By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Senior American Legion baseball team just couldn’t cobble together any offensive against West Hartford on Monday evening, falling by a 5-0 final in a Zone 1 showdown from Muzzy Field.
Post 96 won for the first time while Bristol fell to 1-2 overall (1-1 Zone 1).
Bristol pitcher Matt Beaucar drew a tough loss but hung in, giving up just three runs on five hits, walking a half-dozen runners – though only one came home to score – while scooping up three strikeouts.
“He pitched really well,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta of Beaucar. “Our first two zone games, I thought all-in-all, we played really well.”
Beaucar threw 108 pitches and left the game with Bristol hanging around, down just 2-0.
The visiting aggression put a four-spot on the scoreboard in the sixth to seize ultimate control of the game.
West Hartford’s pitching duo of Drew Seidman and Brendan Grady combined for a three hit shutout.
Seidman (4 IP, three hits) earned the victory while Grady (five Ks) retired all nine batters he faced.
“They’ve got two pretty good pitchers,” said LaPenta of West Hartford. “I thought the lefty [Grady] threw really well. He threw strikes. He had a nice little slider.”
West Hartford wasted little time to open play as leadoff batter David Cantarella (3-for-4, two doubles, RBI) belted a double to right field while Drew Sideman advanced the runner to third base via a grounder with one out.
But on a 1-0 count, Tucker Reddon (2-for-4, two RBI) zipped a grounder right at Adam Caron – the Bristol third baseman – who easily threw the ball home to catcher Rio Fernandez, making the tag on Cantarella for the second out.
And once Tommy LaSpada lofted a ball to right, Dylan Woodsome made the catch as Post 2 escaped an early jam.
With two away in the bottom of the first, the returning Andrew Lozier saw four straight balls to get on base but Ryan Fradette drew strike three as the game remained scoreless through one.
In the top of the second, Brian Chelli earned a base-on-balls, stealing second and third to get into scoring position.
Beaucar then struck out Quinn LaRock but walked both Grady and Jacob Morren to load the bases with two out for Cantarella.
But the slugger flew out to Woodsome as Post 96 stranded four baserunners through two innings of work.
Tyler Stickles and Woodsome then generated back-to-back two-out singles to center and when Fernandez was plunked by a pitches, the bases were juiced in the bottom of the second.
But a groundout by Norris ended the inning as West Hartford came to bat in the third without the benefit of a score.
“We still had to score to win,” said LaPenta. “We just didn’t do it.”
Beaucar settled in nicely in the third, going 1-2-3, as Bristol got back to the dish.
Churchill started the tilt off by drawing four straight balls but was cut down at second on Roberto Cruz’s groundout.
Cruz went to second on a wild pitch while Fradette, putting up a battle at the dish, popped out to the pitcher.
One final groundout by Tyler Martin ended the stanza as the 0-0 stalemate proceeded into the fourth.
With one away in the fourth, Ixael Albino reached on an error while LaRock walked to put two runners on.
But Beaucar picked off Albino trying to take third as the tag by Caron erased the lead runner.
Grady then struck out looking to end Post 96’s at-bats as Bristol matched West Hartford’s defensive effort.
Caron started the fourth with a single to left, Connor Cyr came into pinch run but Seidman wiggled out of the frame, keeping things scoreless through four.
“I thought we had some good swings on him,” said LaPenta of Seidman. “We hit some balls hard but right at people.”
Cantarella led off the fifth with a single down the left field line with one away, stealing second moments later.
Reddon then ran out an infield hit to shortstop, eventually swiping second with two outs and when LaSpada walked, Post 96 had the bases loaded once again.
And Chelli just got his bat on the ball, producing a little dinger that died quickly in the grass.
It was just out of the reach of all the Bristol players as Cantarella scooted home on the play to make it a 1-0 game in West Hartford’s favor.
“The big turning point of the game was the knob-ball,” said LaPenta of the play. “If the ball goes foul, he’s got two strikes, maybe we get out of that inning still tied. Maybe we get a break, if we get a run, maybe the pressure’s on them.”
Leading by one, Grady took over on the mound for West Hartford in the fifth, shutting down the side as Bristol trailed by one.
LaRock drew a walk to open the sixth and was sacrificed to second by Grady.
Morren moved the runner to third via groundout and scored when Cantarella nabbed his second double of the game – slamming the ball to deep center – as Post 96 secured a 2-0 push and ended Beaucar’s night on the hill.
Churchill relived Beaucar who immediately hit Seidman with a pitch and Reddon cleared the bases with a two-RBI double to left, making it 4-0.
The runner went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by LaSpada as Post 96 pushed its advantage to 5-0 through six.
Grady again sent down the Bristol side in order and as the final inning approached, the home team still trailed by five runs with Alex Canzellarini in to throw for Bristol.
The Post 2 pitcher went 1-2-3, fanning Grady to end his stint on the mound, as Bristol came up to bat in the seventh needing runs in a hurry.
But Grady did not yield as he threw a flawless three innings as West Hartford won the game, 5-0.
“Over the first two games, I thought we’ve competed really hard,” said LaPenta. “I can accept when we play hard, give it our best effort, and the other teams beats us which I think we did. I don’t think [West Hartford] is better than we are.”
Bristol Senior American Legion Baseball – Zone 1 Game
WEST HARTFORD 5, BRISTOL 0
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
West Hartford (1-0) 000 014 0 – 5 7 0
Bristol (1-2) 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
WP – Drew Seidman (West Hartford); LP – Matt Beaucar (Bristol); S – Brendan Grady (West Hartford)
West Hartford Batting
2B – David Cantarella (2), Tucker Redden
3B – None
HR – None
Bristol Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
LOB – West Hartford 9; Bristol 4
Records: West Hartford 1-0 overall; Bristol 1-2 overall (1-1 Zone 1)
