By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Central baseball program is in the midst of one of its best seasons since 2013.
That year, Central went 19-0 before dropping its final regular season game to Simsbury (8-5), going 20-2 overall.
To date, the Rams are 11-0 but the squad has a huge showdown against Bristol Eastern in a big city series showdown at 7 p.m. on Friday from Muzzy Field.
Here’s just a small preview of the contest between the Rams and the Lancers.
Central has yet to taste defeat: Geez, where do you begin?
The Rams are on fire as of late, a perfect 11-0 to date with several more wins left to be had on its docket.
After a nine inning showdown against Enfield on Thursday, the only real trouble the Rams have faced this season, what will the encore be for the program?
What pitcher gets that starting assignment from Central?
All depending on who Coach Bunty Ray threw against Enfield, and then in relief, the Lancers could see a number of arms take the hill on Friday.
Will it be Franky Spirito IV, Nate Pirog, Aiden Lopez or even Oscar Kuzniar?
All those chuckers are undefeated with ERA’s that couldn’t buy Bristol Central math teacher Dave Greenleaf a cup of watered down Sanka (Sanka: Enjoy your coffee and enjoy yourself. How did the advertisers of Sanka get away with that slogan back in the day?).
Eastern’s bats could be silenced by any number of those throwers who have given up a combined nine runs. That’s right nine runs.
Behind the plate catching for the pitching staff is the incomparable – and highly intelligent – Ryan Ring.
And out of the first six of those runs scored against the Rams, only two were of the earned variety.
What’s the bottom line here?
Is that pitching staff the likes of Craig Lejeune (25-3 all-time at Central, 1.19 ERA over 193.7 innings pitched) or Matt Blandino (10-0 as a senior, 135 Ks, nine walks, three earned runs, 0.27 ERA) from days gone by?
That’s probably an unfair comparison because those two players ended up Division I pitchers (Spirito will show that fight at UConn next year).
But this pitching rotation is gritty and will fight, scratch and claw its way to the win.
On the flip side, we all know about Central’s one-through-nine batting order could be tweaked at a moment’s notice by Ray, a master of the human game of chess.
Centerfielder Joe Gratta has been a pleasant surprise at leadoff followed by Anthony Santilli, Kuzniar, and the big man – Spirito at clean-up.
Add in Ring and then a mix-and-match combination of Aiden Lopez, Mike Allan, Mikey McMahon and Christian Stafford to an already explosive line-up towards the bottom of the order.
Coming into last week, the program was batting .331 on the year.
Final Thoughts
You want to say chuck the records out the window and get ready for an up and down affair between the Rams and Lancers.
However, Central is the team to beat in the biggest contest for the program to date.
Is Bristol Central going to make it 12 straight with CCC South triumph over Bristol Eastern?
Come down to Muzzy Field to watch UCONN National Basketball Champion Donovan Clingan throw out the first pitch and then enjoy all the fireworks that the BC/BE baseball confrontation will provide.
Bristol Central Baseball – 2023
Head Coach: Bunty Ray (16th season)
Current Record: 11-0 overall
Streak: Won 11; Last victory came yesterday when Central picked off Enfield 2-1 in nine innings from Muzzy Field. The Rams are a top-15 squad in the state according to the GameTimeCT website.
Frankly and are probably not getting the respect they deserve because Bristol Central’s results to date: It’s been 11 up…11 down for Central.
*Defeated Hall, 5-0 (April 5)
*Won against pesky Plainville, 2-1 (April 7)
*Shutout Middletown, 10-0 (April 10)
*Won at New Britain, 10-0 in five innings (April 14)
*Nabbed the victory at Lewis Mills, 6-1 (April 18)
*Spun Platt, 10-3 (April 19)
*Slammed Maloney, 11-1 (April 24)
*Blanked Platt, 7-0 (April 26)
*Swept past Wethersfield, 9-1 (April 27)
*Took the victory over Newington, 5-1 (May 1)
*Picked off Enfield, 2-1 in nine innings (May 4).
