By Michael Letendre
SOUTH WINDSOR – The Bristol American Legion 19U baseball got the performance of a lifetime by chucker Declan Schenck on Saturday afternoon when the locals battled South Windsor in a Zone 3 showdown from Rotary Field.
And the pitcher from Bristol Eastern posted an amazing no-hitter against the South Windsor squad but in the end, a couple sacrifices in the sixth led the home team to a 1-0 win.
Bristol fell to 10-10 overall with one game remaining on the docket at Enfield on Monday.
Schenck, who is having a tremendous second half of the season along with teammate Caleb Molinsky, was nearly untouchable.
He allowed just two free passes to Lucas and Sinacola with South Windsor stranding just one runner.
Overall, Schenck threw a complete game that included four strikeouts.
The run he allowed was unearned, throwing just 71 pitches – 44 for strikes.
South Windsor went 0-for-17 at the dish against Schenck.
Post 2 ended up generating three hits as Jayden Churchill (1-for-2, two walks), Josh Dunne and Gavin Colvin led the offensive charge.
Joe Dunne was plunked by a pitch while Nick Sconziano tallied two base-on-balls.
The locals simply couldn’t net the big hit with men on base, stranding nine runners overall, batting .136 for the game.
Connor Cyr and Churchill each tallied a steal, but South Windsor’s Brayden Edwards (six walks) earned the win over seven tough innings, throwing 105 pitches.
South Windsor improved to 11-10 overall but had to hang on to dear life.
The home squad was lucky to tally the winning run in the bottom of the sixth.
The leadoff batter from South Windsor bunted and an error on the play allowed him to reach first base safely.
After the home team brought in a pinch runner, he stole second base to get into scoring position.
The No. 9 batter sacrificed the runner to third and then from the leadoff position, South Windsor’s Ben Balducci launched a fly ball for the second out – leading to a game winning sacrifice fly – as South Windsor nabbed a 1-0 edge going into the final frame.
But Post 2 nearly answered in the seventh to force extra innings.
Joe Dunne led the seventh off with a base-on-balls but was erased at second base via a 1-6 play off a bunt by Elliot Norris.
Norris, the ultimate speedster, ended up stealing second and third bases, and with just one away, Bristol had a good chance to tie up the game.
But Nick Sconziano struck out and Jayden Churchill popped out foul at first base to end the game as South Windsor survived a big scare, winning 1-0 battle in South Windsor.
The final game of the regular season was scheduled for noon on Sunday at Enfield.
However, it rained and will be made up on Monday.
NOTES…Schenck deserves congratulations for his no-hit effort despite giving up an unearned run over a hard luck loss. However, several teams have lost games despite its pitcher throwing a no-no. Back on July 1, 1990, New York Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter and lost against the Chicago White Sox. New York ended up dropping a tough 4-0 decision. What was the Sox final line? Try four runs on no hits as the Yankees made two big errors. All the runs were scored in the eighth frame (look it up. It was a crazy game, and I was on vacation in New Brunswick, Canada when this tomfoolery happened. What bearing does that fact have on this story? Why, absolutely nothing!).
Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3, Senior Division
SOUTH WINDSOR 1, BRISTOL 0
from Rotary Field, South Windsor
Bristol (10-10) 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
South Windsor (11-10) 000 001 0 – 1 0 0
WP – Brayden Edwards (South Windsor); LP – Declan Schenck (Bristol, no-hitter)
South Windsor Batting
2B – Nope
3B – Sorry
HR – Absolutely none, leading to the no-hitter
Bristol Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Records: South Windsor 11-10 overall; Bristol 10-10.
