The much-anticipated showdown between the Bristol Eastern and Berlin baseball teams turned into a pitchers’ duel between Nate Carney and Brendan Ebert.
When the dust settled on a windy day at Bristol Eastern High School, Cory Fradette brought home the winning run for the Lancers in a 2-1, eight-inning victory over the Redcoats.
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| Bristol Eastern’s Cory Fradette smacks a double in the bottom of the eighth inning. Fradette later scored the winning run. |
Fradette had lifted a double between the left and center fielders with one out, then moved up to third on a wild pitch. He later scored the winning run on another wild pitch.
Eastern improved to 15-1 and has won 14 straight games since a 7-6, nine-inning setback on the road to Tolland. Berlin dropped to 13-2. The game pitted the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Class L against each other.
The Lancers trailed 1-0 and had just two hits entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Eastern was down to its final out when Evan McGinley stepped in against Ebert. With Adrian James on third (a single, wild pitch and ground out got him there), McGinley ripped a single to left to tie the game at 1-1.
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| Bristol Eastern’s Evan McGinley ties the game in the bottom of the seventh with a RBI single. |
Berlin threatened to go ahead again in the top of the eighth when it loaded the bases with two outs. Carney bore down and ended the threat with his ninth and final strikeout.
Fradette hit his double in the bottom of the inning, then made it home on two wild pitches with Nate Hickey at the plate to seal the comeback win.
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| Nate Carney was effective again on the hill for Bristol Eastern. |
Carney allowed one unearned run on eight hits without walking a batter. The left-hander improved to 6-0 on the year. Carney also had a double in the game, but was later called out at home on a controversial call (see the photo from T.J. Dowling by clicking on that link).
Ebert was effective for most of the game, yielding four hits, one walk and two runs. The right-hander struck out four batters.
The walkoff win is the third this season for Bristol Eastern.
