By Michael Letendre

TBE continues its look at the Bristol Merchants of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball and this week, the 2003 squad is under the microscope.

It was the third consecutive season of Merchants’ baseball in the GHTBL and the team had more than a couple studs.

The pitching staff included Plainville’s Scott Martin, Jerry Hasler, Chris Strahowski, Jarrett Stawarz, Brian Archibald – all former Independent League Baseball players – along with Adam Platt, Eric Baim, and Aaron Seibert.

Both Hackney brothers (Jeff and Matt) also played for the team.

Other additions included Lance Lamboley (Avery Point) and Josh Coleman.

Cory Parker did not play for the Merchants in 2003 and his bat was sorely missed.

Of course, head coach Bunty Ray, Adam Peters, Ryan Smith, Nate Gawitt, Kevin Kalmin, Chris Sawyer, and crew returned for another season.

The GHTBL was celebrating its 75th year of operation in 2003 with each team playing a 32-game slate with the double-elimination postseason tournament that followed.

And Muzzy Field was the home for most of the Merchants’ games and the program had many highlights over the summer of 2003.

The fun started on Saturday, May 31 as Bristol spun Meriden by a 10-6 final.

Strahowski won over a four-inning showing while Martin threw two relief frames in the Merchants’ opener.

Peters had a two-run homer while Smith and Lamboley added RBI singles to the winning effort.

A four-run fourth by the Merchants ended the showdown while Gawitt, Matt Hackney, Smith, and Ray had two hits apiece for Bristol.

And then on June 10, Martin (6.1 innings, four hits, four K’s, 1-0 record) won the contest for the Merchants over Mr. G’s, 4-3 – moving to 3-1 on the season.

Aaron Seibert threw two scoreless innings to earn the save against Mr. G’s.

Kyle Hackney added a two-run homer while Kalmin also blasted a home run for the Merchants.

Ray tallied a hit and a stolen base for the victors.

Then, locked in a 2-2 stalemate on June 24, Bristol notched four runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh as the Merchants defeated Mr. G’s, 8-3, in South Windsor to break a bit of a losing streak (7-4).

Mullins went 3-of-4 while Sawyer rambled up a 2-for-4 effort with a home run and a double.

Kalmin (two RBI) also doubled, and Martin won the game on the hill, giving up eight hits to send the defending regular season champs packing.

And then to end the month of June, Hasler allowed seven hits and struck out five lead Bristol to a 7-3 win over Mr. G’s from Muzzy Field.

He threw a complete game to help the Merchants break a three-game slide.

Mullins and Sawyer each tallied three hits to make it a 6-0 contest through four innings of play.

And in the second game, it was more of the same as Bristol defeated Mr. G’s, 6-2.

Ray (three hits) and Peters (two hits) smashed home runs while Archibald (seven hits) went the distance on the mound over the four-run victory as the Merchants moved to 9-7 overall.

Two weeks later, Sawyer dropped in a three-run home run as the Orioles from Vernon were shutout at home by the Merchants, 5-0, on July 13.

Martin struck out five over five innings of work while adding a double and two RBI to his tally.

Strahowski threw two innings of scoreless relief for Bristol as the squad won four out of its past six games as both teams moved to 11-9 overall.

After three straight loses, Bristol got back to the pay window as

Martin rallied up two hits and two RBI to pace Bristol in Hartford, 4-2, as the Merchants got back to .500 for the season (12-12). 

It was the first of eight straight victories by the Merchants.

On Saturday, July 26, Gawitt drilled a home run while Pat Holden was 3-for-4 to lead Bristol in a huge 11-run win over Sakon Biz.

The final was 13-2 from Avon.

And in a doubleheader rematch against Sakon. Biz from Muzzy Field on

Tuesday, July 29, the Merchants sweep the squad.     

The locals roped up scores of 8-0 and 11-5 to move to 18-12.

Baim threw a five-hitter and Peters smashed out a three-run homer in game one while Sawyer also added a three-run homer, went 2-for-4 overall, and collected five RBI.

In the end, the Merchants finished in third place behind both Meriden and Newman in the GHTBL standings.

Here are the final regular season finishes for all the teams of the GHTBL:

Teams            W  L

Newman                 25       6

Meriden                21      9

Bristol                   18      13

People’s                 18      14

Vernon                   18      14

Mr. G’s                  15      17

KGA                      14      17

East Hartford       10      21

Sakon Biz              2               30

Bristol ended the season by going 1-2 in the GHTBL playoffs.

On July 31, third ranked Bristol was shutout by Vernon by a 7-0 final.

In the loser’s bracket on August 1, the Merchants sank Sakon. Biz, 3-2, in eight innings.

Bristol had just one hit but took advantage of three walks and the Merchants turned that into three runs – leading to a 3-2 victory in eight innings.

Peters had the only Bristol hit while Church managed to snare the RBI as the Merchants won it in ‘overtime.’

Church had a sacrifice fly in the eighth, helping to plate the winning run and eliminated Sakon. Biz from tournament play.

Stawarz (6 IP, 9 K’s, 2 runs) pitched very well to post a no-decision while Seibert and Strahowski each threw an inning of scoreless relief to eventually net Bristol the tournament win.

Nick Hudyma pitched an amazing one-hitter but the effort resulted in a tough loss as Sakon. Biz ended the year at 2-32 overall.

And the Merchants were eliminated from tournament play by a 10-4 final from McKenna Field in East Hartford.

Bunty Ray went 2-for-3 – eventually helping the Merchants turn a 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 stalemate after four completed frames.

Sawyer (hit, RBI), Martin (hit, run, RBI), Matt Hackney (hit, RBI), Kalmin (hit, run), Gawitt (hit, run) and Strahowski (hit, RBI) led the Here is the list of players from the Bristol Merchants who earned postseason awards in 2003:

GHTBL All-Stars – First Team

Shortstop – Adam Peters (.412 batting average), outfielder – Chris Sawyer (.375, league leading 37 RBI, second in home runs at 11), outfielder – Bunty Ray (.495 average). Ray also won the Golden Glove Award, pitcher – Scott Martin (5-1 record).

GHTBL All-Stars – Second Team

Pitcher – Jerry Hasler (3-2 overall).