By Michael Letendre
NEWINGTON – The Bristol Eastern baseball team nearly turned the tables against Newington on Friday afternoon, putting together a tremendous six-run fourth frame to square up a 6-3 edge midway through things.
But the Nor’easters snatched up seven runs in the bottom of the tilt to eventually secure a 12-6 win from Alumni Field in Newington.
The Nor’easters (7-1 overall) generated 12 hits over game play but had to stave off the pesky Lancers (2-4) who made that huge fourth inning response to make it a game.
Offensively for the Lancers, Ryan Maglio (two singles) dropped in a couple of the squad’s eight total hits.
Newington grabbed a 3-0 lead off Eastern starter Declan Schenck in the top of the first but to his credit, he settled down nicely and left the contest without factoring into the ultimate decision.
A single smacked between third and short by Newington’s Josiah Ross opened the first inning.
He then stole second and third and scored on an infield error by Eastern.
From there, a walk and a two-run single by John Gallinoto propelled the Nor’easters to the early 3-0 push.
Schenck and company held the fort from there, keeping it a 3-0 game going into the fourth as the Kingstreeters took the lead for the first time.
The Lancers ended up batting around over the four run sixth.
Singles by Maglio and Gabe White, with a hit batter sandwiched in between, loaded the bases with no outs for the visitors.
Jose Feliciano drew a walk to force in a run, trimming the deficit to 3-1, before Eastern put together a two-out rally.
An infield base hit to deep short by Connor Cyr gave the senior an RBI tally and Owen Myers singled over third base as two more runs gave Eastern the lead at 4-3.
Finally, Ben D’Amato’s bad-hop single saw the ball pop the Newington second baseman in the face, scoring Cyr and Myers for the final two Eastern runs, as the locals scooped up a 6-3 cushion.
However, the Nor’easters flipped in seven fourth inning runs to seize ultimate control of the fray.
Caleb Molinsky relieved Schenck to start the fourth inning and with one out, following a walk and a wild pitch, Alex Cappellucci’s single to right was misplayed, scoring a run to trim the deficit to 6-4.
Another base-on-balls, followed by an infield single to deep short by John Gallinoto, scored the fifth Newington run as the deficit was trimmed to 6-5.
And off a hit batter by Molinsky, Mike Roalf came in to pitch for the Lancers.
Newington’s Joel Nazario then nailed a ground rule double to right, plating two runs, and the game-winning hit made it a 7-6 contest as the Nor’easters never trailed again.
A wild pitch scored the eighth run, and consecutive infield errors on two ground balls accounted for the final couple of Newington runs of the inning, making it 10-6.
The Nor’easters scored single runs in the fifth and sixth stanzas for the final 12-6 score as Newington survived a wild finish.
Newington’s Gavin Gray, coming in for relief in the fourth inning, earning the victory for the home squad.
After the fourth, Gray threw shutout ball over the final three frames, allowing just two base runners over the last three innings.
A double to deep center off the bat of Rio Fernandez in the sixth and a baserunner in the seventh via an error were the only two Eastern players to get onboard over the final two frames.
NOTES…Eastern is back home on Monday when the Lancers square off against Platt from Clem J. Roy Field at 3:45 p.m. on the campus of BEHS.
Bristol Eastern Baseball – CCC South Action
NEWINGTON 12, BRISTOL EASTERN 6
from Alumni Field, Newington
Bristol Eastern (2-4) 000 600 0 – 6 8 5
Newington (7-1) 300 711 x – 12 12 1
Battery: Bristol Eastern – Declan Schenck, Caleb Molinsky (4), Mike Roalf (4), Owen Myers (6) & Owen Myers, Rio Fernandez (6); Newington: Sam Drozd, Gavin Gray (4) & Chase Leonard.
WP – Gavin Gray (Newington); LP – Caleb Molinsky (Bristol Eastern)
Bristol Eastern Batting
2B – Rio Fernandez
3B – None
HR – None
Newington Batting
2B – Joel Nazario
3B – Alex Cappellucci
HR – None
Records: Newington 7-1 overall; Bristol Eastern 2-4 overall
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