By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Over its first four Zone 1 games this year, the Bristol senior American Legion baseball program will be getting two very important games out of the way.

The team from Meriden, like last season, is poised to be a good one and should give Bristol good battles this season.

But the team just came together recently because several of its players were on the Maloney and Southington baseball teams who were in the Class LL and L title games while another one of its players, John Remillard, won a championship with St. Paul Catholic.

That means chemistry has yet to be established and, frankly, now is the time to take on Meriden while the outfit is still putting all of its pieces together.

“That Meriden team is a good one,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “[Coach] Doug [Wedge] told me they only had their first practice [this past] Saturday because most of their kids were playing in high school in playoffs. They’ve got some guys that can hit.”

In the first encounter between the teams this past Sunday, Bristol pitcher Roberto Cruz allowed just a single run as Post 2 spoiled Meriden’s debut by an 8-1 final.

The rematch between the Zone 1 squads takes place on Thursday at 5:45 p.m., again from the friendly confines of Muzzy Field in Bristol.

Cruz limited Post 45 to just three total hits while four errors did not help the team in the least.

But as the games roll along, expect vast improvement from the squad representing Meriden.

“They’re going to be better at the end of the season,” said LaPenta of Meriden. “I’d rather play them early especially because [on Sunday], it was their first game. They were a little rusty.”

In just under a month, Bristol is going to have one heck of a time when Post 2 travels to Meriden on July 10 for a doubleheader against the squad.

That doubleheader takes place from Ceppa Field, starting at 1 p.m.

And Post 45 is going to poise serious trouble around Zone 1 once that program shows any kind of chemistry and continuity.

“By the end of the year, they’ll be a decent team,” said LaPenta. “They have some tough players and Doug does a really good job.”

But in the meantime, Bristol has played well to start the 2022 campaign – splitting games against Meriden and West Hartford.

“1-1 after the first two zone games, I’ll take it,” said LaPenta.