By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – After a huge victory over rival Bristol Central the previous evening, the Bristol Eastern baseball squad was right back in the mix, tangling with Southington – ranked fifth in the latest The GameTimeCT Top 10 Baseball Poll – in a CCC Interdivisional challenge on Friday.
And through five innings, it was anybody’s game under the bright lights at Muzzy Field.
It was all tied up at 4-4 with two outs in the top of the sixth and it appeared the Lancers were going finish the half-frame with a pop-up putout in short right center.
But the ball was dropped, and things fell apart quickly from there.
The Knights ended up scoring two runs in the sixth, added three more in the seventh, and in the end, Eastern was on the wrong side of a 9-4 final in Bristol.
Southington moved to 12-0 overall while Eastern, snake bitten once again, fell to 2-10.
But the Knights, one of the best programs in state, had its hands full early as the Lancers answered the visitors run for run before that fateful sixth inning saw things fall apart.
Offensively for Eastern, Andrew Lozier went a perfect 3-for-3 with two singles and a home run.
He also walked and collected four RBI over another big-time effort. Trevor Nohilly added a single and double as Eastern out-hit Southington, 9-8.
The Knights led 4-0 then had to withstand a four-pack of runs by Eastern, getting two in the third and nabbing a couple in the bottom of the fifth, and as the sixth inning commenced, the contest was all knotted up at 4-4.
Eastern’s Logan Schenck gave it one heck of an effort, pitching into the sixth inning.
After giving up four runs in the first two innings, only two of which were earned, Eastern went on the attack offensively.
The home team cut the deficit to 4-2 in the third tilt as Nohilly doubled and after two batters were plunked by the ball, Lozier singled in two runs.
Then in the fifth frame, Lozier did even more damage after Dylan Woodsome earned a base on balls.
Lozier homered over the right field fence – tying the game at 4-4 – as the Lancers were going head-to-head against the Knights.
Schenck retired the first two batters in the sixth, and then a double by Jackson Rusiecki, followed by a walk put two runners on for Southington.
Lozier relieved Schenck on the hill but then the game-changing error gave Southington the edge for good.
That dropped ball allowed two runs to score and propelled the Knights to a 6-4 lead.
And then Southington added three more runs in the seventh as a wild pitch allowed a runner to score and two RBI singles made it a 9-4 game to end things.
Josh Pyle won the game for Southington in relief while Schenck – who deserved a better fate in the end – drew a tough loss.
CCC Interdivisional Baseball
SOUTHINGTON 9, BRISTOL EASTERN 4
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
Southington (12-0) 130 002 3 – 9 8 0
Bristol Eastern (2-10) 002 020 0 – 4 9 4
Battery – Southington: Devan Bade, Connor Whitehead (3), Josh Pyle (5), Jack McManus (7) & Jake DellaVecchia; Bristol Eastern: Logan Schenck, Andrew Lozier (6) & Cameron Moore
WP: Josh Pyle (S); LP: Logan Schenck (BE)
Southington Batting
2B – Jackson Rusiecki (S), Drew Belcourt (S)
3B – None
HR – None
Bristol Eastern Batting
2B – Trevor Nohilly
3B – None
HR – Andrew Lozier
Records: Southington 12-0 overall; Bristol Eastern 2-10 overall
