By Michael Letendre  

The Bristol Junior American Legion Baseball program had a tremendous start to the 2023 campaign before injuries, rain, call-ups and simple bad luck saw the Post 2 squad finish somewhere around the middle of the Zone 3 pack.

Over regular season play, Bristol’s 17U team finished at 11-8 but was able to get out of the Pod C bracket in state tournament action – making a run to the 17U Regionals as one of the final eight teams.

“All in all, it was a good year,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “We finished in the top eight of the state.” 

The squad, with the likes of Caleb Molinsky, Jonathan Montgomery, Gavin Colvin, Gabe White, Mason Harris, Jack Ericksen, Brian Grabowski, and Drew Martineau throwing from the mound, lost only once during the month of June and that lone setback came in extra innings – on a different day than the original game was played due to darkness.

And when the program was humming at the plate, opponents were in trouble from the start.

Over a five game stretch from June 10 to June 15, Bristol outscored opponents 59-10 – helping the team finish the month at 10-1 and in first place of the Zone 3 standings.

“This team started off great,” said LaPenta. “They were swinging the bats really good in the beginning of the season. We got off to that 10-0 start.” 

Post 2 entered the month of July with all the momentum in the world but just had a tough start.

Bristol went 0-4 to commence the new month before scooping up a 12-4 victory over NCL Windsor Locks/Windsor on July 7.

Martineau (5 IP) and Grabowski combined for a five-hitter, Tate Stevens, Harris and Montgomery all rolled up two hits apiece while Brayden Schenck was plunked by a pitch twice to lead the offensive charge.

That win was the only regular season triumph during the month of July as Bristol went 1-7.

“I think some of these younger kids, they’re not used to playing that much baseball,” said LaPenta. “They played JV, some of the guys were playing varsity, and guys got tired and hit the skids there.” 

But Post 2 earned a slot in the 17U Connecticut State Tournament field that included eventual state champion Naugatuck (Bristol never played the squad in postseason competition), Milford and RCP in Pod C play.

Ranked 11th in the 17U postseason fray, Bristol traveled to No. 6 Milford, dropping a tough 1-0 opening round decision on July 18 – forcing the squad to win both its remaining tournament games to qualify for the Regional.

Montgomery had a tremendous showing against Milford, going the distance with a 95-pitch effort over that one-loss setback.

Two days later, Bristol earned an 11-1 mercy rule win over No. 14 ranked RCP while No. 3 Naugatuck went 2-0, sweeping the competition and qualifying for the Connecticut Regional.

Molinsky, who was tremendous at the 19U level this year, went 2.2 innings – limited to just 45 pitches in the victory over RCP to maintain his eligibility – while Stevens went 3-for-3 with four RBI to lead the offense charge. 

But Post 2 had to win one final game, in a rematch against No. 6 Milford – a winner-takes-all challenge for the final Regional slot from Pod C.

And Bristol won that affair, 6-5, to advance in postseason play behind a tremendous complete game effort by Colvin to reach the 17U Regional.

“The last three or four games, we were getting better and better,” said LaPenta.   

In the B Regional, Bristol dropped a 10-run decision to Torrington on July 24 (11-1) and finally,   

Bristol fell to Farmington 4-0 a day later to finish the campaign at a more than respectable 13-11 overall. 

“We started swinging the bats a little better at the end,” said LaPenta. “All in all, I was happy with it.” 

The good news for most of these players is that there will be plenty of opportunities at the 19U level in 2024 when a couple of old teams return teams to the fold – perhaps getting the old Zone 1 band back together.

And it could be a very good year for Bristol come next summer if all the pieces are fit into place.

NOTE…Naugatuck ended up winning the Connecticut Championship, defeating Danbury 2-0 to move on to the Northeast Regionals. 

2023 American Legion Baseball – Junior Division  

Zone 3 – Final Regular Season Standings

Champion: Torrington 15-3-2 overall

Runner-up: West Hartford 15-4-1.

The Rest of Zone 3: Farmington 13-6, Tri-County 13-7, Waterford 12-7, Ellington 12-8, Bristol 11-8, South Windsor 11-9, RCP 10-10, Middletown 10-10, Norwich 6-11-3, Glastonbury 7-12, Simsbury 5-12-1, NCL Windsor Locks/Windsor 5-13-1, Enfield 4-15, EHM 2-16.