By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Bristol Central pitcher Ty Davis might have played just a half-season for the Rams this past spring.
However, when Davis took the mound for Central, good things usually happened.
After winning a state title at St. Paul Catholic in 2022, Davis ended up transferring over to Bristol Central.
With a deep pitching rotation, the then junior was pushed by a talented array of talented chuckers.
He more than held his own and will do so again next season at BCHS in what should be a full season of action.
But before school even got back into session this year, the soon to be senior recently squared away his collegiate plans.
This past weekend, Davis made a big announcement on Twitter, saying that he will be taking his baseball talents to Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
“I am honored to announce my commitment to play Division 1 Baseball and continue my academic career at Bryant University,” said Davis via Twitter on Saturday.
The Bulldogs are a NCAA Division I program, competing in the America East Conference which means Davis will be playing a game or two in Connecticut during his collegiate adventures.
Davis, a righty on the mound, has a little beef to match his ever-speedy fastball.
The pitcher is a legit 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and ended up on Bryant’s University’s radar with a little help from some summer showcases and tournaments.
His statistics back up a soon to be NCAA Division I standout.
This past March, from the 2023 Scout CT Grind, Davis was chucking his fastball at 86 mph.
He can actually throw that pitch into the upper-80s and has a changeup and slider he can reliably turn to.
And the former St. Paul Catholic and current BCHS standout is looking forward to the collegiate grind after one final scholastic campaign at Central.
“I first would like to thank my parents, loved ones, and coaches who were in my corner throughout the entire process,” said Davis on Twitter. “I also would like to thank Coach Klosterman, Coach Cronin, and the rest of the Bryant coaching staff for presenting me with this opportunity.”
The senior has been extremely busy playing this summer, showing off his talents to many different schools and institutions.
Just last week, Davis was battling several talented players at Boston College.
He was doing a little of everything to get the scouts’ attention before eventually making his selection of Bryant.
Frankly, Davis has the confidence to back up all his outstanding play on the diamond.
“[I] had a great outing at Boston College,” said Davis of his July 22 showing. “[I had a] complete game shutout (6 IP, 8 Ks, 3 hits & 2 walks.) Good feel overall. Picked off 3 runners at first base.”
It was the first of a couple showings for Davis from Massachusetts.
Full speed ahead
Fans of Bristol Central baseball will be able to see much more of Davis this coming season.
He had to sit out several games during his junior campaign due to transfer rules – making the trek across the city from St. Paul Catholic to Bristol Central.
Davis was able to throw in preseason games at Central, earning several saves over cold scrimmages and warm-ups.
And when the heat of the spring returned, and Davis was finally able to compete, the young man excelled when the lights were at their brightest.
When Davis earned chances to play, he added his abilities to a team that started the campaign off at 12-0.
He went 2-2 overall in 2022 with the squad a bit in flux due to an injury to Frank Spirito (3-0).
Davis ended up throwing 23 innings, allowed 18 hits while striking out 17 – walking only nine.
Opponents batted just .191 against Davis and his 1.22 ERA was a tremendous contribution to Central’s squad last season.
The pitcher will rejoin the likes of Nate Pirog (4-2 overall, 52 Ks, eight earned runs, 1.15 ERA) who was recently invited to throw in Australia back in June.
Pirog had an excellent campaign for the Rams last year and Davis will help augment that excellent pitching rotation along with Aiden Lopez (4-3 overall, 2.62 ERA, team-leading 59 Ks).
Davis was just finding his groove in the regular season, putting together a 6.2 inning, five strikeout, four hit, two earned run effort against Farmington, when the playoffs were upon the squad.
After a tremendous 14-6 regular season, Central defeated Hand in first round play before getting blitzed by Notre Dame-West Haven (9-0) to end the year.
Overall, the Rams went 15-7 and Davis hopes to have a big senior year before heading off to Rhode Island.
Bryant ended the 2022 campaign at 30-27 as the Bulldogs were 17-10 in conference play.
The squad’s ERA of 6.10 was a bit on the high side and Davis can help with that when he arrives.
However, that’s down the road a bit as Davis has one scholastic season left to play.
Expect some big things from Davis and the Bristol Central baseball program in 2023-24.
