By Michael Letendre
TBE continues to take an in-depth look at the Bristol American Legion Baseball season that was in 2021 – seeing how closely the team came to following its carefully crafted schedule that GM Paul LaFleur put together.
In the month of June, the schedule played out according to plan with the exception of a couple games.
But, things changed pretty quickly the following month in July (thank you, Mother Nature).
The Zone 1 champs had one of the longest layoffs in program history due to rain in one of the wettest July’s Connecticut has even seen (Bristol also had more road ‘home’ games than the law should have legally allowed…).
Here’s a look at the original schedule and how things actually came to pass over a wacky July:
Thursday, July 1 – In a 4-4 stalemate through six innings, Meriden notched five runs in the top of the seventh as Bristol fell 9-4 from Muzzy Field in Bristol. Evan Bouchard blasted out a triple and scored a run over the losing effort.
Saturday, July 3 – This was supposed to be a home date against Southington but with the program folding, Berlin was supposed to take on Post 2 instead. However, Berlin did not field enough players to compete that day and was forced to forfeit.
Saturday, July 3 – Post 2 had Fairfield on its slate for the second game but the non-zone contest was cancelled.
Tuesday, July 6 – Some of us braved dark skies, traveling to Naugatuck for a Zone 1 showdown but the baseball gods had a different plan. Rain, thunder, and wind postponed the showdown to a later date.
Thursday, July 8 – More rain, more havoc. A downpour saturated Muzzy Field as Newington was waiting to play Bristol. A huge puddle behind third base knocked out the game.
Saturday, July 10 – Four days after a postponement, and off a nine-day break, Naugatuck came to Bristol for a ‘home’ game at Muzzy Field. Post 2 was up to the task, winning a 6-3 road game from Bristol.Post 2 scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning – highlighted by an Owen Davis double – to break a 2-2 stalemate.
Sunday, July 11 – At last, a scheduled game came to pass as Post 2 dunked Simsbury by a 11-1 final from Muzzy Field. Matt Beaucar needed just five innings to seal the win – throwing only 57 pitches to move to a clean 3-0. Ryan Fradette scooped up two hits and a sacrifice fly.
And then, there was an eight day layoff as Bristol played just three games over the first 18 days of July. That’s unheard of in Bristol American Legion Baseball in recent years.
Tuesday, July 13 – Bristol at Southington…Cancelled.
Thursday, July 15 – Bristol at West Hatford…Postponed. Was it too hot to play that day?!?
Friday, July 16 – Berlin at Bristol…Postponed due to rain.
Sunday, July 18 – Bristol at Avon…you guessed it, postponed. Avon had somebody else to play that day. Buckingham Park was not a favorite place for Post 2 to play this season.
Monday, July 19 – In an unscheduled event (like just about everything else in July), Bristol took on Berlin at Sage Park as Post 2 was the home team. Berlin blew all of a 5-2 edge as Bristol notched five fifth inning runs to take ultimate control of the showdown. Beaucar (4-0) won in relief as Post 2 wrangled up a 7-6 victory. In the fifth, Jack Kozikowski and Bouchard each tallied RBI singles to lead the comeback effort.
Tuesday, July 20 – The date had Bristol traveling to Meriden but never came to pass. Instead, Post 2 was the home team in a make-up at Newington. Cruz (4-0) went the distance on the hill, throwing a four-hitter, as Bristol scooped up a 3-1 victory. Austin Brown and Kozikowski each tallied up two hits to pace Bristol.
Friday, July 23 – Two scheduled games were played from Muzzy as Andrew Lozier (3-0) pitched Bristol to a huge 14-7 win over Naugatuck as Post 2 scooped up a then season-high 13 hits. Adam Caron was 4-of-5 with two RBI while Beaucar walked twice. In the nightcap, Bristol fell in non-zone action to Branford, 8-1. Trevor Nohilly had one of Bristol’s four hits.
Sunday, July 25 – What, another scheduled game actually got played? Bristol was in a war with Newington but Post 2 notched two runs in the top of the sixth to snare a 4-3 victory from Legends Field. Lorenzetti and Cruz limited Newington to just three hits in the winning effort as he won the contest in relief.
Monday, July 26 – A scheduled exhibition game against South Windsor was cancelled and Bristol instead went to Avon, falling 4-0 behind an amazing effort from Beaucar (4-1) on the mound. It was just a 1-0 contest going into the bottom of the sixth frame. Tyler Martin added two hits for Bristol.
That was the official schedule as the game on July 26 was supposed to be final regular season contest.
In reality, Post 2 ended up beating West Hartford (3-1) from Muzzy Field (Bristol was the visiting aggression from Muzzy that afternoon) on July 28 and then to end the campaign, Bristol blasted out 17 hits on August 1 to sink Simsbury by a 14-0 final.
That showdown went only five innings as Simsbury failed to win a game in 2021.
What a strange year…
