and Churchill, followed by a walk to Tyler Martin, loaded the bases.

But East Hartford pitcher Darrion Williams, who went the distance, struck out the next two batters to end the inning as the Hornets maintained its 3-1 push.

In the fourth, Stickels walked with one out as the home squad rallied for a run.

Once again, another Eastern runner appeared to be picked off first base but was not in the end. Williams’ throw to first was wild and Stickels hustled all the way to third on the play, later scoring on a sacrifice fly by Cole Latko to trim the deficit to 3-2.

In the Eastern sixth, the squad notched four runs on just one hit to take control of the showdown for good.

With one gone, Ryan Fradette’s infield grounder was thrown away as he hustled into second base. 

Following a walk to Ben D’Amato, a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position. 

With the infield in, Stickels lined a single to left to clear the bases as the two-RBI tally saw Eastern reclaim the lead at 4-3.

Stickels took second base on the throw home and a wild pitch sent him to third.

Latko walked to put men on the corners and Eastern went to its vaunted ‘Bristol pickle’ play.

Latko broke for second base, and as he made it back to first safely, Stickels scored from third to push the East Hartford deficit to 5-3.

Later on in the frame, Latko stole second and scored when Nohilly’s grounder was booted to make it a 6-3 game as the top of the seventh approached.

In the seventh, Moore came into pitch with two men on.

He allowed a two-out walk to load the bases, but one final groundout ended the contest as Eastern had its third victory in a row in hand – seizing a 6-3 win ahead of the city series showdown.

CCC Interdivisional Baseball

BRISTOL EASTERN 6, BRISTOL EAST HARTFORD 3

from Muzzy Field, Bristol

East Hartford (8-11)                         102 000 0 – 3 4 3

Bristol Eastern (6-13)                       100 104 x – 6 3 0

Battery – East Hartford: Darrion Williams & Jacob Tipton

Bristol Eastern: Jaydon Churchill, Brayden Moore (7) & Cameron Moore

WP: Jaydon Churchill (BE); LP: Darrion Williams

East Hartford Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – Jacob Carrion

Bristol Eastern Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None

Records: Bristol Eastern 6-13; East Hartford 8-11 overall