By Michael Letendre
East Hartford – For the first time since 2011, a Bristol entrant was playing in the Greater Hartford Twilight League postseason tournament.
And the Bristol Greeners made it a memorable one, trailing 5-0 after two innings before tying things up – eventually forcing extra innings.
In the bottom of the ninth with a man on second base, Hartford’s Derek Allan singled in the winning run as the ninth ranked Colts eliminated No. 10 rated Greeners by a 6-5 final from McKenna Field in East Hartford on Monday.
The Greeners (6-15 overall) allowed two runs in the first frame and then gave up another three in the second before a midgame offensive explosion by Bristol made it a 5-5 contest through five innings of work.
“I was really proud of the guys and the way we came back,” said Bristol player/coach A.J. Lorenzetti. “I know with our record this year, we had a lot of games where we got behind early. But we were able to chip away and come back. Today, we showed a lot of heart.”
It was anyone’s game to take as both programs made outs at the plate late in the fray before the Colts put the thing away in the ninth.
Hartford pitcher Dan Livingston went the full nine innings to win it, allowing eight hits, walked two and fanned seven over an impressive complete game effort.
After the fifth frame, Bristol just generated two hits off Livingston the rest of the way.
“I’ve probably faced him on three or four different leagues,” said Lorenzetti of Livingston. “He’s very effective, he fields his position well, he hits his spots, and he certainly makes it a tough battle for you every time you go to the plate.”
Bristol attempted a two-out rally in the top of the first frame as Jon Pierce (2-for-5, run) smoked a short fly-ball to center – just out of reach of the centerfielder’s grasp – and when Lorenzetti (3-for-5, run) poked a hopper up the middle, two men were on.
But Noah Fradette (2-for-4, double, RBI) struck out as Hartford came up to bat.
The Colts started the game with three consecutive hits to score a run and then with men on the corners, Wes Ulbrich scorched a base hit down the third base line – plating Isiah Rivera (2-for-5) – as Hartford led 2-0 through one.
The Greeners were back at it in the top of the second as Johan Giblin drew a one-out walk but nothing came of it.
Hartford’s Tim Dickson opened the bottom of the second with a walk but Bristol starting pitcher Casey Horjus fanned Ty Robinson for the first out.
Two consecutive RBI singles made it a 4-0 game and when Rivera walked, the bases were loaded with just one gone.
And a wild pitch scored another runner as a 5-0 deficit ensued for Bristol through two completed frames.
But it wouldn’t be until the ninth inning when Hartford finally scored again as Horjus and Kenny Knox (6 IP, one run, three hits) shut down the offense.
Bristol still trailed by five to open the top of the fourth before finally hanging a number on the scoreboard.
Lorenzetti hustled out an infield hit to start the rally and when Fradette dumped a ball into the gap in right, the double had the Greeners with two men in scoring position.
Trevor Mays then grounded out to shortstop, scoring Lorenzetti from third base, to make it a four-run game.
And when Giblin’s grounder to short was thrown a country mile over first base, Fradette easily scored, and the deficit was chopped to 5-2.
With Giblin on second base, he later stole third and on a fielder’s choice, the ball was thrown home to throw out the lead runner.
But the crafty Giblin eluded the tag, slid in home safely, and it was 5-3 game as Bristol was in the mix.
Knox took his turn on the hill in the bottom of the fourth frame – eventually throwing six innings of great relief – going 1-2-3 as Bristol had retired eight of Hartford’s last nine batters.
In the fifth, Bristol finally tied the affair up.
Ben Mazzone’s grounder to short was booted to open the frame while Pierce sent a long ball over the right fielder’s head, leading to an RBI scoring double that made it a one-run contest.
Pierce took third on the throw-in home and with an 0-2 count, Fradette dropped a sharp single to left.
And when Pierce came home to score, it was a brand-new game at 5-5.
“We came back with two runs and other three in the fourth and five innings and that showed we had a lot of fight in us today,” said Lorenzetti. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way [in the end].”
The Colts went on the attack in the bottom of the fifth as Jon Pyne led off with a walk and a wild pitch put the runner at second.
Ulbrich walked to put two on but a fielder’s choice from Fusco eventually saw Pyne tagged out at the dish as runners were on second and third with one out.
Knox fanned Dickson and Robinson grounded out to second to end the inning as the 5-5 stalemate carried into the top of the sixth.
“I was really proud of the way Kenny preformed tonight,” said Lorenzetti of Knox. “His off-speed [pitch] wasn’t really on but he was able to spot his fastball. He was able to get out of a few jams and we had a couple quick innings in the middle [helped by his pitching].”
Bristol was retired in order by Livingston in the sixth as it was Hartford’s turn at the plate in the bottom of the tilt.
It was the top of the order for the Colts but Knox was sharp, putting the side down in order and going into the seventh, the Greeners had the heart of its order due up.
But Livingston induced two pop-ups and a fly-out to keep the event all tied up at 5-5 with Hartford looking to close the game out with one more run.
And Knox held the fort as Hartford did not tally a hit as ‘overtime’ was needed to determine who would advance in tournament play.
After Livingston had retired 10 straight, Giblin walked to put the winning run on, but Austin DiLeone drew strike three as Bristol was forced to hold the fort once again.
With two gone in the bottom of the eighth, Robinson walked on four balls – swiping second to get into scoring position – before Christian Boudreau slapped a sharp grounder to Zach Bartolome at second.
The infielder slipped a bit, quickly regained his balance, and just got the runner at first as the game went into the ninth inning still knotted up at 5-5.
“It was competitive every inning,” said Lorenzetti. “We made very few mistakes.”
And Bristol went on the attack with one out.
Bartolome ran out an infield hit to short and when Mazzone’s grounder to second was bobbled a bit, the shortstop covering the base could not make the play at second, leading to a fielder’s choice with both runners safe.
After a pop-out by Pierce, Lorenzetti slipped a Texas Leaguer into right as Bartolome rounded third – heading for home.
But the throw into the plate was on the money and even as Bartolome did a barrel-roll to avoid the tag, he was called out as the 5-5 push moved into the bottom of the ninth stanza.
Chris Anselmo (3-for-5, two RBI) reached base on an infield hit to shortstop and stole second on a bang-bang play that could have gone either way.
And then Allan tallied the game-winning hit, a long single to right-center to score Anselmo, as Hartford won it, 6-5.
“I thought this was our best all-around game we’ve played all year,” said Lorenzetti. “We had our opportunities. If a couple balls bounced our way, it might have been ours. But it wasn’t our day today.”
Greater Hartford Twilight League Baseball – Postseason Tournament
No. 9 HARTFORD COLTS 6, No. 10 BRISTOL GREENERS 5 (9)
from McKenna Field, East Hartford
Bristol Greeners (0-2) 000 320 000 – 5 8 0
Hartford Colts (1-1) 230 000 001 – 6 11 2
WP: Dan Livingston (Hartford); LP: Kenny Knox (Bristol)
Bristol Greeners Batting
2B – Noah Fradette, John Pierce
3B – None
HR – None
Hartford Colts Batting
2B – Ty Robinson
3B – None
HR – None
Records: Bristol Greeners 0-2 Tournament, 6-15 overall; Hartford Colts 1-1, 7-13.
