By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – When the Bristol American Legion senior baseball team left several runners stranded on base over its first three innings of its non-zone showdown against South Windsor on Friday night, Post 2 knew what it had to do over the next couple innings. 

And with ducks on the pond during the middle frames of the contest, Post 2’s offense came to life. 

Bristol notched three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to help secure a 7-1 victory from Muzzy Field in Bristol – the first win of the year for the program. 

“It was a slow start, but we came back with the bats,” said Bristol’s Andrew Lozier. “The defense was on all day. We made only one error so that definitely helped us win.” 

Ryan Fradette, Trevor Nohilly and Lozier all doubled for Bristol as the squad moved to 1-1 on the campaign. 

Matt Beaucar pitched five strong innings to record the victory while Roberto Cruz and Lozier mopped up with one frame of work apiece. 

South Windsor’s Robbie Godi drew the loss, allowing five hits and three earned runs over three innings on the hill. 

The visitors attempted to score a run in the top of the first but failed to do so. 

Will Bonazelli started the game reaching base via error and two ground-ball outs later, the runner was stationed at third base. 

But Beaucar fanned Jack Whitlock to end the half-inning as Bristol came to the plate with no score on the board. 

Austin Brown and Adam Caron both walked to open the first and a double steal put the duo in scoring position. 

But Godi wiggled out of trouble with three straight putouts to keep it a scoreless affair. 

South Windsor etched up two straight singles to open the second stanza but on the latter hit, Bristol right fielder Trevor Nohilly made an on-the-money throw to third for a slick 9-5 putout as Post 2 quickly got out of the inning. 

In the bottom of the second, Bristol leadoff hitter Jack Kozikowski reached base when his grounder was bobbled at third base and advanced to second on a groundout from Fradette. 

Kozikowski then stole third with two away but was stranded in the end. 

With runners at first and third and one out in the third tilt, South Windsor’s Greg Bidwell dropped a one-hopper to short centerfield as the RBI tally gave the visitors a 1-0 edge through two-and-a-half frames. 

Nohilly stared the bottom of the third with a chopper that easily went over the third basemen’s head, Brown’s bunt turned into a base hit and when Caron sent a hit into short center, the bases were juiced. 

With one gone, Zack Rinkavage brought Nohilly home on a sacrifice fly to left – tying the contest up at 1-1 but Bristol left runners on base once again to end the frame. 

“I was a little disappointed. I thought we were a little passive” early at the plate said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “It was an exhibition game, and they were kind of like [not being as assertive as they should]. With runners on second and third with no outs in the first inning and we had our three, four and five [batters] up and we don’t sniff a run, I kind of let that go. And then we have bases loaded with no outs and we scored only one run in the third. We kind of had a little meeting. We needed a little more passion. I don’t mind having a good time, but we needed some passion.” 

“And then we got a couple hits, South Windsor made a couple errors, Trevor got a big hit there and then we kind of relaxed a little bit.” 

In the fourth frame, the locals went ahead for good with three big runs. 

Kozikowski opened the fourth with a full-count walk and quickly stole second. 

Fradette then unleashed a short shot to center, hustling into second base, as men were on second and third with no one out. 

And Tyler Stickels sprinted out an infield hit to third – plating Kozikowski – as Bristol had the go-ahead run on the board at 2-1. 

With two men on, Tyler Martin sacrificed the duo into scoring position as Nohilly was about to smash the hit of the game. 

Nohilly cleared the bases with a flare to right and when he made it into second base safely, it was a 4-1 contest in favor of Post 2. 

Beaucar then went 1-2-3 in a quick fifth frame and Lozier opened the bottom of the stanza with a double to right, moved to third on a passed ball and when Rinkavage reached on an error, Bristol was looking to pad its lead. 

Bouchard snuck a single in-between shortstop and third to score Lozier and pinch-hitter Spencer Lindroth dropped in a single to score Rinkavage as Post 2 ramped up a 6-1 push. 

A wild pitch then scored Bouchard to make it 7-1 as Bristol started to empty its bench as the top of the sixth commenced. 

The Bristol defense held firm in the sixth, ending the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Bristol had two on as Roberto Cruz got to first on an error and Rinkavage walked on four balls. 

But nothing came of it as South Windsor needed a big rally, trailing by six runs, to force extra-innings. 

Lozier ended up retiring the side in order to close the event out as Bristol won its first contest of the season, 7-1, over South Windsor. 

“It’s a good win,” said LaPenta. “I got a lot of guys in which was good in an exhibition game because part of this deal is making sure everyone stays happy. We have 18 guys and only nine or ten can play. That’s part of it too because most of the kids on the team are starters. Some kids are more acceptable to that and want to be a part of the team than others are. That’s part of the deal too.” 

“Hopefully, we can get another win tomorrow [versus Wallingford] and then we’ve got a big zone game on Tuesday [at Avon].” 

Bristol American Legion Senior Baseball – Non-zone 

BRISTOL 7, SOUTH WINDSOR 1 

from Muzzy Field, Bristol 

South Windsor (0-3)             001 000 0 – 1 6 3  

Bristol (1-1)                            001 330 0 – 7 9 1  

WP: Matt Beaucar (B); LP: Rob Godi (SW)  

South Windsor Batting  

2B – Jack Whitlock 

3B – None 

HR – None 

Bristol Batting  

2B – Ryan Fradette, Trevor Nohilly, Andrew Lozier 

3B – None 

HR – None 

Records: Bristol 1-1 overall; South Windsor 0-3