By Michael Letendre

When your scholastic baseball team shoots off to a 12-0 start, there’s probably a good chance the squad will have more than a couple all conference performers on it.

And that was certainly true about the program over at Bristol Central this year.

The Rams, 15-7 overall in 2023, had some tremendous early season success and won a Class L first round state tournament game before bowing out.

Central coach Bunty Ray had a talented group and four of his players were recently named to the CCC South All-Conference team.

That grouping includes Senior Mike Allan, junior-transfer Joe Gratta, junior Nate Pirog and sophomore Aiden Lopez.

Each one of those athletes contributed immensely to the 15-win program

The key ingredient to remember about the group was, in terms of offense, those players could be plugged anywhere in the lineup – being able to bat in position one through nine – and produce for the squad.

Here’s a look at all four of Ray’s CCC South, All-Conference performers:

Allan

A defensive standout at shortstop, Allan played extremely well and was of the respected leaders of the program along with fellow senior All-Stater Frank Spirito.

When Allan wasn’t making big plays in the infield, he was getting the job done from the dish.

Allan batted a healthy .328 – several points over the team average of .264 – while enjoying a tremendous .403 on-base percentage.

Eight walks helped his cause and he went a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases.

His 21 hits and 19 runs led the program while also kicking in a double and triple along the way.

Allan certainly made a living with his nifty play at shortstop but his offensive abilities were certainly a big deal to the program as well.

The three-sport star (soccer and basketball) will be hard to replace and remembered for his hustle and guile.

Lopez

Speaking of basketball, Allan was joined by Lopez on the basketball team – starting several games – while providing a solid arm and bat for Ray’s squad.

The sophomore standout went 4-3 overall but there were some hard luck losses mixed in as his excellent 2.62 ERA would indicate.

In 34.67 innings pitched, he allowed just 13 earned runs while leading the program in strikeouts with 59.

Opponents batted just .148 against the chucker – connecting on only 18 hits.

Of course, Lopez’s biggest win of the season came back on April 26 as he and Nick Krompegal went on to no-hit Platt over a 7-0 triumph in Meriden.

Lopez went on to pitch six of those innings while Krompegal mopped up in the end.

One week previous, Lopez gave up three hits in Central’s 10-3 thrashing of Platt and while his pitching was near elite, his bat did a lot of talking as well.

For the season, Lopez averaged one hit in every three at-bats – good for a .333 average, second on the squad.

He tallied 19 hits, including a double and a blazing triple against Plainville on April 7 in Central’s 2-1 win over the Blue Devils.

Lopez walked a team-leading 17 times and stole six bases along the way.

With an on-base percentage of .474 while slugging the ball at a .386 clip, Lopez was a complete player for the program.

Pirog

The chucker was everything to the Central pitching staff this season, and more, leading the squad in innings pitched (48.67) when Spirito was hurt.

He started a program best eight games, leading to a stellar 4-2 ledger.

His ERA of 1.15 was an amazing number for the junior as well as his 52 strikeouts and 12 walks (4.3 K-to-BB ratio).  

Pirog allowed just eight earned runs and went the distance five times this past spring.

He pitched a five hit shutout against Eastern the first time around on May 5 in Central’s 10-0 win in six innings from Muzzy Field as the Rams moved to a perfect 12-0 overall.

In the rematch between crosstown rivals on May 23, Pirog was a winner again in Central’s 7-1 victory – helping the program snap a six-game losing skid.

He went seven innings again, totaling nine strikeouts and allowing just six hits for Eastern.

Pirog should be one of the featured pitchers for the team next season as well.

Gratta

When Central was humming this year, it was off the power of Gratta – a slick-wielding centerfielder – who was excellent from the leadoff position when the Rams were cruising and undefeated to start the season.

The transfer from Southington led Central with a .340 batting average – collecting a .493 on-base percentage that led the program.

Gratta went 18-for-53 from the plate, scored 17 runs, smashed out two doubles and a team best four triples as his motor was one of the major reasons while he caught just about everything hit to him in center (remember the catch against Plainville?).

He also added 11 walks, two sacrifices, nine RBI and four stolen bases – doing a little here and a lot there to push Central’s offense.

Out of the 26 batters hit by a pitch at Central this past season, Grata was plunked a team-leading seven times.

And to Gratta’s credit, he had a keen eye at the dish, striking out only six times this year.

In that 10-3 win versus Platt, Gratta went 3-for-4 with a couple triples, setting the tone of the season he was about to have for his new school.

CCC South All-Conference, Baseball Team (2023)

SOUTH DIVISION

Berlin – Evan Gentile, Max Weber

Bristol Central – Mike Allan, Joe Gratta, Aiden Lopez, Nate Pirog

Bristol Eastern – Ben D’Amato

Lewis Mills – Matt Chirumbolo, Jayden Longdin, Thomas O’Connell, Ben Rewenko

Maloney – Jesus Arraez, Tyler Duffy, Raff Rodriguez, Luke Weisenberg

Middletown – John O’Brien, Tyler Powell, Eric Wilson

Plainville – Sean Egan

Platt – Zach Baker