By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol American Legion baseball team put together a signature victory on Saturday night – turning a 3-0 deficit into a stunning 4-3 victory against South Windsor from Muzzy Field in Bristol.
The triumph moved Post 2 to 2-2-1 overall, getting back to .500 and staying in the race for a postseason slot.
With the score tied at 3-3 and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Connor Cyr ended up walking the winning run home to give Post 2 the win.
Winning pitcher Ryan Maglio threw extremely well despite the lack of any run support early.
He chucked seven solid innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits, struck out five and walked three to keep the home team in it until the end – earning a hard-fought victory.
On the flip side, South Windsor’s Brayden Edwards was excellent as well, allowing just two runs on one hit, struck out two while walking a half-dozen men but wiggled out of every jam – except in the sixth when Bristol was on the attack.
But he did not factor into the ultimate decision as Nick Worthington lost the contest in relief.
“He pitched his butt off,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta of Maglio. “[Edwards] also pitched really well. I just told [the players at the end of the game], ‘we didn’t have a hit for five innings.’ And I said, ‘you guys could have just easily gone away. I told them they showed us some [big guts].’”
South Windsor attacked off the bat as Ben Balducci beat out an infield hit to third and eventually stole second to open the first.
But a huge 8-6 double play – cued by Jaydon Churchill in centerfield – ended the top of the first with Bristol taking its first swings.
South Windsor’s Logan Sinacok dropped in a base hit to right with one away in the second but Bristol catcher Joe Dunne, making an on-the-money-toss to shortstop Elliot Norris, caught him attempting to steal second as the threat was eventually squashed.
Post 2 went down quickly in the bottom of the second while South Windsor had an eventful third tilt that led to nothing on the scoreboard.
Leadoff batter Sam Balducci drew a full count walk, went to second base on a botched pickoff play but eventually was thrown out at second via a 6-5-4-3 putout, getting caught off the bag.
Nate Grilli then flipped out a two-out single to center but never advanced, keeping things scoreless.
Joe Dunne earned a walk in the bottom of the third, becoming Bristol’s second base runner of the showdown, but he was picked off to end the third as the scoreless battle between the two excellent pitchers continued.
South Windsor again had something cooking offensively, putting two on with two outs in the fourth.
Peyton West singled to right, Sinacok walked and back-to-back RBI base hits to center by Andrew Goulet and Sam Balducci made it a 2-0 game.
And then Brian Garvey’s offering to second base was booted, leading to a third run as South Windsor was in control at 3-0.
Post 2 attempted to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Churchill and Cole Caccamo both drew walks as the tying run was at the plate with just one out.
Cyr advanced both runners into scoring position via a groundout to shortstop and a base-on-balls to Josh Dunne juiced the bases but Isaac Roberge flew out to center as Edwards – despite walking three batters – snuck out of a huge jam going into the fifth.
Post 2 tried to rally with one gone in the fifth as Joe Dunne was hit by a pitch and when Nick Sconziano drew a walk, two were on and – once again – the tying run was at the dish.
A fielder’s choice by Norris put runners on the corners with two outs and Post 2 went for the infamous ‘Bristol pickle.’
Norris took off from first base, stopped midway to draw the throw, as Dunne charged towards the plate from third.
But Dunne was just tagged out as Bristol trailed 3-0 and Edwards had a no-hitter going (82 pitches thrown) through five.
Bristol ended the top of the sixth with a little zest and with two on, a shot up the middle was fielded cleanly by second baseman Caleb Molinsky who flipped the ball behind his back to Norris for the out – keeping the contest a 3-0 affair.
“Caleb made a hell of a play with his glove,” said LaPenta. “That’s huge because if he doesn’t make that play, that’s the fourth run [for South Windsor]. And it would make it that much harder to come back.”
Churchill drew Edwards’ sixth walk of the game to lead off the sixth and when Caccamo absolutely drilled a two-base hit to right, putting runners on second and third, the starting pitcher’s night on the hill was complete.
Worthington came in to pitch for Edwards but was under fire from the get-go.
Cyr grounded out to shortstop, scoring Churchill, and when Jed Sutula put the ball in the perfect spot in right field, Caccamo scooted home from third to slice the deficit to 3-2 through six.
An error at third base allowed Lucas Sincola to take second base and then went to third on a wild pitch in the seventh.
But Maglio got out of the jam, going the distance on the hill, as Bristol was down to its final three outs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Maglio appeared to foul off a ball that possibly hit him at the same time.
Smartly, Maglio immediately sprinted to first base as the umpire did not try to stop him over the dismay of the South Windsor coach.
After two discussions by the officials, including Maglio showing the home plate umpire where the ball hit him in what turned into a bizarre sequence, the Bristol runner remained at first base – representing the tying run.
He advanced to second on a wild pitch and when Molinsky grounded out to shortstop, Maglio was able to advance to third base with two outs.
And Norris came through in the clutch, belting a ball by a diving third baseman, as Maglio scored – making it a brand-new game at 3-3.
“Elliot had that huge two out hit, tied the game there,” said LaPenta. “And we just kind of willed our way there.”
From there, Norris swiped second, Churchill walked for the third time and Caccamo earned four straight balls to load things up for Cyr.
And on a full count, Cyr earned a fourth and final ball – forcing in the winning run – as Bristol earned a sweet 4-3 come-from-behind victory against South Windsor.
“They’re pitcher [Worthington] got a little tight and that was just a huge win for our team,” said LaPenta. “We were having some struggles. We’re still trying to figure out the nucleus of who’s on the team and who’s not.”
“[But] it was just an awesome win for the kids.”
Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3, Senior Division
BRISTOL 4, SOUTH WINDSOR 3
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
South Windsor (2-4-1) 000 300 0 – 3 8 0
Bristol (2-2-1) 000 002 2 – 4 3 3
WP – Ryan Maglio (Bristol); LP – Nick Worthington (South Windsor).
South Windsor Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Bristol Batting
2B – Cole Caccamo
3B – None
HR – None
Records: South Windsor overall 2-4-1; Bristol 2-2-1
