By Michael Letendre

SIMSBURY – After the Bristol American Legion baseball team earned a trip to the pay window on Thursday – shutting out Simsbury over a 10-0 mercy-ruled victory – Post 2 moved to 3-3 in Zone 1 play.

It was a critical triumph for Bristol as the program is about to embark in its most important portion of the schedule to date.

This coming week, Post 2 plays on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in four huge Zone 1 confrontations.

Sunday sees West Hartford travel to Bristol (1 p.m.) while the following Tuesday, Post 2 squares off against Berlin from Sage Park at 6:30 p.m.

Avon then travels to Bristol on Wednesday while Thursday sees Meriden invade Muzzy Field.

Game time for each of those events is 5:45 p.m.

“It’s a big stretch,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “We have to make some hay in those next four games.”

West Hartford was undefeated in Zone 1 play until dropping a tough 4-3 decision to Avon last Wednesday from Hall high school.

Avon led 4-0 in that contest and never looked back despite a gallant comeback by West Hartford.

As things stand in Zone 1 today, West Hartford is in first place at 4-1 with Avon just a half-game behind (3-1).

Naugatuck and surprising Meriden are both 3-2 – one game back in the Zone 1 hunt – while Post 2 is in the mix at 3-3, just 1.5 games out of first place in a very crowded field.

“We got to .500 in the zone,” said LaPenta off the Simsbury win. “We saw West Hartford got beat [against Avon]. We’ll play them Sunday.”

Give credit to Bristol’s Andrew Lozier who went all six innings against Simsbury on the mound, throwing 95 pitches and allowing just two hits over a shutout effort.

LaPenta had Roberto Cruz warming up in the bullpen early in the sixth inning, but the chucker was not called upon in the end.

Cruz will be ready this week if Bristol decides to throw him on the mound, last pitching – and winning – against Newington in Bristol’s 5-3 victory last Sunday.

And on Sunday, LaPenta is going to turn to his hired gun on the hill.

Bristol will be going to Michael Lorenzetti in his second start of the year against West Hartford.

After allowing just two hits in a tough 4-2 loss to Naugatuck the previous Sunday, the big man is ready to go in hopes of starting the busy week off with a Bristol victory.

“Lorenzetti is going to pitch,” said LaPenta. “Hopefully, we’ll have a good outing, get a few runs, and get a ‘W.’”

The West Hartford showdown is the biggest game to date for Bristol

Even as the season has yet to reach its midpoint, the challenge against West Hartford on Sunday is a must-win showdown for Bristol.

“It’s going to be huge,” said LaPenta of the West Hartford challenge. “They’re going to be a top team in the zone.”

A critical goal for Bristol this season is to finish in one of the top two slots of the Zone 1 standings and a berth into the regional qualifier.

Getting into the regional qualifier would help Bristol avoid the murky play-in round which is tough for even top teams to win.

That’s why the game against West Hartford the second time around (Post 2 lost at West Hartford 4-3 to open the season) is a must get.

“In the middle of July, the first and second place team in each zone goes to play what they’re calling a regional qualifier,” said LaPenta. “Those two teams go and if you win that, you go onto the Regionals. If you don’t make it, the top five teams play in just a regular straight tournament.”

Getting to the pay window against West Hartford also ensures that Bristol has a chance to win the season-series against the program.

If Bristol can win each series against every Zone 1 opponent this year, the road to the postseason becomes much easier to navigate through.

“Obviously, it’s a huge game,” said LaPenta of West Hartford. “It’s also a huge game because I told the guys we have to win two out of three [against every team]. If you win two out of three, you’re going to be in a good spot against everybody and we already lost once to [West Hartford].”

“We’ve got to win that one.”