By Michael Letendre    

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central baseball squad is in a bit of a midseason slump right now. 

And the Rams tried to work through it against Lewis Mills on Wednesday in a CCC South clash from McCooey Field on the campus of BCHS. 

But Spartans’ pitcher Jayden Longdin was nearly perfect over five strong innings to keep the home team at bay as Mills zipped up a 10-1 win in Bristol – moving to 8-6 overall on the campaign. 

Central (12-2) did not score a run, stranding eight runners overall while Central starting pitcher Aiden Lopez (six runs, six hits, six Ks, five walks) absorbed a tough luck loss over three-plus innings of work. 

“Inconsistent walks, [we] couldn’t find the strike zone and then [Lewis Mills] got key hits,” said Central coach Bunty Ray of the loss.  

Longdin was tremendous, throwing a one-hitter to go along with three walks and four strikeouts. 

The Spartans hit the first inning with zest, earning base on balls by Matt Chirumbolo and Tom O’Connell to put two on. 

From there, Ben Rewenko smacked a Texas Leaguer to right field, plating Chirumbolo, as the visitors nabbed a quick 1-0 push. 

In the second stanza, Mills was retired in order, helped by two slick plays by Mike Allan at shortstop, to keep it a 1-0 game. 

Central’s first five batters were retired before Lopez smoked a single over the third baseman’s head with two away but never advanced. It turned out to be the only hit of the day for the home team. 

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” said Ray of Longdin. “Without [injured Central pitcher] Frank [Spirito] there, he’s probably, I think, the best pitcher in the league. He’s a tough kid. He’s obviously a next level pitcher. He battled and you’ve got to get good at bats against him.” 

With one on in the third, the Spartans’ Jayden London dropped a double to the gap in left – putting runners on second and third – and O’Connell scored the lead runner via a single to left to make it 2-0. 

And when a Lopez pitch to catcher Ryan Ring went a little too high, Longdin scored from third as Mills scooped up a 3-0 edge through three. 

But Central got one back in the bottom of the tilt and had the go-ahead runner at first base, all via a two-out rally. 

Mike Allan walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. 

Anthony Santilli then slapped a ball to the pitcher but with the second baseman covering at first base, the ball was thrown away as Allan came home to trim the deficit to 3-1. 

“Once the game got away, I thought we could have competed a little bit better,” said Ray. “We got it to 3-1, we played off a mistake [but] I don’t think we made enough hard contact.”   

Oscar Kuzniar followed with a base-on-balls, putting two on, but one final strikeout by Longdin ended the frame with Central down just two. 

Mills put up a three spot in the fourth as Longdin helped his cause with a two-RBI single up the middle that just got by a diving Mike Allan and when O’Connell ripped a double down the first base line, another runner scored as the visitors scooped up a 6-1 cushion – ending Lopez’s day on the hill. 

“I feel like they found every hole,” said Ray. “Not many of the hits were hard hits. They were well placed. Credit them. They got good enough at bats. They took advantage of every mistake.” 

Kuzniar came in to throw with two away and generated a quick fly ball out to get the Rams back to the dish. 

Central just couldn’t sort out Longdin as the chucker retired the side in order in the fourth. 

The Spartans notched two additional runs in the fifth as an RBI base hit by Noah Moriarty scored one and a passed ball led to the other tally as Central was trailing 8-1 midway through the stanza. 

The Rams attempted to dent the score in the bottom of the frame, loading things up with just one out. 

Mike Allan and Ty Davis were both plunked by a pitch and in-between, Joe Gratta walked to put three runners on. 

But Longdin fanned the final two batters he faced as Mills hung on to its 8-1 push by the completion of five innings. 

Mason Allan came in to pitch in the sixth for Central, allowing a walk and a single but managed to get out of the frame without allowing a run as Seth Bissonette made a great diving catch at first base to end the inning. 

“We got everybody in the game,” said Ray. “We’re not playing well. When you’re winning, it’s easy to keep a line up. When you’re not, you’ve got to start looking at who can go in and perform.” 

“In the last two games, we just haven’t performed.” 

Central’s Jack Bellantuono managed a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth but never advanced home as Mills still led by seven going into the seventh. 

Mills added two more runs in the top of the seventh to secure a 10-1 edge as Central was down to its final three outs. 

Davis was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game in the seventh, but no further damage was inflicted as Mills nabbed a big nine run win to hand Central its first home loss of the year. 

“We have some injuries,” said Ray. “Obviously, we hope we can survive them. Things have to be right for you to have a good game and a good season. This is a little dip in our season right now. It’s not over. We’ve got a long way to go. We just have to get better.” 

Bristol Central Baseball – CCC South Action  

LEWIS MILLS 10, BRISTOL CENTRAL 1  

from McCooey Field, BCHS  

Lewis Mills (8-6)                   102 320 2 – 10 11 1  

Bristol Central (12-2)           000 000 0 – 1 1 1   

Battery – Lewis Mills: Jayden Longdin, Cam Fisher (6), Greg Kite (7) & Thomas O’Connell; Bristol Central: Aiden Lopez, Oscar Kuzniar (4), Mason Allan (6) & Ryan Ring.  

WP – Jayden Longdin (Lewis Mills); LP – Aiden Lopez (Bristol Central) 

Lewis Mills Batting  

2B – Jayden Longdin, Tom O’Connell 

3B – None  

HR – None  

Bristol Central Batting  

2B – None  

3B – None  

HR – None  

HBP – Mike Allan (BC) by Longdin; Ty Davis (BC) by Longdin and Kite.  

Records: Lewis Mills 8-6 overall; Bristol Central 12-2. 

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