By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – In the midst of a tied up affair with ducks on pond for the Bristol American Legion Baseball team, Middletown made a startling late game decision on Wednesday night.
With the score knotted at 2-2, Bristol’s Elliot Norris was at second base and Jayden Churchill, who was 2-for-3, was taking his turn at the plate – looking to drive in the game-winning run.
But Post 75 wanted nothing to do with the veteran hitter and, instead, intentionally walked him, putting runners on first and second base which opened the door for slugger Cole Caccamo.
And Caccamo made Middletown pay the ultimate price.
Caccamo belted the game-winning hit, a blazing single to right field that fell into no man’s land, scoring Norris, as Post 2 scooped up a huge 3-2 win over Middletown in a Zone 3 showdown from Muzzy Field in Bristol.
“Speed kills,” said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “Even though Elliot didn’t hit it hard, he gets to second. And I told Cole if we had gotten a guy to first, we would have bunted. But he [Elliot] was already in scoring position. I’m taking three shots. I told [Caccamo] ‘you’re swinging.’ He just smoked it.”
“It was awesome.”
Bristol starter Declan Schenck threw extremely well, going 6.2 innings, scattering seven hits, striking out six and walking just two – just missing out on the win.
When Schenck ran out of pitches, Caleb Molinsky threw just three pitches to end the inning and, eventually, earn the victory in the end – moving to 3-1 overall on the campaign.
Mason Neumann lost the game for Middletown (8-3) during seventh inning play off a tremendous start by Jackson Pray (6 IP, four hits, five Ks, five walks).
But Schenck started off the game with zest, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the first frame, as Bristol got up to bat.
And in the bottom of the first, Post 2 struck first blood.
Joe Sconziano walked, moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Norris and got to third on a single to center from Churchill.
But the fielder in center fumbled the ball as Sconziano scored from third base on the error, making it a 1-0 game through one.
Post 75 had one hit in the top of the second – a blazing double to right field by Tyler Powell that was in the vicinity of the warning track – but Schenck generated two additional strikeouts to keep Bristol in front 1-0.
Ryan Maglio and Joe Dunne each drew walks over the bottom of the second, but nothing came of it as Post 2 maintained its 1-0 push through two.
And Schenck cruised out of the third inning with another 1-2-3 frame and through three, he allowed just one hit and nothing else much.
“Declan just came out and pitched great,” said LaPenta of Schenck.
Jackson issued his fourth walk of the game to Bristol’s Cole Caccamo with two away in the third tilt as Middletown was about to give up another unearned run.
Off a pop-up by EJ Sanchez, which was dropped by the first baseman and should have ended the inning, runners were on the corners for Bristol.
A double steal led to Caccamo coming home from third off the throw to get Sanchez at second as Post 2 secured a two-run push (2-0) going into the fourth frame.
Middletown’s Ryan Quinn reached base via error as the ball he hit to left was dropped by the fielder but the runner was picked off at first base moments later.
Neumann followed up with a double and scored when Eric Wilson flipped a single into left, chopping the deficit in half at 2-1.
Wilson was gunned down at second base for out number two on the play, but Powell was at it again.
With no one on base, Powell ending up slamming a ball about 340 feet, clearing the fence in right field, as the home run knotted the game at 2-2 through four.
Josh Dunne earned Bristol’s fifth walk in the bottom of the fourth while Gabe White came into pinch run.
He stole second with two away but never advanced further as the 2-2 stalemate reached the fifth frame.
Schenck put together another neat three up and three down stanza to keep things tied going into the bottom of the fifth.
Post 2, however, was very active in the fifth.
Churchill slapped a one-out single to left for just Bristol’s second hit of the game.
And when Churchill bolted for second during the ensuing at bat, the shortstop was drawn to the bag, and Caccamo hit the ball right where Corey Turcotte – the Middletown shortstop – would have been playing as the infield hit put two runners on.
Sanchez then reached via an error to load the bases up, all with one out on the board.
Maglio ended up striking out and with Cyr at the plate, LaPenta tried a little tomfoolery.
With a 0-1 count, LaPenta sent Churchill from third base in an attempt to steal home – like the squad did in the state tournament against Waterford last season.
But even as the ball was bobbled, Churchill was tagged out at the dish as the 2-2 contest moved into the sixth stanza.
Neumann reached base on a throwing error with one away, getting all the way to second, and instead of dealing against Powell, he was intentionally walked by Schenck.
And with two outs, Turcotte skied a ball to left field that was expertly tracked down by White – falling in the process but making the catch – to end the half-frame with the score still knotted at 2-2.
“We played really good defense,” said LaPenta. “Gabe made hell a of a catch.”
Bristol’s Jed Sutula had a great battle with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, working a full count and then clocking a single to left to keep the inning alive.
Sconziano also drew a full count but ended up getting robbed of a hit at first base as Jackson was at 112 pitches by the completion of the frame, ending his evening.
Middletown’s Shane Fitzpatrick dropped a ball past a diving Caccamo in right field for a double in the seventh and when Spencer Misenti snuck an infield hit that died in the grass in front of shortstop, two were on with one away.
AJ Quinn walked to load the bases, but Schenck drew a huge strikeout on Ryan Quinn – ending his night with a half-dozen Ks and 108 pitches and getting a nice ovation as he made way for Molinsky.
And the relief pitcher induced a grounder right to himself, throwing to first base for the final out – needing just three pitches to work out of a pressure filled, bases loaded jam.
“Caleb came in and was just throwing gas,” said LaPenta of Molinsky. “He just said ‘I’m not giving it up.’”
Neumann came in to throw in the seventh, taking his shot at the wheelhouse of the Bristol batting order (batters two, three and four).
Norris started the jaunt with an infield hit to third base and when the ball was thrown away at first, the runner took second as well – getting into scoring position with no one out.
Surprisingly, Churchill was intentionally walked – putting men on first and second.
And then Caccamo ended up draining the game winning hit to right field, scoring Churchill, as Bristol secured a huge 3-2 victory against the Zone 3 American leader.
“We easily just could have rolled over and died today,” said LaPenta. “Nothing is harder than playing a doubleheader against two different teams. Middletown is coming in fresh, and we played on a wicked hot day. We played terribly [against Tri-County]. We had six errors but came back to win the second game.”
Bristol American Legion Baseball – Zone 3 Showdown
BRISTOL 3, MIDDLETOWN 2
from Muzzy Field, Bristol
Middletown (8-3) 000 200 0 – 2 7 3
Bristol (6-6-4) 101 000 1 – 3 6 2
WP – Caleb Molinsky (Bristol, 3-1 overall); LP – Mason Neumann (Middletown)
Middletown Batting
2B – Tyler Powell, Shane Fitzpatrick, Mason Neumann
3B – None
HR – Tyler Powell
Bristol Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
LOB – Middletown 7; Bristol 6.
Records: Bristol 6-6-4 overall; Middletown 8-3
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