By Michael Letendre
The Bristol American Legion junior baseball team has done a credible job turning its season around off a rough start, now standing at 6-7 overall – winners of two straight games.
After dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Newington on July 7, Post 2 has won five of its last six games with just a forfeit to West Hartford as the only loss on Bristol’s docket over that stretch.
July 11 saw the locals scoop up a 6-2 victory against Simsbury and then three days later, Post 2 was a huge 5-4 victor over West Hartford.
The following day, on July 15, Bristol belted Torrington by a 15-2 final but ended up forfeiting its contest at West Hartford on July 21.
Torrington was on the docket this past Saturday with Bristol scooping up a 3-2 triumph from Riley Field that saw Post 2’s Michael Roalf win the game, going three strong innings in relief of starter Ryan Maglio.
Roalf threw 43 pitches to seize the program’s fifth victory.
And then on Monday, Bristol zipped out to an early lead and hung on to knock off Simsbury, 8-6, from Riley Field.
Post 2 tallied eight hits and led 2-1 after one frame before putting some distance between the squads.
A four-run second stanza, coupled with a solitary run in the fourth, made it a 7-1 game that Bristol eventually held on to win.
Jaydon Churchill won the contest on the hill, going 4.1 innings over a 60-pitch stint.
Jose Feliciano belted a home run, his first of the season, to lead the Bristol offense.
Post 2 out-hit Simsbury 8-5.
The Streak
Bristol started the campaign at 1-6 before catching fire recently.
But the last three losses for the locals were via that forfeit and two one-run defeats – showing that Post 2 was right in the mix, looking to breakout.
Looking to Break .500
Bristol has a chance to finish the regular season at .500 or better as the locals have five games in to play, starting on Wednesday with a doubleheader from Riley Park.
Post 2 has a back-to-back challenge against Newington today with the games commencing at 4:45 and 6 p.m.
On Thursday, Post 2 travels to Simsbury for a showdown from Town Forest (5:30 p.m.) and finally on Saturday, it’s a double-dip from Riley Field in Bristol
Torrington comes to town for two Zone 1 contests. Game time for game one is set for 2 p.m. with the rematch to follow around 4:15 p.m.
A 3-2 finish by the program would see the locals draw even on the year.
