By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Blues of the New England Collegiate Baseball League have made an improbable run to the championship round this year.
After posting an 18-18-1 ledger near the end of the regular season, the Blues have won seven of its past eight games to represent the Western Division in the title tilt.
On Friday night, with Bristol leading its series against the Sanford Mariners 1-0, the Blues qualified for the championship with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory from Muzzy Field in Bristol.
“We’re going to the championship,” said the Blues Twitter feed. “A 4-2 win over Sanford means we will play the for it all against the winner of the Newport/Danbury series!”
That wasn’t exactly a given on July 28 when the Blues’ postseason future wasn’t so bright.
In fact, Bristol needed to win its final game, plus have a little luck along the way, in order to have a shot at the Fay Vincent, Sr. Cup.
Bristol’s six run triumph at the Valley Blue Sox – coupled with some critical losses around the NECBL – meant that the Blues had a pulse going into the playoffs.
“We’re in,” said the Blues’ Twitter feed. “A 10-4 win at the Valley Blue Sox and some help around the league means we are going back to the playoffs.”
And after an epic opening loss to the Valley Blue Sox on July 31, putting Bristol behind the eight ball in its best-of-three series, the locals have not lost since – going a slick 4-0 the rest of the way and now are on the doorstep of a NECBL Championship and the cup.
Here’s a quick look at Bristol’s march through the quarterfinals as Bristol came from behind to steal the series away from Valley:
Best-of-three quarterfinals against the Valley Blue Sox
Game 1 – Valley Red Sox 6, Bristol Blues 5 (13) – Monday, July 31
*Bristol nabbed leads of 2-0 and 5-2 through four innings of play but could not hold on in the end, dropping a tough 6-5 decision from McKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Massachusetts over a 13-inning showdown.
The Blues were limited to just five total hits and went scoreless over the final nine innings of play.
Skye Selinsky went 2-for-6 for Bristol with an RBI and a run scored.
Bristol starter Peter Ostensen went 4.2 innings (four hits, two runs, two walks) and was long gone before the final decision was made as the teams used a combined 12 pitchers.
Danny Macchiarola (1 IP, two hits, two Ks) drew the late-inning loss for the Blues.
With the loss, Bristol was forced to win the final two games with the finale coming on the road from McKenzie Stadium.
Game 2 – Bristol Blues 5, Valley Blue Sox 0 – Tuesday, August 1
*In an amazing performance, former Bristol Eastern standout Jagger Duquette put together an amazing complete game shutout.
Duquette, posting a two-hitter, absolutely blitzed Valley’s batting order from start to finish – leading the Blues to a 5-0 triumph from Muzzy Field.
The win tied the series up at 1-1 as Duquette was nearly untouchable that evening in Bristol.
Duquette fanned seven while walking just two as baserunners were at a premium with the stud dealing from the mound.
Valley stranded three runners on base but none of those athletes were in a good position to score.
Bristol roped up nine hits, scoring twice in the first frame, while adding another tally in the second stanza to rope up a 3-0 edge for its outstanding pitcher.
Connor Goodman (double, run scored), Selinsky (triple, RBI), Darius Troche and Cal Parrillo all roped out two hits apiece for Bristol while Tyler Fote (double, run, walk) added the other hit for the victors.
It was a huge victory for Duquette, moving the chucker to 4-0 overall on the season, leading to a third and final game on Wednesday on the road.
Game 3 – Bristol Blues 10, Valley Blue Sox 3 – Wednesday, August 2
*By the time Valley final tallied a run against Bristol in the win or go home challenge, Bristol was already up by 10 runs – snaring a seven-run victory to qualify for the Final Four of the NECBL playoffs.
The Blues roped up 11 total hits as nine different players added something to the till.
Simsbury’s Luke Benneche earned the series clinching victory, going five innings over a slick two-hit, one-walk and six strikeout performance.
Offensively for Bristol, the squad roped up six extra base hits to score early and often.
Jordan Payton (2-for-5), West Hartford’s Dan Hussey, Parrillo (2-for-3) and Goodman all tallied doubles while Griffin Arnone and Joey Rios each smoked out triples to lead the Bristol contingent at the dish.
Billy Sullivan went 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBI.
The Blues notched a run in the first frame, added another two in the second while posting three in the third to snare a 6-0 cushion that Valley never seriously challenged.
Valley ended the postseason at 1-2 while winning the West Division at 23-18, one game better than Bristol.
The win pushed the Blues into the Final Four against the only NECBL squad from Maine.
NOTES…The Blues improved to 23-19-1 after winning the series against the Blue Sox…You can read about Bristol’s sweep over the Sanford Mariners in the next TBE story on the Blues.
