The Bristol Junior American Legion baseball team will play for the 17U state championship on Sunday.
Bristol won its first five games to reach the final, which is against Stamford at 1 p.m. at Ceppa Field in Meriden. Post 2 won the junior state championship in 2011, and this is the first time back for the team from the Mum City.
Bristol started the state tournament with an 11-2 hammering of Windsor on July 24 in a game that was moved to Windsor. Post 2 then won three straight one-run games; two over Tri-County and one over Cheshire. Bristol clinched its spot in the state final with a 3-0 win over fellow Zone 1/7 squad West Hartford.
Here are highlights from each win:
Bristol 11, Windsor 2 (7/24)
Kyle Lauretti led the offense with three hits (double, two singles) and two RBI. Evan Bouchard, Matt D’Amato and Jack Kozikowski each scored twice. Trevor Mays pitched six innings for the win and gave up two runs. Dylan Woodsome threw a scoreless seventh to end the game.
Bristol 4, Tri-County 3 (7/27)
Post 2 built a 4-0 lead through two innings, then held on for the one-run victory at Riley Field. Bristol scored a single run in the first before tacking on three more in the second. Anthony Marrotti threw the first 4 2/3 innings for the victory, and Nick Ruffino pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-run ball for the save.
Bristol 6, Tri-County 5 (7/29)
Bristol saw a one-run lead vanish in the top of the seventh inning at Riley Field, then fell behind 5-4 in the top of the eighth inning. Post 2 was in trouble for the first time in the tournament, but it rallied for a run in the eighth before walking off with a one-run victory in the ninth. Nick Ruffino pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief after Tri-County took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Mays threw the last three innings and claimed the win. Bristol finished undefeated in Pod A of the Northern Division Regional Tournament.
Bristol 2, Cheshire 1 (7/31)
The third and final one-run game for Post 2 was another battle, this time at Rotary Field in South Windsor in a Northern Division Super Regional contest. Bristol scored the game’s first run in bottom of the third, then Cheshire tied it with a single run in the top of the fifth. Post 2 took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth, then held on for the victory. Mays pitched a complete game and gave up a single run on four hits.
Bristol 3, West Hartford 0 (8/1)
Post 2 wrapped up its state championship berth with a shutout of its Zone 1/7 rival. Marrotti fired a complete game with yielded two hits. He did walk three batters, but none were able to cross home plate. Joe Crowley had two hits and an RBI while Marrotti helped his own cause with one hit and one RBI.
What about Stamford?
Stamford played its way out of Pod H in the Southern Division Regional Tournament, then won the Southern Division Super Regional at Bethel High School. Stamford blanked West Haven 8-0 in its first game on July 23, then routed North Haven 8-1 on July 26. A 5-3 win over North Haven on July 29 pushed Stamford into the Super Regional.
In the Super Regional, Stamford shut out Greenwich 1-0 on July 31.
To reach the final, however, Stamford survived a challenge from a tough Hamden team by a score of 9-8 on Friday night in Bethel. Stamford had the game in the bag, leading 8-3 after five innings. Bethel scored a run in the sixth and four more in the seventh to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Stamford won the game when Anthony Possidento was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and no outs.
