By Michael Letendre
After pod play was completed in the 2022 Connecticut Senior American Legion State Tournament this past week, the winning squads moved into the Super Regional portion of the postseason.
Most of the top seeds in the eight pods qualified for the Super Regionals but a surprise was in the mix at the end.
The big upset winner was Ellington — spinning undefeated Zone 1 champ West Hartford.
Ellington, record-wise, had the sixth best ledger out of the winning teams, earning the No. 6 ranking in the Super Regional.
That Pod A result threw the tournament for a loop but the other pods went according to plan.
In Pod B, Middletown (No. 2) advance while down in Pod D, Willimantic (No. 4) fended off the challenge of RCP — a typical state contender.
In Pod E, Greenwich (No. 8) ended up foiling top-ranked Hamden while in Pod F, Stamford (No. 5) advanced.
Pod G saw West Haven (No. 3) move on in the playoffs as did Pod H victor Danbury (No. 7).
Waterford beats Bristol twice to advance to Super Regional
Over the regular season, no other team in Connecticut Senior American Legion play scored more runs than the program from Waterford.
But in two games against the squad from Bristol, the No. 1 seed in Pod C struggled to post runs.
Post 161 outscored Bristol by just an 8-5 margin over those two games and in the first showdown between the programs, Waterford was held scoreless after seven innings of work.
Post 2, ending the season at a credible 12-9 overall, showed grit over those two games against the Waterford program.
And between Bristol starting pitchers Roberto Cruz and Dylan Woodsome, Waterford needed to pull out all the tricks to finally shake Bristol.
With those two wins and West Hartford falling in pod play, Waterford earned the top billing in the Super Regional round and could be the team to beat in the postseason.
Super Regional Line-up
Two different sites were set-up for the Super Regionals which started on Saturday.
Palmer Field hosted the Middletown Regional while Muzzy Field was the site for the Bristol Regional.
From Bristol on Saturday, No. 1 Waterford battled No. 8 Greenwich while the day started with No. 4 Willimantic squared off against No. 5 Stamford.
Waterford continued its winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Greenwich while Stamford pulled off a 5-1 win against Willimantic.
On the flip side in Middletown, No. 3 West Haven battled No. 6 Ellington while No. 2 Middletown and No. 7 Danbury drew the nightcap on Saturday.
West Haven nabbed a 6-5 triumph over Ellington and Danbury upset Middletown by a 4-1 final.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access five (5) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access five (5) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have no limits.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.
