By Michael Letendre
WEST HARTFORD – Scoring in baseball isn’t an exact science.
Well, maybe it should be.
A hit is a hit, an error is an error, and a walk is a walk, right?
It sounds so simple when you say it out loud but once the ball clangs off an aluminum bat, the scoring can become difficult – even for an experienced scorer.
Take the Bristol Senior American Legion baseball showdown at Simsbury on a rainy Tuesday evening last week.
For Post 2, pitcher Roberto Cruz was simply in the zone.
His final line included just one hit, two earned runs, three walks and nine strikeouts – a model complete game effort.
However, his actual performance was better than the final box score indicated.
“Roberto pitched a great game,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “He really should have had a no-hitter.”
It truly should have been a no-no because on the one Simsbury hit, by Nolan Conderino, the ball was booted.
But the Simsbury scorer – the official scorer of the game – called it a hit.
And you always defer to the home scorer.
Even long time Bristol GM Paul LaFleur indicated there was an error on the play but would not overrule the call.
And we all know how LaFleur loves to hand out errors like a neighbor hands out candy to kids on Halloween.
Here are typical examples of when LaFleur would score an error on a play:
The Torrington second baseman throws the ball away to first base? Error.
A player from Simsbury drops a ball in foul territory? Error.
Bristol right fielder Dylan Woodsome drops his drink in the dugout? Error.
The place LaFleur gets his pizza from forgets his anchovies topping? You know that’s worth at least an ‘E4.’
But in all seriousness, the tally was not a hit and Cruz was robbed of a big moment on the road.
“It was a slow ground ball to third, pulled the guy off the base but he was still ten feet from the base,” said LaPenta of the play. “It’s not a hit and on a good throw, he’s out.”
But Cruz took the win, moved to 4-0 on the campaign, and should add to his win total with a victory on Sunday at Meriden.
Revenge
If Bristol wins its final game of the season against Simsbury, Post 2 would have won the season-series, three games to one.
But it really should have 4-0 because one of those games simply got away in the end.
On the final game of June, Post 2 nearly scooped up a 4-2 edge in the sixth inning against Simsbury but the run was nullified and Post 84 ended up scored single runs in the seventh and ninth frames to steal away a 4-3 game over Bristol from Muzzy Field.
Nearly a week later, Post 2 came from behind to take a 6-3 decision over Simsbury as the locals started the month of July at 2-1.
“I was really down after the loss at home to Simsbury because we kind of gave that game away,” said LaPenta. “Then to come back in the rain up there in Simsbury [last Tuesday] and play really well [showed a lot].”
The rest of the Schedule
After spinning Torrington by an 8-7 final on Saturday from Fuessenich Park, moving the locals to 7-5 in Zone 1 play, Sunday’s games were absolutely must wins.
Bristol tangled against Meriden twice – ending its road portion of the regular season.
After a day off on Monday, Post 2 was scheduled against West Hartford on Tuesday and Simsbury on Wednesday.
Both contests start at 5:30 p.m. from Muzzy Field in Bristol.
If Post 2 can win both games in Meriden and then sweep the home games, Bristol would enter the postseason on a five straight winning streak with and a boatload of momentum.
“You never know what could happen if we get out on a run,” said LaPenta. “We’ll see.”
