By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Knights of the Connecticut Twilight League are once again in the thick of things as the final week of the postseason approaches.
The Knights were the fourth ranked squad during regular season play this year (11-9-2 overall) and have gone 3-1 in the double elimination playoff format.
In fact, the only loss came to the top team of the league during postseason play.
And a rematch might be in the cards come Monday night.
On August 6, Bristol defeated No. 5 New Britain Rock Cats by a 9-3 final in opening round play.
But that meant the locals had to take on top ranked Rocky Hill Rockies.
The Rockies shutout the Knights on August 10 by a 3-0 push as the Knights fell into the loser’s bracket.
Then on August 11, Bristol hopped back to the pay window in its 6-1 win over No. 6 Wethersfield Dodgers.
And to advance to the final week of postseason play, the Knights nabbed a huge 2-1 victory to eliminate No. 8 Connecticut Orioles on Thursday evening.
All those games took place from Riverfront Park in Glastonbury.
Now, the scene flips to Muzzy Field in Bristol as the Knights return home.
The program must win first thing on Monday to advance to the finals against Rocky Hill (16-8 overall).
Here’s how the tournament plays out in Bristol:
The top seeded Rockies defeated No. 2 Elmer’s Angels on August 12 by a 3-2 final – setting up one finalist for Monday.
At 6 p.m. from Muzzy Field, Bristol takes on Elmer’s in the first game and the team that advances moves on to play the Rockies in a best-of-three series.
Rocky Hill, regardless of opponent, will be the home team in the championship round.
Game one of the championship series commences on Monday at 8 p.m. while a possible title tilt takes place on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
If the best of three series is tied up at 1-1, a final game will take place from Muzzy at 8 p.m.
If Bristol is to earn its fifth CTL championship, the locals must defeat Elmer’s and then win two-out-of-three games against the Rockies.
That means the Knights have to win three times of out four games over Monday and Tuesday.
Or, Bristol can simply beat Elmer’s and then sweep Rockies – no easy feat.
The Knights have an extremely well-rounded squad
Bristol coaches Earl Oakes, Rick Barrett, and Chris McGrath are an experienced bunch and have a squad that employs firepower on the mound, in the field, and at the plate.
If you like defense, shortstop Noah Plantamuro (.417 batting average in the regular season) and outfielder Julio Ortiz-Rivera (.381) are always fun to watch in the field and at the dish.
On the hill, Howard Rebhun and Chris McGrath combined to go 9-0 in regular season play for Bristol.
Those two should see action from Muzzy Field over the two-day marathon.
Others in action for the Knights includes Bristol American Legion favorite Zack Rinkavage, Colby Jones, veteran catcher Justin Martella, and speedsters Georgie Santiago and Jaasiel Tejada along with Corey Fradette, Oakes, and a host of other local favorites.
Frankly, the Knights can beat anyone at anytime in postseason play.
Bristol’s match-ups
The Knights lost to Elmer’s on June 16 by a 6-4 push from Alumni Field in Newington.
But two days later, in a rematch from Clem J. Roy Field at Bristol Eastern, the Knights were 4-3 victors over Elmer’s.
In the rubber match on July 26, Elmer’s spun Bristol 5-2 from Muzzy Field.
Bristol defeated the Rockies on June 25 by a 10-6 final from Rocky Hill high school and then five days later, from the same venue, Rocky Hill dropped the Knights, 11-1.
The league used the end of August as a ‘Make-up Week’ of sorts and on Monday, August 2, the Knights were 2-1 winners over the Rockies, 2-1, from Riverfront Park.
Rocky’s struggles in August
Even with the squad’s elite pitching staff, Rocky Hill – after a 14-5 start – dropped all three of its games in August but never lost hold of first place in the league.
Rocky Hill coach Chris Barsa said that the Rockies struggle to hit and score runs over its final three games as the program was outscored 14-4.
But Barsa and Don Fodaski make a powerful coaching combination for Rocky Hill and will have their troops on the hill ready to roll including star chuckers Mike Lord and Anthony Alicki.
The Rockies are looking for its fifth CTL title as are the Knights.
Expect some excitement from Muzzy Field on Monday and Tuesday as the Rockies, Elmer’s and the Bristol Knights battle it out for the 2021 title.
All-Star Game
Don’t forget the annual All-Star Game between the Connecticut Twilight League and the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League commences this Friday on August 20 from Palmer Field in Middletown.
Game time is 7 p.m.
