By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Merchants, the 2009 Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League champs, were looking for another postseason title appearance in 2010.
The squad defeated People’s Bank
by an 8-4 final in a winner-takes-all championship showdown the previous season.
That victory gave the Merchants both the 2009 regular season and playoff titles and the locals were looking for a repeat.
The Merchants were 190-78 going into the 2010 campaign, hoping for another long postseason run.
On the pitching front, Ryan Pacyna and Kevin Rival did most of the hurling while Eric Butkiewicz and Jarrett Stawarz started a combined 10 games in 2010.
Brian Archibald also tossed a couple contests, Matt Arburr started two games while Rick Hewey also made a start for the Merchants.
Nick Macellaro, Justin Fuller, and even Bristol coach Bunty Ray all took the hill at times for the Merchants.
From the plate, Joe Parlante didn’t miss a game while Ray, Rick Barrett, and Macellaro all played in at least 21 of the 25 regular season games.
And Matt Hackney, Stephen Clout, Joe Vecca and Arburr added a little pop to the Bristol line-up.
“We’ve got a lot of guys out” for the team said Ray to Michael Letendre of the Bristol Observer. “I’m carrying the biggest roster I’ve ever carried. There’s a lot of commitments out there [and] some injuries. It’s nice to see the younger kids coming up, kids that will hopefully play when [the current group of veterans] are long gone. These are kids who played in college, played in [American] Legion, and there are not enough kids who want to continue to play. Hopefully, these kids continue to play through their adulthood, adults playing [GHTBL] just like we did.”
“That’s important.”
Players that saw action in at least five games included Jay Maule, Chris Klepps, Tony Geraci, Clout, Paul Franceschi, and veteran Adam Peters.
Tyler McIntyre (four games, .333 average), Ryan Dudzinski, and Aaron Granahan all saw action for the Merchants over the 2010 regular season.
After splitting its opener on May 25, the Merchants defeated the East Hartford Jets on the road by an 11-6 final on June 14.
Arburr exploded for two home runs in the game while Bristol used an eight-run sixth frame to turn a close contest into a bit of a runaway.
And then after dropping a doubleheader to the Meriden Merchants on June 16, Bristol was under .500 (2-3) but was about to embark on an amazing 23-game winning streak.
By the completion of June, Bristol improved to 9-3 and was looking for more.
“[When we were] 2-3, it didn’t sit very well” with us said Ray. “It seems like every year, that’s the way we start. A lot of teams are kind of questioning if we still have it or not. To be honest also, I picked up some younger players that have been chipping in and they filled in the roster nicely during games and it’s nice to see the Bristol kids coming through.”
The Merchants went undefeated in July, starting with a huge 2-1 victory over People’s Bank on the eighth of the month.
Pacyna chucked a four-hitter while Franceschi singled home the winning run in the fourth frame to help the Merchants keep its winning streak alive, moving to eight straight victories.
The win kept the squad from Bristol within 1.5 games of GHTBL leaders Meriden (12-2) and People’s Bank (14-4).
And then after nine days off, Ray roped up his 200th career win as coach of the Bristol Merchants.
Parlante and Arburr belted home runs as the Merchants nabbed a 4-0 victory over RMR Construction.
Bristol dropped the New Britain Stingers over identical 3-1 scores in a doubleheader on July 19 to move to 14-3 overall.
And that 2-3 start was just a distant memory.
“I think way back to the point [we were 2-3] and I said I’m not worried and you can see why,” said Ray. “We’ve been doing this for a long time, and I knew once we caught a rhythm and once we were able to get some guys healthy and tweak our roster a little bit, that we would be fine. That’s what happened here.”
On July 25, Ray smashed an RBI double in the first game for the Merchants in a 5-4 comeback win over the Vernon Orioles.
And then in the immediate rematch, Bristol shutout the Orioles by a 6-0 final.
That was thanks in part to an outstanding effort on the hill by Butkiewicz as he allowed just five hits as Vernon did not post a run.
The winning didn’t stop in regular season play and on July 31, Bristol earned its 20th consecutive win.
The Merchants took the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League 2010 regular season championship as the squad sank Avon, 6-2.
Going into postseason play, the locals were looking to seize its fifth playoff championship since 2004.
Bristol trailed People’s Bank (21-6) by two games towards the end of the season but thanks to that 20-game winning streak, the Merchants were able to flip out the regular season championship – earning the No. 1 seed in postseason play.
The tournament, that takes place yearly from McKenna Field in East Hartford, saw Bristol start play against RMR.
Bristol defeated RMR by a 9-4 final on August 7 and then spun Vernon by a 6-1 push the following day.
On August 9, the Merchants won its 23rd straight game, spinning Meriden by a 7-1 final – moving to 25-3 on the year.
“In the playoffs, you’re now just seeing veteran hitters take pitches, getting to good hitter’s counts and you’re seeing guys producing in run-scoring situations,” said Ray.
Macellaro kept the offense going with his hot bat – going 3-for-4 with three RBI – over a big-time performance against Meriden.
An RBI base hit from Macellaro in the third inning broke up a well-pitched game by Meriden’s Eric Polvani (5 IP, seven hits, three ER, five walks) as Maule and Ray – sneaking home on a passed ball – made it a 2-1 contest in Bristol’s favor.
Rival, allowing just one run on a Joey Serfass RBI single in the top of the third tilt, got into the groove from the fourth inning on.
He allowed no runs and just three hits the rest of the way.
“He’s not really a starter,” said Ray of Rival. ”He’s a guy that you can give the ball to, comes in, and a lot of the times, he’s out there pacing himself, he’s throwing pitches [and] coming in [to] shut the door. But no matter what he does, it seems like he can get it done. He’s exceptional.”
Rival added a little offensive of his own in the fourth frame as he drilled a 340-foot shot over the fence to make it a 3-1 contest through four.
Klepps scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning and a two-RBI double to the gap in right field by Macellaro propelled the Merchants’ to a 6-1 push.
But that would be the final win for Bristol in the postseason, ever.
Meriden forced a winner-take-all championship tilt with its 6-1 win over Bristol on August 10 and then shutout out the Merchants the following day by a 2-0 final to win the postseason title.
It was the last game for Ray as a manager – or player – in the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League with the Merchants finishing up at 25-5 overall in 2010.
“I can’t ask for anything” more said Ray. “This is the seventh straight year we’ve been in the playoff championship.”
