By Michael Letendre

BERLIN – After a fast start by the Bristol American Legion baseball team at Berlin on Tuesday, even a 41-minute rain delay couldn’t dampen the efforts from Post 2.

A four-run first frame did-in Berlin as Bristol won its fourth straight Zone 1 game by a 6-0 final from Sage Park.

Bristol improved to 7-3 overall, 5-3 in Zone 1 play while Berlin fell to 0-6.

Six of Bristol’s first seven batters reached base to open the game as the visitors nabbed a 4-0 lead before Berlin could even get to the dish.

“I told them that was awesome,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta of the first inning. “They [Berlin] haven’t won yet [but] I said don’t let [their record] fool you. They have a good coaching staff, they have some decent players. I said you don’t want to let them hang around, try to get their first win.”

“So, to put a four-spot up early kind of really set the tone.”

Bristol had to battle that mid-game rain delay but by the time of the unplanned intermission, Post 2 was already ahead and in complete command of the affair.

To open the contest, Austin Brown and Adam Caron slapped out back-to-back infield hits while Ryan Fradette walked to load the bases with one gone.

From there, Jack Kozikowski (2-for-3, three RBI) smoked a single down the third base line, scoring both Brown and Caron, as Bristol zipped up a 2-0 edge

Zack Rinkavage added an RBI base hit of his own – making it a 3-0 push – and when Owen Davis drew a full count walk, the bases were juiced for Evan Bouchard.

And Bouchard sent a long fly ball to right for an out but on the play, Kozikowski scooted home from third base as Post 2 wrangled up a 4-0 edge as Berlin finally got to bat.

But just getting hits became problematic for Berlin as Bristol pitcher Roberto Cruz went the distance, throwing a five-hitter over a 101-pitch effort, as the home team stranded half-a-dozen base runners and never had a good chance to stick a run on the board.

And even the rain delay couldn’t break Cruz’s stride on the mound.

“I thought Roberto did great,” said LaPenta. “Sometimes when you pitch and you have a half hour, forty-five-minute delay, it’s tough. Some guys don’t respond but he really pitched well.”

The opening batter for Berlin walked in the bottom of the first but a double play helped to end the rally.

Berlin pitcher Garrett Fallon (97 pitches) then retired eight straight batters while on the flip side, Kyle Hyde opened the second stanza with a double but was stranded in scoring position and in the third, Cruz made a slick pick-off play at second base to get Fallon who was too far off the bag as Bristol still led, 4-0.

Davis singled to open the fourth but didn’t advance past second base as Fallon sat down 11-of-12 batters and Cruz went 1-2-3 in the fourth to keep the score where it was.

In the fifth, Caron reached base on a throwing error, advanced to third on a ground-out by Andrew Lozier and Kozikowski singled him home as Bristol’s lead reached 5-0 through five.

“We kind of settled in, picked up a few runs here and there,” said LaPenta. “Offensively, I thought we did a good job.”

Cruz scooped up his fourth and final strikeout to open the fifth, again putting the side down in order, as Rinkavage made an amazing catch from behind third base to end the frame.

Cruz had retired seven straight before Berlin’s Ben Gomes singled to open the bottom of the sixth before three great catches in the outfield snuffed out the drive.

With one gone, Fradette made a nice grab in centerfield and then Dylan Woodsome ran down the ball in left for an amazing inning-ending put-out to keep the game a 5-0 contest as Bristol was in complete control.

“I thought Woody made a great catch,” said LaPenta. “Right before, I said no doubles. And the third batter up, Woodsome moved back ten feet [and made the catch].”

With one away in the seventh, Bristol’s Tyler Stickels scooped in a base hit and then Lozier unloaded a triple to deep right field, scoring the lead runner, and making it a 6-0 game that Berlin was going to be hard-pressed to top.

Cruz faced a challenge to open the seventh as Hyde walked and Pat Lukens singled to put two on with no one out.

And after a quick trip to the mound, LaPenta knew that Cruz was going to finish out the contest for Bristol.

“I thought about taking him out,” said LaPenta. “He was at 77-80 pitches. I said it goes against everything in my baseball instincts because if I take him out, he can pitch on Saturday [against Berlin again]. If I take him out and something crazy happens, and we end up losing the game, I’ll feel worse than if I left him in.”

“So, I just said screw it, I’m not going to do it.”

Two outs later, Josh Boris singled to load the bases but when Fallon flew out to center to end the game, Bristol went to the pay window for the fourth consecutive game, snaring a 6-0 win, as Zone 1 leader Avon traveled to Bristol on Wednesday in a critical showdown from Muzzy Field.

“We have a huge game tomorrow and a huge game Thursday,” said LaPenta. “We owe Avon. They’re in the top two [of the Zone 1 standings]. We’ll be ready, we’re at home, I just hope we don’t have another forty-minute delay because the next two days [are calling for] thunderstorms, particularly in the afternoon. So, we’ll see.”

Bristol American Legion, Senior Baseball – Zone 1 game

BRISTOL 6, BERLIN 0

from Sage Park, Berlin

Bristol (7-3)   400 010 1 – 6 8 0  

Berlin (0-6)     000 000 0 – 0 5 1

WP: Roberto Cruz(Bristol, 3-0 overall); LP: Garrett Fallon (Berlin) 

Bristol Batting 

2B – None

3B – Andrew Lozier

HR – None

Berlin Batting 

2B – Kyle Hyde

3B – None

HR – None

Records: Bristol 7-3 overall, 5-3 Zone 1; Berlin 0-6 overall