By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – One week previous, the Bristol Eastern baseball program dropped a tough 12 run decision to Northwest Catholic in a CCC Interdivisional bout.
But this past Friday afternoon, in a rematch against the Lions, the contest went in a different direction.
And the Lancers were mere inches away from stealing a victory in the end.
Eastern trailed by five runs but nearly drew even before falling by a 5-3 final from Muzzy Field in Bristol.
Northwest improved to 5-5 overall while Eastern fell to 3-6 with Bristol Central on deck on Monday (6:30 p.m., Muzzy Field).
The Lions led 5-0 going into the bottom of the third tilt, thanks in part to a three-run second inning, before the Lancers scored a single run in the fifth and added two more in the seventh to narrow the gap.
And Eastern was one hit away from a walk off win in the bottom of the seventh.
But it was a rollercoaster ride to get there.
Eastern starter Ryan Maglio threw into the third inning but gave up those early five runs.
In the first, Maglio hit the leadoff batter Vinny Muslauskas who promptly stole second.
After retiring the next two batters, Maglio issued a walk and nearly picked off Muslauskas at second.
But in the rundown, Muslauskas ended up safe at third when the throw was dropped.
Mike Culligan then hit Maglio’s next pitch into left field for a base hit, scoring Muslauskas, to make it a 1-0 game.
In the top of the second, Northwest scored three times to snare a 4-0 push.
Off a walk, a single inside third base, and a sacrifice bunt saw all three the runners arrive safely as the bases were loaded with no outs.
Muslauskas then singled between short and third for two runs, making it a 3-0 game.
The next batter was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases and off one final groundout, notching another Northwest Catholic run, the Lancers trailed 4-0.
Maglio fanned the final two batters of the second inning but the Eastern offense was unable to respond.
In the third with one out, singles by Northwest’s Ryan Micari and Luke Rice ended Maglio’s day on the mound.
Anthony Nocera threw in relief but a wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position.
A walk loaded the bases – all with no outs – and Maulauskas’s sacrifice fly scored Micari and the Lions were ahead on the scoreboard, 5-0.
But unlike that first showdown against Northwest, Eastern made a late comeback to nearly topple the Lions.
Nocera pitched scoreless ball for the next three innings, escaping a bases loaded jam in the fourth, to hold the fort.
And Eastern’s Owen Myers came into throw in the seventh and despite allowing three walks to load the bases with one out, Northwest was unable to pad its lead.
On the flip side, Northwest starter Jonah Balcerak did well over his first four innings of work on the hill.
He gave up two singles to Ben D’Amato and an infield hit to Conor Cyr in the fourth for Eastern’s only hits through four innings.
In the Eastern fifth, the Kingstreeters finally tallied a run to get into the game.
Cole Latko beat out a slow grounder to shortstop with one out, taking second on a wild throw.
Latko moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 5-1 game.
It was still a four-run deficit for Eastern going into the seventh as Balcerak had thrown only 69 pitches, 49 for strikes (71-percent), fanning six with no walks through six frames.
But then the bottom nearly fell out on the Lions in the seventh.
Balcerak issued a walk to Cyr to open the inning and then hit Conor McCormick and Latko with a pitch to load the bases with one out.
A walk to Jaydon Churchill forced in a run, making it 5-2, and Balcerak was relieved by James Berry.
Elliot Norris then hit a grounder between third base and shortstop – and the race was on.
Northwest shortstop Riley Carew fielded the ball, sprinting towards an unoccupied third base as Latko was doing the same.
Latko hustled out the play, arriving safely at third, as McCormick tagged the dish.
Suddenly, Eastern trailed just 5-3, the bases were loaded, and the home team was a base hit away from tying up the showdown.
With two outs, Eastern’s Rio Fernandez came within inches of being a hero, slamming a liner to left that just went foul.
In the end, Fernandez flew out to left on the next pitch to end the game as Northwest hung on to win, 5-3.
Bristol Eastern Baseball – CCC Interdivisional Showdown
NORTHWEST CATHOLIC 5, BRISTOL EASTERN 3
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
Northwest Catholic (5-5) 131 000 0 – 5 6 1
Bristol Eastern (3-6) 000 010 2 – 3 5 2
Northwest Catholic: Jonah Balcerak, James Berry (7) & Ethan Porter; Bristol Eastern: Ryan Maglio, Anthony Nocera (3), Owen Myers (7) & Rio Fernandez.
WP: Jonah Balcerak (Northwest); LP: Ryan Maglio (Bristol Eastern)
Northwest Batting
2B – Evin Curtiss
3B – None
HR – None
Bristol Eastern Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Records: Northwest Catholic 5-5 overall; Bristol Eastern 3-6
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