By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Bristol Senior American Legion pitcher Dylan Woodsome simply refuses to call it a career.

And time and time again, when his number has been called, Woodsome has repeatedly gotten his squad out of jams and tricky situations.

Tuesday night was no different as he pitched two innings of scoreless relief against Enfield as Bristol notched the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth to stay alive in Northern Division, Pod C play with its 8-7 triumph from Muzzy Field in Bristol.

In that fateful eighth frame, Enfield walked the bases loaded and with one out, Bristol’s Chris Osuch put the ball in play – a little nubber that floated just in front of the plate.

But Enfield third baseman Jay Maynard could not grasp the ball, allowing the charging Stickels to score from third, as Osuch netted the game-winning hit – keeping Bristol alive in the state tournament mix.

“We’ve fought all year,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “[It] looked bad, looked terrible, but we’ve just kept fighting.”  

Post 2 led 3-0 after one inning and 4-2 through three but could not sustain that edge.

Enfield notched single runs in the fourth and fifth frames and then put a three-spot on board in the sixth to stake a 7-4 lead.  

But Bristol responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to snare things up at 7-7.

“Bottom of the sixth down three, after a couple tough plays, we could have easily just tucked tail and gave the season up,” said LaPenta. “Jayden [Churchill] sets the table there and we get three runs.”

And then Woodsome allowed just one hit while fanning two to earn his third victory in relief.

“What more can you say about Woody?” said LaPenta of Woodsome. “He’s just saved our bacon time and time again. He just proves you don’t have to throw hard to be an effective pitcher.”

It was an eventful first inning as Enfield’s Brandon Rowe walked and then stole second with no outs on the board.

After a strikeout and a groundout to Caron at third, Jay Maynard nabbed an infield hit up the middle but Bristol shortstop Elliot Norris got his glove on the ball.

As Rowe tried to score, Norris scooped the ball in, threw it home and Osuch applied the tag for the third out at the dish as Bristol came to bat in the scoreless affair.

Post 2 started the game with a Norris single to right and the speedster quickly stole second base as the home team was dealing early.

Churchill followed by drawing a walk and a wild pitch gave Norris third base.

Churchill then stole second and when Caron hit a ball to the Enfield shortstop, the fielder’s choice saw Norris easily score from third and when Maynard balked, Churchill scored from third to make it a 2-0 game.

Stickels followed with a groundout but on the play, Caron scored and quickly, it was 3-0 Bristol – all off the benefit of one hit.

Bristol starter Tyler Martin (6 IP, eight hits, 6 walks, 5 Ks) was also dealing on the mound in the second, going 1-2-3, as Post 2 still led by three.

In the top of the third, Enfield played a little small ball and when Rowe plunked out a base hit to center, Chris Seile scored from second to trim the deficit to 3-1.

Tighe Thebodeau followed by slicing a single into left and when he swiped second, the visitors had men on second and third with one away.

Braden Alaimo brought home Rowe via a groundout to second as Enfield trailed 3-2 going into the bottom half of the third.

Norris walked and stole second in the third while Churchill also drew a base-on-balls, putting two on with no one out.

A double steal got the duo into scoring position and Caron brought Norris home on a single to left – making it a 4-2 game in Bristol’s favor.

The inning got wacky from there.

Churchill, just like in the Waterford game, attempted to steal home but was tagged out at the dish.

Ryan Fradette then walked, putting two on with one out, and the duo both advanced a base via steals.

But the duo was picked off to end the third – caught in the middle of two pickles – with Bristol ahead 4-2.

Enfield got its first two batters on to open the fourth but Martin picked off Evan Daly at first for the first out.

However, Canon Marshall scored on a fielder’s choice to trim the Bristol cushion, 4-3.

Maynard settled down in the fourth, fanning the final two batters he faced, as Enfield came to the plate in the top of the fifth down by a single run.

Trent Barrows started the fifth with a walk, advancing to second as Rowe struck out.

The runner took third on a wild pitch while Alaimo walked to set up men on first and third with two outs.

And Maynard helped his own cause with an RBI single to right as the game was all tied up at 4-4.

Seile nabbed a two-out walk in the sixth, swiping second and third to get into scoring position while Barrows walked as Enfield had two on.

Rowe then hit a ball to Stickels at first base and the runner beat Martin to the bag as the infield hit scored Seile – making it 5-4 in Enfield’s favor.

And Thebodeau followed up with a two-RBI single up the gut as the visitors snared a 7-4 lead.

Bristol attacked right back as Churchill singled to left and Caron walked while a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position – putting the tying runner at the dish with no one out.

A groundout by Stickels plated Churchill as Bristol chopped the deficit to 7-5 with two outs and when Woodsome walked on, Bristol had runners on the corners again as Maynard had run out of pitches.

Seile took over for Maynard with two away and two on.

Martin then hustled out a base hit as the Enfield shortstop couldn’t get the ball over to first base fast enough – scoring Caron – as Bristol made it a one run affair (7-6).

Woodsome hustled down to third base on the play – putting men on the corners once again.

And then it was time for the ‘Bristol pickle’ and Enfield fell for it.

Martin did an incredible job darting back and forth between first and second bases as Woodsome eventually took off from third.

A poor throw-in to home saw Woodsome slide in safely and it was a brand new game at 7-7 going into the seventh.

“We executed a perfect first and third play,” said LaPenta of the Bristol pickle. “We got the tying run.”

With Woodsome on the mound, Maynard walked to open the final inning of regulation, later stealing second.

Woodsome managed to strikeout two but Maynard stole third as Enfield was looking for the game-winning run.

But when pinch hitter Thomas Kluntz grounded out to Norris at short, Bristol had a chance to break the tie in the bottom of the seventh.

Osuch was hit by a pitch to open the stanza while Norris dropped in a slick sacrifice bunt to put the lead runner at second.

Ryan Maglio pinch ran for Osuch and with two away, Caron was intentionally walked – putting runners on first and second.

And when Fradette popped out at second, an additional inning was required to determine the winner.

Rowe eked out a two-hit single to left in the eighth but no further damage was done.

In the bottom of the tilt, Stickels walked and then stole second.

While the Enfield defense was playing cat and mouse with Woodsome at the plate attempting to bunt, a wild pitch got Stickels to third.

However, Enfield intentionally walked both Woodsome – with a 2-2 count – and Martin to load things up with no one out.

And on Osuch’s one-out bunt, Maynard failed to make the scoop as Stickels came home to score the winning run.

“Chris gets it down and it’s all about pressure,” said LaPenta of Osuch’s RBI tally. “The kid [Maynard] was there in plenty of time. He had time to field that, step on home plate himself but he rushed it. We just put the pressure on.”

“It was just a great character win. That’s what’s Legion baseball is all about.”

Bristol Senior American Legion Baseball – State Tournament, Northern Division, Pod C Game

BRISTOL 8, ENFIELD 7  

from Muzzy Field, Bristol 

Enfield 002 113 00 – 7 9 0

Bristol (12-8)  301 003 01 – 8 6 0 

WP – Dylan Woodsome (Bristol); LP – Chris Seile (Enfield)

Enfield Batting 

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None

Bristol Batting 

2B – None

3B – None 

HR – None 

LOB – Enfield 7; Bristol 6

Records: Bristol 12-8 overall