By Michael Letendre
AVON – Even after the Bristol American Legion baseball team lost to Avon on Monday evening, Post 2 is still in the driver’s seat in Zone 1.
At 13-5, Bristol is in first place and could put the zone out of reach if Bristol can win-out the week.
“We control our own fate,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta after the 4-0 loss at Avon. “Everyone is tied with five losses. [But] we have more wins.”
Currently, with Meriden (11-5) in the Regional Qualifier, Bristol is one game ahead of the squad.
Hanging in third place is West Hartford (10-5) while Avon (10-6) is a half-game behind.
If the teams can make up games before the completion of the regular season on August 1, those are the squads still in the Zone 1 mix.
Against Avon, Bristol was only charged with one error but it was the mental mistakes that cost the squad in the end.
However, all those miscues are fixable.
Even after a tough fifth inning in the previous contest at Newington, Post 2 has shown the ability to bounce back from tough situations.
“We just have to clean up the mistakes,” said LaPenta. “We turned a little inning into a big one [against Newington].”
In Bristol’s 4-3 triumph over Newington this past Sunday, Post 2 led 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth before gaffes and goofs foiled the frame for the visiting squad.
For Newington, with the bases loaded off a pop-up – an infield fly – a runner broke from third to home.
The ball was thrown away, Newington ended up scoring two runs as the home team went ahead in the contest, 3-2.
Bristol scored two in the sixth over a huge comeback – seizing the 4-3 victory on the road – and making all the big plays late.
However, in the state tournament against superior competition, miscues like in the Newington and Avon contests could end the season for the locals prematurely.
“In the playoffs, you can’t make those mistakes because we’ll play better teams and they’ll be tighter games,” said LaPenta. “Guys just have to think about what to do before the pitch is thrown.”
West Hartford on deck
Bristol returns home for a big confrontation later this week – a contest that could propel Post 2 closer to the Zone 1 crown.
“We have a huge game against West Hartford on Wednesday,” said LaPenta.
The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Muzzy Field.
Bristol will go after West Hartford with zest, turning to Roberto Cruz on the mound.
It’s another make-up game as Bristol will be the visitor on the scoreboard.
“We’ll get a day off and hopefully we can bounce back and Roberto is going to pitch against West Hartford,” said LaPenta. “It’s at Muzzy Field and we’ll be home, kind of, even though it’s an ‘away game.’ It will be nice to play in our own park.”
Naugatuck loss kept Bristol out of Regional Qualifier
What exactly was the tie-breaking criteria that kept Bristol out of the Regional Qualifier this year?
It came down to results against Naugatuck between Meriden, West Hartford, and current Zone 1 leader Bristol.
Meriden defeated Naugatuck (4-1) back on June 20 and won on July 14 (2-1) to go 2-0 against the squad.
West Hartford won over Naugy on June 16 (7-2) and June 30 (8-2) – also going 2-0 against the squad.
But Post 2 was 1-1 against Naugatuck this year, dropping a tough 4-2 decision to the program back on June 19.
That loss gave West Hartford an invite to the Regional Qualifier while Post 2 continued on its regular season trek.
NOTES…Fifth ranked Meriden advanced in the Regional Qualifier on Monday night, fending off No. 4 Fairfield by a 1-0 final. Meriden is back in action Tuesday, from Legion Field, against No. 8 Greenwich. Regardless of outcome, Meriden will also play Wednesday – putting the third and final contest between Bristol and Meriden this year in doubt…On night one of the double elimination bracket in the Regional Qualifier, two teams won by a 1-0 score while the others two games were 3-1 finals. That’s some excellent parity.
