By Michael Letendre

Bristol American Legion baseball coach Jerry LaPenta knew that his squad was going to play in a 2-1 game sometime during the postseason this year.

And while LaPenta should immediately buy as many lottery tickets as he possibly can because that score came to pass on Wednesday night as No. 3 Bristol defeated No. 11 Tri-Town by a 2-1 final from Muzzy Field on Wednesday night.

The victory set-up a showdown against No. 7 Avon, a 9-3 upset winner over No. 2 RCP, as the Northern portion of the tournament moves to Rotary Field in South Windsor.

Game time on Thursday is 4 p.m. — the first of two contests that day.

Bristol moved to 19-6 overall while Tri-Town finished at 15-15-2.

Two huge double plays erased multiple Tri-Town runners that night while Bristol got the job down despite just three hits, a far cry from the 14 Post 2 generated the previous day.

“It was kind of the opposite of last night,” said LaPenta. “I’ve been around the game a long time and I know when you knockout 14 hits…sometimes when that happens, the next day, they don’t come as easy.”

Bristol pitcher Roberto Cruz (6.2 IP, 7 hits, 7 K, 0 ER) was outstanding while Matt Beaucar saved the game for Post 2.

Tri-Town opened play as Hamilton Barnes singled to left and Brayden Akana walked to put two on.

And then there was tomfoolery on the bath paths for Tri-Town.

Mason Barber smoked a single to left and Barnes attempted to score from third — testing Trevor Nohilly’s arm.

Nohilly gunned down the runner as catcher Owen Davis tagged Barnes out at the plate.

On the play, Tri-Town was then in the midst of a reverse “Bristol Pickle” and paid the price in the end.

Barber was stuck in-between first and second base, with Akana watching from third, and was eventually tagged out by Andrew Lozier for a slick double-play.

“That double play was huge,” said LaPenta. “Basically, that’s the game. I was shocked that [Tri-Town’s coach] sent [Barnes] with [what would have been] the bases loaded and [the fourth batter] up. [Their coach] sends [Barnes], Trevor made a great throw and [Barber], I don’t know where he was going. Lozier made a great play, looked at the guy at third, ran back [Barber], got the double play and that took a lot of life out of them.”

“That’s a killer when you don’t score after that.”

And when John Merrill struck out, Tri-Town had two singles and a walk and came away empty on the scoreboard in the top of the first frame.

Bristol then got its first two batters on as Austin Brown walked and Adam Caron beat out a fielder’s choice to third.

Lozier then looped a single to short left, scoring Brown, to make it a 1-0 contest.

“I think after we got out of that jam, we had all the momentum,” said LaPenta. “Austin does a great job, works a walk. He beats the [Caron] ground ball. That’s huge speed and then Lozier gets a little off the end of the bat [and] we get a run there.”

Cruz then went 1-2-3 in the second, fanning Riley O’Brien to finish off the stanza.

“I thought Roberto really settled down after [the first inning] and pitched great,” said LaPenta. “He’s pitched great all year for us.” 

Bristol’s Zack Rinkavage posted a two-out walk in the bottom of the second — advancing on a wild pitch to get into scoring position.

But Nohilly drew strike three as the 1-0 game went into the third tilt.

“Their pitcher threw great,” said LaPenta of Barber. “He had a good arm, he settled in, and in the fifth and sixth inning, I was taking a few more pitches just tying to get his pitch count up to get him out. Then they brought in another guy [Merrill] who threw just as hard. They are a nice club.”

Tri-Town’s Alex Grauer slipped a hit by Evan Bouchard at shortstop for a one-out base hit in the third.

Hamilton followed suit with a single to left and the visitors had two on.

With two gone, a wild pitch advanced the duo but Barber fell via strikes as Bristol’s 1-0 push was holding.

Brown greeted Barber with a single to open the third that was just out of reach of the shortstop and a wild pitch advanced to runner to second.

Caron grounded out at third base, but off the throw, Brown took third, sliding in safely.

And on a grounder to third by Lozier, Brown was caught in a rundown going to home plate as the third baseman was in chase.

But off the throw to the catcher, the ball was dropped on the tag as Brown was safe at the dish — making it a 2-0 game.

“The kid playing third…he made a mistake,” said LaPenta of Tri-Town. “You just throw the ball to home and get the rundown going the other way. If something gets screw up, he’s safe [at third and not at home]. That’s the difference in the game.”

Merrill started the fourth with a grounder to third, but the throw to the bag was off — allowing the runner to seize second base.

Cameron L’Heureux then earned a walk as Tri-Town had runners on first and second with no outs.

And off a single to center by Eric Matthewson, Merrill scored to cut the deficit to 2-1.

A sacrifice bunt from Riley O’Brien advanced both runners into scoring position with one gone.

But Riley Sargent lined out to short right, and with Mathewson nearly at third base, he could not get back to second in time.

Brown got the ball into second base, and the runner was doubled-up to end the inning.

Bouchard drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, and Nohilly added a base-on-balls to put two on with two outs.

But Brown struck out — Barber’s seventh K of the evening — as Bristol’s 2-1 edge was holding pat.

Akana etched up a two-out hit up the middle in the fifth but nothing came of it as Cruz had settled down nicely through five.

To start the bottom of the fifth, Caron drew a walk on eight pitches then moved to second on a passed ball.

Barber fanned Fradette for his eighth strikeout, but another passed ball saw Caron move over to third base.

And off a tremendous catch by O’Brien at first base — nabbing a Kozikowski pop-up in foul territory — Barber was out of the inning, and out of pitches via the pitch count rule, as the sixth frame commenced with Bristol still in front by a run.

Cruz showed some gumption in the sixth, striking out L’Heureux and Matthewson, to keep it a 2-1 contest as Merrill came into pitch.

Rinkavage flipped in a single to left with two outs in the sixth, but after one final fly-out, Tri-Town was down to its final at-bats with Cruz returning to the hill.

O’Brien popped out to Caron in foul territory for the first out, and Cruz struck out Sargent for his seventh K as Beaucar came in for the final out. Grauer then sent a double to the gap in left center to put the tying on, but Barnes grounded out to Rinkavage at third to end the game with Bristol a 2-1 winner.

“We’re on a good roll,” said LaPenta. “[But] it’s not going to get any easier Thursday [against Avon].” 

Bristol American Legion, Senior Baseball – Connecticut State Tournament, Second Round Game  

BRISTOL , TRI-TOWN

from Muzzy Field, Bristol

Tri-Town (15-15-2) 000 100 0 – 1 8 0

Bristol (19-6)     101 000 x  – 2 3 1    

WP: Roberto Cruz (Bristol); LP: Mason Barber (Tri-Town); S – Matt Beaucar (Bristol, 2)  

Tri-Town Batting

2B – Alex Graver

3B – None

HR – None  

Bristol Batting   

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None  

Records: Bristol 19-6 overall; Tri-Town 15-15-2