By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Senior American Legion Baseball program has qualified for the postseason every year since 1993.
And the squad from 2023 made it 30-for-30 with its showing in the postseason this year – ranked 18th in Connecticut’s annual 19U Tournament fray.
The locals made one heck of an appearance in first round play against South Windsor, falling by a single run over a tremendous battle.
“They played hard all year long for me,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta of his team. “Like I told them, as long as I’ve been coaching, we’ve made the playoffs and they kept it going. It’s something to be proud of.”
After a 10-11 regular season, it appeared Bristol would be shut out of the playoff picture despite a near .500 finish.
In the end, Post 2 qualified for the big dance – just missing out on a home berth.
However, it took a little midseason work to get there.
After dropping two close decisions at RCP and Middletown to end the month of June, Bristol put together a great stretch of games.
Post 2 won six of eight contests to climb to three games over .500 – moving to 10-7-1, putting together a slick state playoff push.
“We had a nice run there for ten days,” said LaPenta. “So, I was really happy with that.”
During the middle of July, Bristol snared wins at Ridgefield (6-2), Simsbury (3-1) and came from behind to pickoff Torrington (8-3) after trailing by two runs in a suspended game on July 12 to keep its postseason push alive.
However, there was a little adversity along the way.
The locals dropped its final four games of the regular season, including a ridiculous 1-0 loss at South Windsor on July 15 in which Bristol pitcher Declan Schenck threw a no-hitter but still lost due to a late game error.
“I’ve been in baseball for 45 years and never had a no-hitter and lost,” said LaPenta. “It was unbelievable. But we had chances to win that game. We had the bases loaded with one out but didn’t score. We had guys on second and third with one out [and] we didn’t score. We had guys on second base twice and just couldn’t get a hit.”
“I felt bad for Declan because it was his error that allowed the guy to get on base [who eventually scored, otherwise] we might still be playing.”
In the end, a sacrifice fly by Ben Balducci in the bottom of the sixth stanza gave South Windsor a 1-0 lead.
Bristol’s Elliot Norris nearly got that run back in the seventh, stealing two bases, to make it all the way to third but never scored.
Even losing in the one-and-done playoff format, the locals – who truly never enjoyed a full roster of players due to injuries and the like – gave 15th ranked South Windsor, who turned into a nemesis of sorts for Bristol along the way over three hotly contested games, a boatload of heartburn.
In that state tournament challenge, trailing 3-0 through five innings, Bristol’s offense sprang to life – scoring three straight runs to make it a 3-3 affair.
However, South Windsor won the event 4-3 in eight innings as Post 2 showed plenty of guts and guile throughout 2023.
“It’s been an up and down year,” said LaPenta. “In baseball, you lose a couple tough ones. You lose a no-hitter and it’s tough to rebound.”
Post 2 had a little help this season with players from both Wolcott and Farmington – making the Bristol squad a tri-town program that gave opportunity to several different players.
Bristol veterans Jaydon Churchill and Norris led the crew and had a lot of help from multiple sources.
Connor Cyr, Ryan Maglio and Jed Sutula – all from Bristol Eastern – were there from start to finish and were joined by some talented non-Bristol help.
Farmington’s Cole Caccamo was a bulldog in right field with a great arm and power at the plate to boot.
That Dave Winfield like canon he used in right field put opposing runners on alert when trying to advance an extra base.
E.J. Sanchez was a slick infielder who did well in the middle of the batting order while Wolcott brought over a three-pack of talented players.
Nick Sconziano ended up at the leadoff position in the batting order for several games while Joe and Josh Duane certainly had their moments throughout the campaign towards the tail-end of the line-up.
And while the group didn’t have a full complement of players, the Junior squad provided an amazing shot in the arm with some badly needed help for the 19U program.
Gavin Colvin, Gabe White, Tyler Ryan, Caleb Simard and Schenck all shined brightly for the senior program – especially from the mound – as the 17U performers proved their worth on the big stage.
“There’s some talented juniors” said LaPenta about the squad’s future. “Realistically, Caleb and Gabe and even Mason Harris probably should have been with [the Senior team].”
“I did call them up quite a bit and they performed.”
And that above grouping will get plenty of playing time in 2024 with several Bristol Junior Legion teammates moving up to the senior level.
The future of the Bristol program is extremely bright with that group of reinforcements coming back to the fold.
“We do have a good nucleus coming back,” said LaPenta. “We’ll pick up a couple kids and we’ll be alright.”
“Hopefully, we’ll have this Zone 3 thing figured out…”
And that’s a story for another day with the likelihood of Berlin and New Britain reentering the mix and Farmington elevating its program to Senior standing.
Maybe Zone 1 could be resurrected with the additional of those programs from days gone by.
NOTES…Zone 3’s West Hartford won the 2023 19U Connecticut State Baseball Championship. The squad defeated Danbury twice in the championship series, outscoring the defending champs 16-2 over those two games.
American Legion Baseball – Senior Division
2023 Zone 3 – Final Standings
American Division: Ellington 14-7, Middletown 13-8, Tri-County 12-9, Northeast 11-10, South Windsor 11-10, Simsbury 10-11, Bristol 10-11.
National Division:West Hartford 17-4*, RCP 12-9, Enfield 10-11, Windsor Locks/Windsor 10-11, East Hartford/Manchester 6-15, Torrington 6-15, Glastonbury 3-18.
*West Hartford won the overall Zone 3 championship while seizing the 19U state title.