By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Baseball in the Class L bracket was extremely competitive this season with all but one of the 32 teams qualifying for the playoffs with at least eight wins.
Only Wilton (7-12) snuck in to fill the bracket as the 32nd ranked program while five different teams did not qualify for the postseason, four of which had six victories.
Those programs included Platt Tech, Platt, Stratford and the squad over at Bristol Eastern (6-14).
But the Lancers weren’t that far off from a postseason berth despite the sub-.500 finish.
Eastern’s senior grouping of Kyle Babin, Jed Sutula, Mike Roalf, Ryan Maglio, Isaac Roberge, Cooper Porrini, and captains Jose Feliciano and Connor Cyr all battled and battled throughout the entire spring.
And despite a new varsity coach coming in and COVID knocking out the 2020 season, those kids gave it their all despite losing a season.
“The senior class came in with me basically,” said Eastern coach Steve Gaudet. “It’s been three years. They didn’t have a freshmen season because of COVID so they basically came in when I came in.”
Eastern started the year with a big 5-1 win at Edwin O. Smith and then captured a 7-0 triumph over Conard back on April 19, moving to 2-2 overall.
But the Kingstreeters never got to .500 for the rest of the campaign, losing seven of eight contests during midseason play off that quality start.
And there were several near misses along the way that could have put Eastern in the playoff picture.
To open the month of May, Eastern fell at New Britain (2-1), dropped the rematch against Edwin O. Smith (5-3) and absorbed a tough 3-2 decision at Plainville on May 12.
The Kingstreeters nabbed a 6-2 jump against Newington on May 15 but eventually fell (9-6) to a top-10 ranked team.
If the Lancers could have pulled out any two of those four losses, the squad would have been a postseason participant.
However, the Bristol Eastern program was a handful for just about every opponent in 2023.
Yes, there was a bad game here, a nasty inning there but when you put on that Eastern uniform – like that senior core did this season – it was a great opportunity to represent the community to the fullest.
And those eight seniors did exactly that over on King Street over the 20 game campaign.
“[They’re] great kids, top to bottom,” said Gaudet. “I never had any issues with leadership or anything. They pushed their teammates to get better. Their parents did a great job raising them, coming up with great kids.”
“I’m proud to coach them.”
NOTES…At the conclusion of the Wethersfield showdown, in the rain, the Eastern seniors earned a little adulation. The players met in left field with the coaches, as is their custom, and the underclass members of the team lined up near the dugout in two rows in a salute to the senior class…Coaches at Bristol Eastern this season included John Benoit, Reinhard Walker, Jimmy Hahn, Steve Deveau, Jaydon Churchill and head coach Steve Gaudet.
