The Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League began another season on Sunday, and locals were right in the middle of wins by three different teams.
The Wolcott Scrappers knocked off the Tribury Twisters 5-1 behind the pitching of Justin Koutros, who threw the first six innings and struck out 12. Offensively, Wolcott was led by Mike Vaccarelli (3 hits, RBI) and Matt Warren (2 hits, RBI). Koutros helped himself with an RBI single.
The Bristol Greeners needed 10 innings, but were able to dispatch the Valley Thunder 6-3. Jaeden Rasmus and Kyle Torok had bit hits in the 10th, and Bristol was also helped out via a passed ball. Rasmus led the Greeners with four hits while Torok added two. Brad Burney pitched the ninth and 10th innings and picked up the win in relief. Valley’s Shane Fusco had two hits and Ryan Ahern pitched the first nine innings. Tyler Pelletier came on to pitch the 10th and took the loss.
Blasius Chevrolet was downed 3-0 by the Terryville Black Sox, who got an impressive start from former Waterbury scholastic standout Kody Kerski (7 innings, 1 hit, 10 strikeouts). Terryville also has Ken Kerski, a formidable left-handed pitcher from Waterbury. Add in players from the disbanded Watertown Blaze, and the Black Sox could be a major contender this season.
The Connecticut Twilight League began play earlier this month, and the Bristol Knights hope to get back to their title-winning ways.
Nick Dzioba was the winning pitcher in a 16-1 romp of the Singing Surgeons, an expansion team, on May 11 at Bristol Eastern. That game was the season opener for the Knights.
Bristol veteran Rick Barrett’s fingerprints were all over a 3-2 win over the Wethersfield Dodgers at Muzzy Field last Thursday. Barrett pitched a complete game on the mound and went 3-for-3 with two RBI at the plate.
The Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League starts play on May 29. Rosters on the GHTBL website have a few locals, all former Bristol Eastern players. They are Mike Nocera of the East Hartford Jets, Eric Therrien of the Middletown Outlaws, and Nick Plachno of People’s United Bank.
