Bristol Central baseball had played 17 games entering Saturday’s contest against Plainville at Muzzy Field. The Rams had a record of 7-10, and they had played in nine one-run games (2-7).
Happily for Central, it didn’t need to play a one-run game Saturday to clinch its Class L state tournament berth. The Rams took down the Blue Devils by mercy rule, 14-4 in six innings. Central improved to 8-10, and the Ram players, coaching staff and fans could breathe a sigh of relief.
Sean Wininger was the winning pitcher for Central. Austin Brown led the offense with two doubles, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Alec DiLoreto singled twice, stole a base and scored two runs. Nick Ruffino was hit by a pitch on two different occasions and scored two runs. Evan Bouchard had two singles, a stolen base and a run scored while Gavin Greger walked, reached on an error, stole a base and scored two runs.
Central scored two runs in the second, third and fourth innings to build a 6-0 lead. The Blue Devils scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to get to within 6-3, but the Rams countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to lead 9-3. Plainville got a run in the top of the sixth inning, but Central answered with five runs to end the game.
Central hosts Bristol Eastern on Monday at Muzzy at 6 p.m. The Rams close the regular season on Wednesday against Platt at Muzzy at 3 p.m.
Gallery
Here are my photos from today’s game.
