By Michael Letendre

WEST HARTFORD – It felt like old Zone 1 times on Friday evening when the Bristol American Senior baseball team squared off against West Hartford from Conard High School.

The former Zone 1 programs now reside in Zone 3 and in the only showdown of the year between the two squads, Post 96 managed to get the better of Bristol – snaring a 10-2 victory.

Post 2 fell to 3-3-1 overall but got a really good effort out of starter Gavin Colvin (3 IP, five hits, three earned runs, two strikeouts).

He proved his worth over his first start at the 19U level, keeping his squad in it early.

“I thought Gavin pitched well,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “We really got burned on [West Hartford] quails [bloopers]. They must have hit six or seven quails. It was a little one here [and] a little one over there.”  

West Hartford generated a run in the bottom of the first, but it could have been a lot worse.

With one out, Matt Santoro walked aboard but was erased on a Max Hanawalt fielder’s choice.

Myles Fournier then singled to put men on first and second and off a hit-and-run by James Sauer, the runners were on the move.

Hanawalt came home to score on Sauer’s single to right, but Bristol’s Cole Caccamo threw out Fournier going into third base as the slick defensive play kept it a 1-0 game through one.

Caccamo led off the top of the second with a hopper that slipped into left field, and he advanced to second on a passed ball before getting stranded.

Post 96 nabbed another run in the bottom of the tilt as Trevor Tanis reached base on an error, a passed ball sent him to second while a failed pickoff attempt saw the runner reach third.

And off a Hebert fielder’s choice, a ball that bounced off the shoulder of Ryan Maglio at third base, Tanis scored to make it a 2-0 game.

“Thank goodness Ryan didn’t get really hurt,” said LaPenta of Maglio on the play. “I’m sweating. He’s our number one pitcher and he takes one right off his throwing shoulder.” 

West Hartford ended up loading the bases, but Colvin induced a strikeout while a fly out to left ended the frame with the home team leading by just two runs.

“He was throwing his breaking ball for a strike,” said LaPenta of Colvin. “He was ahead. He had just a couple bad breaks.”

In the third tilt, Post 2 put the go-ahead run at the dish but simply could not push it through.

Back-to-back errors by the West Hartford third baseman allowed Colvin and Elliot Norris to reach base safely with one away.

After Jayden Churchill hit into a fielder’s choice, the runners never advanced any further as Post 96 maintained its 2-0 edge.

Sauer just snuck a triple past Caccamo in right, who had his glove on the ball off a slick diving effort, in the third and scored on a passed ball – making it a 3-0 contest.

From there, an infield hit, and a 6-3 groundout scored two additional runs as Bristol entered the top of the fourth down 5-0.

Post 2 finally cracked the board in the fourth after Caccamo was robbed of a hit by a slick leap and catch by the first baseman.

“We hit the ball hard but right at people,” said LaPenta.

Eventually, the two-out rally saw Nick Sconziano drop a single into right and when Edward Sanchez (2-for-3 dumped a deep-dish double to center – plating the lead runner – Bristol chopped the deficit to 5-1.

But Post 96 answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, giving the home squad a 7-1 lead as the fifth frame commenced.

Bristol knocked starting pitcher Tristan Baron out of the game in the fifth as Norris snagged a single to left-center and two away, Maglio smacked a slick double to the gap in right – scoring Norris – as the deficit was 7-2.

Caccamo followed up with a walk and Baron’s night was complete.

Sauer came in throw and got Connor Cyr to pop-out at short as West Hartford escaped a jam.

In the bottom of the stanza, Roberge was one strike away from a 1-2-3 inning, but three consecutive singles led to two runs and a 9-2 push for West Hartford.

“I was happy Isaac threw okay,” said LaPenta of Roberge. 

Sanchez added his second hit of the showdown in the sixth, a single to left, but never made it off first base.

West Hartford’s James Berry led off the sixth with a home run, making it 10-2, and made way for Bristol’s Josh Dunn to throw from the hill with one out.

Dunn induced the final two outs and going into the top of the seventh, Post 2 was chasing eight runs.

And Bristol never put anything together as West Hartford maintained its lead in the Zone 3 National division with its 10-2 win from Conard.

“They’re a decent club,” said LaPenta of West Hartford. “They can hit a little bit. This is one of those games where I want to win it but I’m not wasting a top pitcher here. We only face them once and I told the guys the goal is to be playing our best baseball at the end of the year come playoff time.”

Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3 Showdown

WEST HARTFORD 10, BRISTOL 2

from Conard High School, West Hartford

Bristol (3-3-1) 000 110 0 – 2 6 3

West Hartford (8-1) 113 221 x – 10 11 2

WP – James Sauer (West Hartford); LP – Gavin Colvin (Bristol)

Bristol Batting

2B – Edward Sanchez, Ryan Maglio

3B – None

HR – None

West Hartford Batting

2B – Matt Santoro

3B – James Sauer

HR – Kieran Fournier

Records: West Hartford 8-1 overall; Bristol 3-3-1