By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – When Bristol Central pitching sensation Aiden Lopez took the mound on Wednesday afternoon, the squad from Platt High School was in for a long ride. 

And while the Panthers’ bats were mainly silent over the first six innings of the game, Central’s offense went on the attack. 

The Rams notched eight runs before Platt’s offense could even muster a hit as Central secured a big 10-3 victory from McCooey Field on the campus of BCHS in CCC interdivisional action. 

The Rams are now a perfect 6-0 after spinning Lewis Mills (6-1) the previous day while Platt fell to 2-5 overall. 

Against Platt, Lopez showed plenty of grit, determination, and ability from the hill. 

He allowed just two hits and two unearned runs while walking three and striking out a dozen batters for another big win.  

“He had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning,” said Central coach Bunty Ray of Lopez. “He did a tremendous job. I was just so happy the way came back from his last start. He was very consistent. He had a lot of walks last time but his breaking ball was working, his stuff was electric [and] he did a great job.” 

Central’s Joe Gratta opened the fun with a towering shot to right field in the bottom of the first inning that simply kept carrying – sliding into third base via a triple. 

It was one of three hits Gratta dropped into right field that afternoon (double, two triples). 

And he came home on a one-hop single to left by Oscar Kuzniar, making it 1-0. 

Frank Spirito IV then hustled out an infield hit to second and when Lopez skipped a ball to shortstop, the play went to third base. 

A hustling Kuzniar ended up safe off a poor throwover to third, loading things up. 

Mikey McMahon ended up walking in a run as Kuzniar tagged the dish and when Spirito scored on a wild pitch, the Rams led 3-0 through one.   

Lopez shut the Platt lineup down in order in the second stanza as Gratta ended the frame with a diving catch in centerfield – robbing Platt’s Hunter Sincovic of a possible double to the gap. 

And then in the bottom of the second, Gratta was at it again, dropping a long fly ball to right and the speedster legged out another three-base hit. 

“When you have a leadoff hitter than can get you to third base just to start the game, that’s a weapon,” said Ray of Gratta. “He did it a couple times. I was happy for him.” 

And with one away, Kuzniar sent a screamer down the left field line as the RBI tally made it a 4-0 game. 

Two batters later, Ryan Ring smashed a double by the third basemen to put runners on second and third. 

Kuzniar came home on a balk while Lopez helped his own cause with a single to left, plating Ring, as the Rams snared a 6-0 cushion. 

Lopez generated two straight strikeouts to open the third tilt but a walk and an error put two on. 

Nothing came of it as Lopez and the defense kept the shutout intact. 

The Rams added another run to the till in the third, starting out with a one-out single by Mike Allan and then Gratta was back at the plate. 

He slammed another ball to right which strangely bounced just in front of the fielder as the junior hustled out a double. 

And when Anthony Santilli grounded out to second, Allan easily scored from third as Central snatched up a 7-0 edge. 

“They’re just numbers in the line-up. I have confidence in every single batter that goes to the plate,” said Ray of his batting order. “These guys can hit. They produce runs. Our base running was a little bit better today. I still think we can work harder to be honest with you.” 

“I’m not pleased with the way we finished the game but we can work on that. It’s early.” 

Lopez was cruising in the fourth, fanning the Platt side for strikeouts six, seven and eight as he was putting together a possible no-hit bid. 

Spirito snuck a ball by shortstop to open the fourth as brother Rocco came in to pinch run. 

He advanced to second on a balk and nabbed third base when the Platt infield was sleeping. 

From there, Lopez lofted a fly ball to center for an out, allowing Rocco Spirito to score from third, as the sacrifice made it an 8-0 contest through four. 

Not much changed for the Panthers in the top of the fifth as Lopez scooped up two more strikeouts – 10 overall and five in a row – while Allan made a slick throw from shortstop that was scooped in by Kuzniar at first base to end the inning. 

Lopez cruised into the top of the sixth but with one away, the next three batters reached base off an error, a single by Jayden Gaither and a walk to load things up. 

Platt eventually plated two runs but the visiting team trailed 8-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. 

Rocco Spirito slapped a base hit to right with one gone in the sixth and then on a hit and run, Lopez slammed a double to center to plate the lead runner. 

After one final hit and RBI, Central’s edge reached 10-2 with a half-inning to play and Nick Krompegal taking the hill for the Rams. 

He struck out the first batter, back-up first baseman Seth Bissonnette did a sick split (a.k.a. Jean-Claude Van Damme style. Look him up, kids) in catching a ball thrown from shortstop before an error and an RBI double by Gaither made it a 10-3 game. 

However, one more slick putout at first base by Bissonnette sealed the deal as the Rams moved to 6-0 over the seven run triumph. 

The squad is on a roll to open 2023 and Ray believes his team can achieve even more once all the pieces are in sync. 

“It’s just a mindset for them. They have to have a little more mental toughness to close out games,” said Ray. “That game [against Platt] should have been clean at the end. We should have been out of there [sooner]. We made some errors. All Platt’s runs were unearned. Luckily, the offense was there to bail us out but that’s not always going to be there.” 

“We’ve got to play better defense.” 

NOTES…Ray’s teams at Central are now 19-8 all-time against Platt…Next week, the Rams hit the road for three games. Central makes trips to Maloney (Monday), Platt (Wednesday) and ends the week with a CCC interdivisional showdown at Wethersfield. All three contests commence at 3:45 p.m. with home games commencing from Muzzy Field on the horizon.

Bristol Central Baseball – CCC South Action  

BRISTOL CENTRAL 10, PLATT 3  

from McCooey Field, BCHS  

Platt (2-5)                         000 002 1 – 3 3 1 

Bristol Central (6-0)             331 102 x – 10 13 4  

WP – Aiden Lopez (Bristol Central); LP – Brandon Candelora (Platt)  

Platt Batting  

2B – Jayden Gaither 

3B – None 

HR – None 

Bristol Central Batting  

2B – Joe Gratta, Ryan Ring, Aiden Lopez  

3B – Joe Gratta (2)  

HR – None   

Records: Bristol Eastern 6-0 overall, Platt 2-5.