(Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
Bristol Eastern baseball made a total of four trips to the Connecticut shoreline during the Class L state tournament.
First there was Groton for a game against No. 13 Fitch, which the No. 20 Lancers won going away by a score of 12-6 after jumping ahead 8-0. The second round game was at No. 4 Waterford, which Bristol Eastern won 4-3 in 14 innings.
The quarterfinal round game for the Lancers was in Branford against the No. 12 Hornets, and it began on Saturday. Bristol Eastern and Branford were tied 1-1 after five innings, but a deluge of rain stopped the game in its tracks and forced its completion today.
That’s where the Lancer run ended. The Hornets scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to claim a 2-1 walk-off win. Bristol Eastern got its run on a sacrifice fly from Cory Fradette in the top of the third. Fradette and Noah Hickey had singles for the lone Lancer hits. Bristol Eastern had the bases loaded in the fifth on Saturday, but couldn’t get a run across.
The Lancers finished the season with a record of 14-9, but made a great run to the quarterfinal round. Along the way, there was a dominating effort against Fitch and a pair of extra-inning thrillers against Waterford and Branford. Fradette is gone via graduation, as are fellow seniors Dave Bernier, Mac Goulet, Alex DeNote, Shane Caron, John McPhee, John Pierce and Josh Nohilly.