By Michael Letendre

DANBURY – At one point on Sunday, Bristol American Legion coach Jerry LaPenta wasn’t confident he’d have enough players to finish up the 2023 Stars and Stripes Tournament from Rogers Park in Danbury.

But the longtime coach was able to cobble together nine players and got a huge pitching performance out of Jayden Churchill as Bristol defeated Ridgefield by a 6-2 final – moving to 8-7-3 on the season.

“I was at the junior’s game thinking we were going to forfeit” the senior game said Bristol coach Jerry LaPenta. “We just didn’t have guys. [Joe and Josh Dunne] didn’t come and Declan [Schenck] said he couldn’t come. I texted him and I said we’re going to forfeit, and he said, ‘All right, I’ll come down’ so he was the ninth guy.”

“And I didn’t know who I was going to throw.”

It was Churchill who stepped up to the mound and was simply sensational – earning his first win of the season despite being a bit banged up.

He threw a complete game, 75-pitch gem which included just four singles, a solitary walk and two strikeouts.

Churchill gave up single runs in the fourth and fifth frames but by the time Ridgefield started scoring, it was far too late in the game and Bristol answered each run with one of its own.

“Jayden hurt his arm the last time he pitched,” said LaPenta. “I just said ‘lob it in’ so I called probably about 80 percent ephus pitches. They just popped up and rolled over, popped up and rolled over. It was amazing, absolutely amazing.”

Ridgefield, winners of its three previous games, fell to 11-8 overall.

Bristol was the home team that day, not needing it’s at-bats over the seventh and final inning.

Ridgefield went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first as Schenck (1-for-3) made two putouts in left field before Bristol got to the plate.

And Post 2 went for three runs in the bottom of the tilt.

With one away, Elliot Norris (2-for-3, sac fly) smashed a single to center and Churchill reached base via error.

And then Cole Caccamo crushed a ball to the gap in right to clear the bases, leading to a 2-0 edge for Post 2.

Bristol continued its onslaught as Connor Cyr also reached on an error, casually swiped second base and scored on an EJ Sanchez double to left as the ‘home’ team led 3-0 through one.

“We made all the plays,” said LaPenta. “We got some hits early.”

Churchill kept it going in the second stanza as he allowed just a two out walk and not much else.

Bristol added a run in the second after Jed Sutula (1-for-1, two walks) drew a base-on-balls, Schenck got to first on a failed sacrifice bunt, and consecutive singles by Nick Sconziano (3-for-4, double) and Norris loaded things up.

And Churchill zipped up a grounder to short, beat out a hit and scored Schenck in the process as Post 2 rolled up a 4-0 push.

Speaking of Churchill, he was cruising through three – allowing just one batter over the minimum and throwing 33 total pitches.

Bristol went 1-2-3 in the third, but Ridgefield dropped in a run in the top of the fourth.

Back-to-back singles by Will Hanna and Bellotti led to a run but Post 2 still held the edge at 4-1.

Bristol got that run back in the bottom of the fourth as Schenck reached on a fielder’s choice and when Sconziano scorched a blazing double to right, men were at second and third.

And on a passed ball, Schenck scored on the play to make it a 5-1 game through four.

Ridgefield remained pesky into the top of the fifth, getting an RBI single by Mason Smith to trim the deficit to 5-2 but Churchill was otherwise in command, throwing 64 pitches through five innings.

Bristol’s fifth was quiet but, thanks to a quick top of the sixth by Churchill and crew, that 5-2 push continued to be the score of the game.

In Bristol’s portion of the sixth, Sutula walked for the second time and Schenck jammed a base hit to left to put two on with no one out.

Sconziano followed up by drilling his third hit of the game, an infield single to shortstop, to load things up.

Sutula scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Norris to make it a four-run game again at 6-2.

And then Ridgefield went down in order to end the seventh as Bristol came away with a big win on the road.

“We got some insurance runs late,” said LaPenta. “They got frustrated and didn’t score. It was an awesome job.”

Bristol American Legion Baseball – 2023 Stars and Stripes Tournament

BRISTOL 6, RIDGEFIELD 2

from Rogers Park, Danbury

Ridgefield (11-8) 000 110 0 – 2 4 2

Bristol (8-7-3) 310 101 x – 6 11 0

WP – Jayden Churchill (Bristol, 1-0); LP – Cormac Bellotti (Ridgefield)

Bristol Batting

2B – Cole Caccamo, Nick Sconziano, EJ Sanchez

3B – None

HR – None

Ridgefield Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None

Records: Bristol 8-7-3 overall; Ridgefield 11-8.