By Michael Letendre
Over the last several Sundays, you’ve read about the exploits of the Bristol Merchants of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League.
You’ve seen the rise and fall of the programs from 2001-2003 but after three seasons in the GTHBL, the Merchants were on the cusp of something very big.
And this week, TBE is breaking down the 2004 campaign.
The Merchants finally broke through that year and after a 10-loss regular season, Bristol plowed through the playoffs (4-0) to take its first postseason title.
Bristol struggled early, falling to 5-6 on June 20 at the Vernon Orioles, before going 16-4 (.800) the rest of the way to win the GHTBL postseason title.
The Merchants rode the arms of Scott Martin and Jerry Hasler and off Bristol’s 11-7 start, the combination was 8-3 over those games.
Cory Parker also returned to the Bristol Merchants’ line-up and his bat helped the offense immensely.
That season, the squads of the GHTBL played a 27-game regular season slate with the playoffs commencing on August 4.
The 2004 campaign marked the 75th anniversary of the GHTBL.
That’s also the season Bristol began its run of success, winning a total of nine regular and postseason championships over a six-year stint (2004-2010).
Players on the Merchants that year included player/manager Bunty Ray, Scott Martin, Jerry Hasler, Cory Parker, Adam Peters, Rick Hewey, Lance Lamboley, Kevin Browning, Jarrett Stawarz, Chris Strahowski, Eric Baim, Kevin Kalmin, Joe Parlante, Chris Sawyer, and Nick Mullins.
And Bristol needed a big second half from the squad because on June 20, the Merchants were sub-.500 at 5-6 and the team, going on a nine-game winning streak, turned things around.
The postseason title win was the first of four for the Merchants (2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009).
It was the only GHTBL title by the Merchants that did not include the best regular season record.
At 17-10, Bristol finished in third place in the league, behind both Vernon (19-8) and ProCare (18-9), during the regular season.
Bristol had some big wins along the way of this memorable campaign.
On June 10, Hasler threw a four-hitter while Kalmin reached base via an error and eventually scored in the fifth inning to help Bristol steal the game over Foss Insurance, 1-0, to move to 3-4 overall.
Bristol then salvaged the second game of a People’s/Farmington doubleheader on June 15 from Muzzy Field, as Martin and Browning combined to throw a three-hitter over a shutout effort.
The Merchants ended up defeating Farmington by a 5-0 final as Bristol got back to .500 on the season (5-5).
After falling to 5-6, Bristol ramped up its play, starting with a 12-5 win over Avon Legion baseball program on June 22.
Peters and Sawyer each pumped out three-run homers to pace the Merchants.
And then on July 6, after two wins against KGA, Bristol was quickly in a four-way race for second place in the league.
In the doubleheader triumph in Bristol, the Merchants scooped up victories of 4-1 and 6-2 – moving to 11-7 overall.
Martin threw a complete game gem over the first contest while Parker hit a three-run homer in the second showdown to help sweep KGA.
If the Merchants coined a signature victory that season, a huge 3-2 win against People’s Bank on July 22 was probably the one.
But it took nine innings to do it as People’s and the Merchants were quickly becoming fierce rivals.
In the fateful ninth frame, Strahowski led off with a double, Ray followed with an infield single, and Peters delivered the game-winning single to left to net the winning RBI and the victory for Bristol over People’s United.
In a rematch against People’s six days later, Mullins drove in the winning run while Martin pitched six scoreless innings as Bristol nabbed a huge 1-0 win.
And to end the campaign on July 28, Stawarz tossed a no-hitter that included 10 strikeouts and only two walks as Bristol blanked the Aeros, 6-0, from East Hartford.
Parlante, Kalmin, and Peters all tallied two hits for the Merchants in the regular season finale.
Bristol ended up in third place in the GHTBL regular season standings, but a top-six finish meant the Merchants avoided the preliminary play-in round.
Here was how the regular season finished out for the league in 2004:
Regular Season Records
Team W L Pct. GB
Vernon 19 8 .704 —
ProCare 18 9 .667 1
Bristol 17 10 .630 2
Mr. G’s 16 11 .593 3
E.H. Jets 14 13 .519 5
KGA 13 14 .481 6
People’s 13 14 .481 6
Foss Insurance 11 16 .407 8
Aeros 7 20 .259 12
Avon Legion 7 20 .259 12
The Bristol Merchants went a blistering 4-0 in the 2004 playoffs to take the postseason title.
The tournament, as always, was 10-team, double elimination format from McKenna Field in East Hartford.
Bristol started postseason play with a 5-0 shutout over KGA on August 4.
Each victory ensured the Merchants remained in the winner’s bracket and KGA, falling to 13-15 overall, dropped into the loser’s bracket which was always extremely hard – but not impossible –to battle out of.
And then on August 8, Bristol picked up a big 8-6 over Mr. G’s.
The contest featured four lead changes and the winner was in doubt but in the end, Bristol snared a two-run victory.
Hasler earned the win while Browning and Strahowski threw scoreless innings for the Merchants to preserve the victory.
Two days later, on August 10, Bristol defeated Peoples, 2-1, to advance to the championship round.
Stawarz (7 K’s) threw a four-hitter to lead the Merchants to the title game.
Ray had an RBI single in the first inning and the go-ahead run came off a throwing error in the fifth frame that broke a 1-1 stalemate.
Sawyer had two hits to pace the Merchants’ offense.
The victory propelled the Bristol to the finals for the first time in its four-year history.
And finally on August 12, a new champ was crowned, and it was the Bristol Merchants as
the regular season champs were no match for the locals in the GHTBL championship game.
Vernon was upended by upstart Bristol – winning the title behind a 4-1 final.
The championship was Bristol’s first GHTBL championship since the Bristol Cassin’s won the postseason event back in 1978.
A well-rested pitching staff saw Martin (3 K’s, one walk) throw a three-hit gem to take the championship decision.
And over the final five innings, Vernon had just one hit off Martin – a former Plainville high school standout.
Bristol was no-hit going into the fourth frame and trailed 1-0 before Bristol made its collective move to take the event.
To start the rally, Peters walked and scored on an RBI double from Sawyer to tie things up at 1-1.
Sawyer then got to third base via an error when shortstop Dan Trubia’s throw – to get Peters – scooted by the catcher.
From there, Ray added an RBI infield single that plated Sawyer from third base as Bristol nabbed a 2-1 edge that Vernon would never tie up.
Parlante singled with two out and Hewey added an RBI base hit to center to make it a 3-1 game.
And Bristol added an insurance run in the fifth when Lamboley reached on an error and moved to third base on Parker’s bunt single.
Lamboley eventually scored on a Peters’ sacrifice fly to make it a 4-1 contest to end the scoring as the Merchants were the 2004 GHTBL postseason champs.
