By Michael Letendre

MIDDLETOWN – The Bristol and Middletown American Legion baseball programs waged an entertaining battle from Palmer Field on Thursday evening.

And Post 75 was able to flip a one run deficit into an eventual 4-2 triumph in a Zone 3 confrontation.

Post 2 fell to 4-5-4 overall off the losing effort while Middletown improved to 6-2.

Daniel Laphem (five innings, two runs, four walks, six strikeouts) won the contest for Middletown but Bristol chucker Gavin Colvin also held his own.

Though he’s 0-2 on the Senior level this season, Colvin battled well over 4.1 innings on the hill (seven hits, just one walk).

“We were down a few guys tonight, but I thought Gavin threw well,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “He threw the other day against West Hartford. He did okay and I thought he threw really well today.”

The game was afoot quickly as Bristol’s Nick Sconziano (double) walked on four straight balls, moving to second on a passed ball.

But he got gunned down at third base on an Elliot Norris groundout and Post 2 never put a runner back in scoring position over the inning.

On the flip side, Post 75 generated a run in the bottom of the frame.

With one away, Ryan Quinn was plunked by a pitch, stole second and scored on a scorched single down the right field line by Corey Turcotte to give Middletown a 1-0 edge.

Bristol was active in the second stanza as Cole Caccamo (2-for-2, run) walked and EJ Sanchez slipped in an infield hit by the shortstop.

With runners on first and second, three straight putouts saw Middletown escape a huge jam.

Colvin threw strikes in the second, inducing a 1-2-3 inning, as Post 2 was looking to crack the [working] scoreboard in the third tilt.

And it was an eventful third for Bristol – all with two outs on the board.

Norris smacked out an infield hit, a slow roller to second base, and Jayden Churchill reached first via fielder’s choice before tomfoolery ensued.

On the Churchill grounder, Elliot strayed too far off third base and got caught in a rundown.

But the ball was eventually thrown away at third base, Norris got back to the bag safely while Churchill arrived at second during the broken play.

And with runners on second and third, Caccamo slammed an RBI single to center, squaring up the showdown at 1-1.

And then, it was ‘Bristol pickle’ time with runners on the corners.

With a pitch or two in on Sanchez, Caccamo broke from first and started dancing nearly halfway down to second base, baiting the defense.

While the focus was on Caccamo, Churchill eventually made his way cautiously down the third base line and then broke for home, easily scoring, as Post 2 nabbed a 2-1 edge.

Middletown responded in the third, taking the lead for good.

Ryan Quinn dumped a single into center, scoring AJ Quinn (2-for-4) from second base, to draw the contest even at 2-2.

Ryan Quinn quickly stole second and third and with two away, Tyler Powell hit a clutch RBI base hit to right – scoring Ryan Quinn – to put Post 75 ahead 3-2 through three tilts.

“Middletown is decent,” said LaPenta. “They’re in second place but it wasn’t like anything we can’t beat.”

After a quiet Bristol fourth, Middletown’s Spencer Stahl blasted a ball near the line in left that was tracking towards the left field line.

Bristol’s Josh Dune made one heck of an effort to track down and nearly grab the ball, but it fell in for a hit and Mason Neumann scored from third as the home team captured a 4-2 cushion through four.

Post 2 put two on with two outs in the top of the fifth as Churchill walked and Caccamo beat out an infield hit to first base.

But after a fly-out by Sanchez, the threat was squashed as Post 75 kept its two-run push intact.

“I thought we hit the ball hard,” said LaPenta. “We hit balls right at them. It’s just baseball.”

With one away in the fifth, Powell was plunked by a ball and Spencer Misenti walked as Josh Dunne came in for Colvin, firing rockets.

To end the inning, Silas Barrett flew out to Declan Schenck in left, who took a bit of a tumble on the play, but the fielder maintained control of the ball as Bristol entered the top of the sixth down by two runs.

Post 2 was retired in order during the sixth while Josh Dunne held the fort over his 1.2 innings of relief, allowing just a two out triple to AJ Quinn but to end the frame, the runner was stranded at third base.

“Josh came in and did a nice job,” said LaPenta of Dunne. “If he keeps throwing like that, it’s nice for us to have another arm.”

Bristol made one last ditch effort at it with in the top of the seventh as Sconziano flipped a deep-dish double to right and with one out, the tying run was at the plate.

But Sconziano never advanced as Bristol dropped a tough 4-2 decision on the road.

“Our whole goal of this is to be playing our best in the end when you get into the playoffs,” said LaPenta. “We’ll see where we go but I thought we played well tonight.”

Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3 Showdown

MIDDLETOWN 4, BRISTOL 2

from Palmer Field, Middletown

Bristol (4-5-4) 002 000 0 – 2 6 0

Middletown (6-2) 102 100 x – 4 7 2 

WP – Daniel Laphem (Middletown); LP – Gavin Colvin (Bristol)

Bristol Batting

2B – Nick Sconziano

3B – None

HR – None

Middletown Batting

2B – None

3B – AJ Quinn

HR – None

Records: Middletown 6-2 overall; Bristol 4-5-4