By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – In the world of baseball, it’s never over until the final pitch is thrown.
And for the Bristol Junior American Legion baseball team, that statement had a little extra special meaning in its non-zone showdown against Enfield on Saturday afternoon from Muzzy Field.
The juniors made it interesting, so much so that Bristol actually tied the contest up at 7-7 late after trailing by six runs.
And once that tie was established, it was just a matter of time before the home team would square away the win.
Those game-winning heroics came in the bottom of the eighth when Rio Fernandez’s sacrifice fly scored Mike Roalf from third base as Bristol scooped up an improbable 8-7 victory against pesky Enfield.
“There was a lot of team chemistry and the guys all pulling for each other the whole way,” said Bristol coach Bill Mason of the win. “We really, really sucked it up.”
The visitors scored once in the second and twice in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to nab a 7-1 edge as five errors did not help out Bristol in the least.
But the locals refused to give in.
Post 2 notched two runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the deficit to 7-3 as the comeback was on.
After Bristol held the fort in the top of the sixth, it was time for the home squad to square things up.
With two on and two out, Connor Cyr dropped a blooper over the second basemen’s head, scoring one, as Post 2 trimmed the deficit to 7-4.
And then Rio Fernandez belted a deep-dish double into left – scoring both Roalf and Cyr and suddenly, Bristol had life – trailing 7-6 with a man on second.
“Rio had some big pops at the plate,” said Mason. “The team came together. We had five errors and they still won the game today.”
From there, Ryan Maglio grounded out to third but the ball was booted to first base and when Fernandez scored on the error, it was a brand new game at 7-7.
But Enfield came right back in the seventh, putting two on without the benefit of an out.
Bristol chucker Isaac Roberge did well to wiggle out of the jam, inducing a strike out, a pop-up, and off one final fly-out to center, Post 2 had a chance to steal the game.
“Isaac did well on the hill” said Mason of his winning pitcher.
Bristol put the go-ahead runner on in the seventh when Adoni Fernandez was hit-by-pitch with one gone and was masterfully bunted over to second by Jedric Sutula.
But Mitch Crowley popped out to end the seventh and quickly, an extra inning was needed to determine the ultimate victor.
Enfield put two on in the top of the eighth with one away but Enfield’s Brian Dennis flew out to left and after one final groundout, Bristol was in position to take the game once again.
In the bottom of the eighth, Roalf led off with a walk and then swiped second, just beating the tag on a bang-bang play while Cyr laid down a perfect bunt to send the lead runner to third.
“We always work on it,” said Mason of his team’s small-ball approach. “The goal is to get a guy to third with one out and we’ll get him home. So that’s what we work on all the time at practice and that’s what we want to be able to do. We’ve done it the same way for the last five years.”
Fernandez then ended the suspense with a fly-out to right on the catch, the throw home was too high to get Roalf at the plate as Bristol scored a huge 8-7 victory.
Good start, big roster
Post 2 has started the season off with a 2-1 record and this year’s team has more than a few reserves Mason can turn to.
“We’re happy to be a little bit up in the standings,” said Mason. “We have a fuller team this year. Last year, we were struggling for numbers and we got a nice team here.”
As of Saturday, here is the official roster of the Junior squad:
Bristol Junior American Legion Baseball – 2022
Official Roster
Name No. Position
Mitchel Crowley 11 OF/P
Connor Cyr 5 SS/3B
Jose Feliciano 23 1B/3B
Adoni Fernandez 24 SS/2B
Rio Fernandez 16 C/3B
Brian Grabowski 4 2B/P
Steven Lodge 19 OF
Ryan Maglio 7 P/SS
Mike Roalf 2 P/OF
Isaac Roberge 14 OF
Brayden Schenck 12 OF/2B
Declan Schenck 10 P/IF
Jedric Sutula 8 C/2B
Bristol Junior American Legion Baseball – Non-Zone showdown
BRISTOL 8, ENFIELD 7 (8)
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
Enfield 012 220 00 – 7 9 4
Bristol (2-0) 001 024 11 – 8 7 5
WP – Isaac Roberge (Bristol)
LOB – Enfield 9; Bristol 8
Records: Bristol 2-1 overall
Support our local news initiative
TBE is dedicated to covering local news. With your help, we can hire reporters to cover local government, our schools and businesses. Support TBE with a small recurring monthly membership. Click here for your options. For more information, read this.
