By Michael Letendre
TBE’s investigation the history of the Bristol Merchants of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League continues this week – focusing on the franchises’ second season in 2002.
The program picked up 23 wins that year which was a huge improvement from the previous campaign.
At one point, Bristol was in first place after 10 contests and carried a 16-4 record through twenty games.
The Merchants finished the season in fourth place by the end of the campaign.
On June 10, it was the Merchants’ first victory of the coach Bunty Ray era as Chris Strahowski threw a two-hitter and struck out 10 as Bristol spun KGA by a 4-1 final from Muzzy Field.
Adam Peters and Nate Gawitt had two RBI apiece for the Merchants.
And then in a doubleheader against Berlin on June 12, the Merchants wrapped up wins of 6-4 and 6-3 to move to 3-1 on the campaign.
Ray (two runs scored) nabbed two of eight Bristol’s hits while Mike Kulak tallied two runs over game one.
Jerry Hasler went seven innings (two hits, 0 ER, 11 K’s) in the first game and in the nightcap, Bristol collected 10 hits.
Cory Parker went 3-of-4 with three runs scored and an RBI while Mike Church and Mike Kulak had two hits apiece.
Brian Archibald worked five strong innings for the win (1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K’s).
Ten days later, Bristol was a dual victor over Farmington (11-4, 11-0) – moving to 6-1 on the year.
Kulak (two doubles, triple) added four hits in the first game and Nick Mullins collected three hits and six RBI.
Jarrett Stawarz won the game off five scoreless innings to start the contest.
Game two saw Adam Platt win off a four-hit outing from the mound.
Peters was 2-of-4 with four RBI, Church went 2-for-2 with two RBI and Parker and Ray generated three hits each.
Bristol continued its hot streak on June 25, belting East Hartford by a 13-1 final as the locals had won eight of its first nine contests.
The Merchants (8-1) were in first place to that point of the season.
Over that 12-run victory, Hasler (four hits) allowed just one run in six innings while the Merchants tallied 15 total hits.
Parker added four hits, scored twice, and had two RBI.
Peters smashed out a home run and tallied three hits overall with three RBI, Chad McCann and Kevin Kalmin each had two RBI and Church added two hits to pace the Merchants.
On July 2, Bristol moved to 11-4 with a doubleheader triumph over Vernon by scores of 4-2 and 7-5 from Muzzy Field.
Archibald threw six innings to win game one while Mullins earned the save.
Matt Hackney was 3-for-3 from the plate for Bristol.
In game two, Peters and Church drilled out back-to-back homers and Mullins pitched two innings of one hit ball to earn the win.
Ryan Smith’s go-ahead single broke a 5-5 tie.
Kalmin blasted a grand slam and Parker tallied four hits to lead Bristol to a 9-5 victory on the road over Farmington on July 7 while four days later, the Merchants were back in first place.
Bristol notched six runs in both the fifth and sixth innings as the Merchants scooped up a 13-5 win at Newman.
McCann and Mullins each had two hits and collected a grand total of five RBI.
The McCann/Mullins duo also threw a nine-hitter from the mound as Bristol was a half-game over the Newman Lincoln Mercury franchise.
And then on July 16, Archibald pitched five innings (two hits, four K’s) against KGA as Bristol was a 4-0 winner.
The team was 16-4 at that point of the year but Bristol went 5-7 the rest of the regular season.
On July 20, Mullins threw five innings (5 IP, two hits) while Ray and Platt mopped up as the Merchants were 6-0 winners at Berlin.
Peters went 3-of-3 with two runs scored, Mullins added two RBI while Kalmin, Church, and Hackney had one RBI apiece.
And then Hasler threw five solid innings while Peters added a two-run homer in Bristol’s 10-3 triumph at KGA in Portland on July 29.
Kalmin cleaned up with two hits, an RBI, and three runs scored.
Bristol lost its final two games to East Hartford, going 21-11 in regular season play, as the squad finished just three games out of first place.
Here are the final regular season standings for 2002:
Regular Season – Final Standings:
Team W L PCT. GB
Mr. G’s 24 8 .750 –
Newman 23 9 .719 1
People’s 23 9 .719 1
Bristol 21 11 .656 3
Vernon 18 14 .563 6
East Hartford 15 17 .469 9
KGA 13 19 .406 11
Berlin 4 27 .129 19.5
Farmington 2 29 .065 21.5
The Merchants were 2-2 in postseason play, defeating Vernon (5-1) on August 8 while beating Mr. G’s two days later.
Bristol was finally bounced from the double-elimination tournament as the locals lost to People’s United (7-3) in 12 innings on August 11 and then finished the year with a 13-7 loss to Vernon (August 13).
Season Notes
Right up to the end of the regular season, Bristol had a chance to win the league.
The Merchants went from seven wins in 2001 to 23 victories the following season – the biggest turnaround in the GHTBL that year.
Parker led the league in batting average at .478 and scored 38 runs.
Ray was also in the top-10 in terms of average (.415) and runs scored (30).
Peters smashed out five home runs, hitting .395 with 22 RBI overall.
Mike Kulak (.359), Ryan Smith (.367), Mullins (.375 with a team-leading 23 RBI), Mike Church (.348) and Matt Hackney (.324) were all efficient from the plate.
The squad was in first place for 1.5 months of the two-month season but seven games over six days to end the campaign did not help the locals keep the top spot.
Parker and Mullins (outfield) along with Hasler on the mound were GHTBL All-Stars First Team picks.
Second Team honors went to Ray for his play at second base and Archibald for his excellent pitching performances.
Players for the Merchants that season included Ray, Adam Peters, Brian Archibald, Chad McCann, Chris Strahowski, Nate Gawitt, Corey Parker, Ryan Smith, Mike Kulak, Ryan Madore, Nate Milbrandt, Matt Hackney, Nick Mullins, Eric Carlson, Eric Baim, Jerry Hasler, Adam Platt, Ed Dickman, Eric Bayne, Kevin Browning, Mike Church, Jarrett Stawarz, and Kevin Kosikowski.
