By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – After the Bristol American Legion baseball team dropped a tough 11-1 decision to Ellington on June 16, perhaps there was a little revenge on Post 2’s minds when the teams came together for a rematch on Sunday afternoon.

And Bristol pitcher Ryan Maglio helped his squad get a little payback, going the distance over an 84-pitch gem as the locals foiled Ellington by a 3-1 final from Muzzy Field in Bristol.

Post 2 improved to 4-3-3 overall as Maglio was clutch from start to finish.

He allowed just one run on five hits, did not hand out a free pass while striking out nine against the best Zone 3 had to offer.

“He pitched awesome, just absolutely awesome even after a half-hour rain delay,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta of Maglio. “He came back out and was just throwing strikes. He took a little off his fastball. It was almost like a change-up a little bit in the meat of the [Ellington] order. He got in a little trouble there in the sixth when they had their four, five and six batters up.”

“But we got out of it up 3-1.”

Ellington fell to 8-3 over the losing effort.

Bristol notched three runs off losing pitcher Jacob Niemczyk (three runs, three hits, two Ks, four walks) who was foiled after a brief rain delay before the fifth inning could commence.

Maglio started the contest with zest, posting two strikeouts while Tommy Lesco’s single did not produce any run-scoring opprotunites for Ellington.

In the bottom of the first, Post 2 was fairly active at the plate.

Nick Sconziano led off with a walk but was erased at second base on Elliot Norris’s fielder’s choice.

Maglio was then plunked by a pitch, putting two runners on, but two fly-ball outs later, Ellington had wiggled out of the jam.

Maglio allowed a leadoff single to Luke Wearne to open the second but an unassisted 6-3 double play – started by a slick stomp of second base from Norris – had the stanza over in a jiffy.

Bristol’s Josh Dunne earned a two-out walk in the bottom of the second but never advanced as the scoreless affair went into the third tilt.

And Maglio had five Ks by the completion of the third, allowing just two hits and throwing to just one batter over the minimum.

But Niemczyk didn’t throw many pitches in the bottom of the third, quickly going 1-2-3 as the scoreless stalemate lumbered into the fourth frame.

Ellington’s Troy Enamait slapped a double to left field with two away in the fourth, but Maglio picked the runner off second base, via a slick tag from Norris, to end the inning with the visitors still looking for its first run while Niemczyk had a no-hitter going into the fifth.

And then the rain came at 1 p.m., causing a slight delay, as play resumed about 40 minutes later.

Maglio picked up where he left off after the delay, throwing strikes and producing three outs over a nine-pitch fifth frame.

And then, the game fell apart on Ellington in the bottom of the tilt. 

Bristol’s Connor Cyr broke up the no hitter, blasting a hit that bounced off Niemczyk on the hill, slowly rolling towards first base.

Cyr earned an infield hit and with one out, Joe Dunne followed with a flare to right as two men were on.

And when Sconziano drew his second walk of the day, ducks were in the pond for Norris.

Norris delivered a grounder to shortstop and the throw over to second base got Sconziano for the second out as Cyr scored from third, making it a 1-0 game.

But the first baseman couldn’t gather the ball on the attempted double play as the error allowed Joe Dunne to come home for Bristol’s second run.

And finally, an RBI single to center by Cole Caccamo saw Norris easily tag the dish from second base, pushing the Ellington deficit to 3-0 through five.

“Cole had a big two-out hit for an insurance run,” said LaPenta of Caccamo. “It was huge because [a] 2-1 [lead] is a lot different in the top of the seventh than 3-1. Cole gets that two-out hit and that was huge.”

But the visiting aggression tried to cobble something together in the sixth, putting men on second and third with one out. 

A 6-3 groundout by Colby McCormick scored Brandon Andersen to chop the deficit to 3-1 but Ellington stranded two runners to end the stanza as Maglio punched out his eighth batter.

Bristol was retired in order in the sixth by Niemczyk, but Ellington was down to its final three outs in the top of the seventh, trailing by a couple runs.

Ellington hung on until the end, seeing Dylan Aafedt eke out an infield hit to shortstop, but Mike Flores grounded out to second to end the game as Bristol scooped up an impressive 3-1 victory over the Zone 3 leader.

“In the seventh inning, Mags was throwing strikes,” said LaPenta. “They [Ellington] were in first place. They were 8-2 and that was a nice win for us.”

“You’re counting on a ‘W’ when Mags is on the mound so that was huge.”

Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3 Showdown

BRISTOL 3, ELLINGTON 1

from Muzzy Field, Bristol

Ellington (8-3) 000 001 0 – 1 5 1

Bristol (4-3-3) 000 030 0 – 3 3 0

WP – Ryan Maglio (Bristol); LP – Jacob Niemczyk (Ellington)

Ellington Batting

2B – Troy Enamait

3B – None

HR – None

Bristol Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None

LOB – Ellington 4; Bristol 5.

Records: Bristol 4-3-3 overall; Ellington 8-3 overall.