The Bristol Post 2 and Waterbury Post 1 Senior American Legion baseball teams will be part of the 32-team field in this year’s state tournament, which begins play Saturday. Here’s where each team will be headed:
Bristol Post 2
(Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
Bristol is in Pod D of the Northern Division. Post 2 is the No. 2 seed in Pod D after posting a 13-5 record in Zone 1, where it finished second behind champion Avon. Each pod has four teams, and Bristol (18-5-1 overall) will open play on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Waterford Post 161 at Tunxis Mead Park in Farmington. The game is not being played at Muzzy Field, which is hosting the first-ever CT Exchange Family & Friends Night from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Waterford went 19-8 in Zone 6 and finished third, making it the No. 3 seed in Pod D. The other two teams in Pod D are No. 1 Tolland (Zone 8 champion, 16-5 zone record) and No. 4 RCP (13-8 in Zone 7, tied for third in zone). RCP lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with Tri-County in Zone 7.
Waterbury Post 1
(Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
Waterbury went 15-9 in Zone 5 and tied with Bethel for third place. Post 1 will be the No. 3 seed in Pod F of the Southern Division because of its 3-1 head-to-head record against Bethel during the regular season. The head-to-head tiebreaker is the first one to be used, according to state rules. Pod F is slated to have Zone 3’s best team, Zone 4’s second-best team, Zone 5’s third-best team, and Zone 2’s fourth-best team, according to the state website. Going by that, the other three teams in the pod will be Cheshire (25-3 in Zone 3, won title), Wilton (18-6 in Zone 4, finished second) and Stratford (13-8 in Zone 2, finished fourth).
Waterbury will open state tournament play on the road Saturday at 1 p.m. against Wilton. All 32 teams will be in action on Saturday, the first day of the state tournament. Play in the sectional pods continues on Sunday, then moves to Tuesday and Wednesday.
