By Michael Letendre

PLAINVILLE – The Bristol Eastern baseball team dropped a heartbreaking 11-10 decision to Plainville on Saturday as an RBI single by Tucker Rau in the bottom of the seventh proved to be the game-winning hit – propelling the Blue Devils to a come-from-behind win.

The contest, played from Plainville high school, saw the home team trail 10-8 going into the bottom of the seventh.

And Plainville scored three runs to end the seventh as Tyler Bonney dropped in an RBI triple and later scored on an error on a Brennan Staubley grounder to third to make it a 10-10 game.

Alec Couture was then intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second, and when Rau’s offering to short center field dropped in cleanly, Staubley sprinted home for the game-winning tally.

“You’re looking at the scoreboard and see a lot of runs up there but really, when you’re down 10-8, you’re down 2-0,” said Plainville coach Lou Mandeville. “That’s what I said. We’re only down 2-0, let’s scrap here for three and leave them on the field. Even the inning before, we went down 9-8, [but] you’re only down 1-0.”

“In other words, you’re trying to pick what could be a negative and turn it positive.” 

Plainville (4-3 overall) held an early 8-4 lead but then allowed the Lancers (0-6) six straight runs as Eastern snared a 10-8 edge.

And when Eastern reliever Jaydon Churchill (2-for-5, three runs allowed on two hits, 3 Ks) came into throw in the bottom of the fourth, he did not allow a hit until the final inning in what turned into a tough-luck loss.

“He is the ultimate competitor. He’s a bulldog,” said Eastern coach Steve Gaudet of Churchill. “Offensively, it’s running the bases. And pitching, he gives me everything I could ask for. I don’t know if I ever coached a kid in basketball or baseball where I just put him in a certain position where he’s not accustomed or used to and he goes out and excels. I’m batting him leadoff. He’s getting on base, he’s stealing bases, he’s making every play in the field, he’s throwing strikes and pitching his heart out.”

“I can’t ask for anything more, I can’t expect any more, and he’s giving everything he has. Now, we need some other people to step up.”

The Blue Devils jumped on Eastern starter Andrew Lozier in the first frame as Staubley (1-for-3, three runs scored) was plunked by a pitch and Couture (1-for-2, two runs, two RBI) then sent a ball over the fence in left for a two-run homer to make it a 2-0 game through one.

Couture, who started on the hill for Plainville, fanned the Eastern side in both the first and second innings before the Blue Devils added a run in the bottom of the second.

Plainville’s Tanner Callahan walked, stealing second and third base and scored on an error to make it 3-0 through two completed frames.

But in the third, the Lancers took the lead when Lozier (1-for-2, double, three walks) and Tyler Stickels (HR, four RBI) drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to chop the deficit to 3-2.

Ben D’Amato (1-for-3) then slipped in a one-hopper to center for an RBI when a wild pitch scored Stickels for the final run of the inning, the Lancers nabbed a 4-3 push.

However, Plainville grabbed the lead right back.

Jayden Cumbo (1-for-3) sent an RBI single past first base to tie the game up and off a wild pitch, Couture tagged the dish to make it a 5-4 game.

Matt Lagassey added a double to left to score Cumbo and with runners on second and third, Owen Leander sent a base hit to left – plating two – as Plainville scooped up an 8-4 cushion through three.

And then in the fourth, two huge hits by Eastern propelled the Kingstreeters to a 9-8 lead.

With the bases juiced, Lozier sent a double over the head of the right fielder as Preston Guarda and Dylan Woodsome (1-for-2, two walks) scored to chop the deficit to 8-6.

From there, Stickels drained a long fly ball to right which was lost in the tough sun – completely freezing the fielder.

Tyler Martin (two walks, two runs), Lozier and then Stickels scampered home as Eastern snared that 9-8 push.

Churchill relieved Lozier on the hill in the fourth and over the next three frames, the chucker hit one batter and walked three more but none of those runners came home to score.

In the fifth, Woodsome drilled a single to left to plate pinch-hitter Ryan Fradette as Eastern went ahead 10-8.

But Eastern stranded Woodsome on third to end the frame and Churchill was stuck on the same base to finish the seventh as Tucker Rau, coming on for Couture in the fifth, allowed just one run on five hits over his three innings of work to keep Eastern’s offense at bay.

“We had better at bats,” said Gaudet. “But then, you know what, in the fifth and seventh inning, we left guys on second and third base. And I kept telling them, we need a couple more, we need a couple insurance runs because if you look around at baseball scores, they are like football scores – like today.”

“And you never know what’s going to happen, so we needed to tack on a couple more. That’s what came back to bite us.”

And the top of the seventh was important for Plainville as Churchill singled and Lozier walked with both runners getting into scoring position before a huge pop-out ended the half-inning with the home team ready to put together its game-winning drive.

“The kids fought back,” said Mandeville. “They kept their composure, they hung together and kept working up at the plate. They found a way to put the ball in play and make some big things happen.”

Churchill got the first Plainville batter to look at strike three and later generated a fly-out as Eastern still led 10-8 with two gone and a man on first base before the game fell apart.

And Plainville made everything click with two outs on the board and the game hanging in the balance to take it in the end, 11-10, as Tucker generated the game-winning hit.

“You know, there hasn’t been a lot of baseball played in the last year or so and in games like this, it shows,” said Mandeville. “But I told them we just want to have the larger number on the scoreboard when the game is over, and we got that done. We’ll go back to work tomorrow and work on some of the things we need to work on.”

“But I’m proud of the kids because that shows a lot of character. Persevering is such a huge word whether it’s in baseball or in life. It’s important to preserve and fight through adversity and they did that.”

For Eastern, the program has been playing better and better by the game and that first victory is just around the corner.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” said Gaudet. “We’ve got to make plays. Our pitching staff is not our strength, so we need to make plays behind them. We have to make sure we shore that up and fix that.”

CCC Interdivisional Baseball

PLAINVILLE 11, BRISTOL EASTERN 10 

from the Plainville high school varsity field

Bristol Eastern (0-6) 004 510 0 – 10 7 6

Plainville (4-3) 215 000 3 – 11 7 2

Battery – Bristol Eastern: Andrew Lozier, Jaydon Churchill (4) & Nate Ouellette; Plainville: Alec Couture, Tucker Rau (5) & Matt Lagassey.

WP: Tucker Rau; LP: Jaydon Churchill (BE)

Bristol Eastern Batting

2B – Andrew Lozier

3B – None

HR – Tyler Stickels

Plainville Batting

2B – Matt Lagassey

3B – Tyler Booney

HR – Alec Couture

Records: Plainville 4-3 overall; Bristol Eastern 0-6