Bristol Legion loses in regional semifinal

Sports on CT-69 file photo

The Bristol Post 2 American Legion baseball team finished first in Zone 1 with a 15-5 record. The solid regular season helped Bristol secure the No. 3 seed in the Northern Region of the single elimination state tournament.

Bristol began its state tournament run with a convincing 9-2 victory over South Windsor on Aug. 3 at Muzzy Field. The home team scored five runs in the first inning of the game against the No. 14 seed. Bristol had five hits in the first, and three of them drove in runs. Andrew Lozier had an RBI single, Ryan Fradette added an RBI double, and Owen Davis rocked a two-run triple. Davis later scored on a wild pitch.

Adam Caron’s two-run single with two outs in the fourth inning made it 7-0, Bristol. South Windsor scored twice in the top of the sixth inning, but Post 2 got both runs back in the bottom of the inning. Caron had an RBI single and later came home when South Windsor elected to get Nathan Ouellette at second on a double steal. Davis closed out the game on the mound in the seventh.

Bristol’s next opponent was No. 11 Tri-Town. The road team gave Post 2 a tough game before the home team won, 2-1, on Aug. 4 at Muzzy. Lozier drove in both runs for Post 2, with Austin Brown scoring on both hits. Roberto Cruz was strong on the mound, making it into the seventh inning before hitting his pitch count.

Next up was a Northern Regional semifinal against No. 7 Avon, a Zone 1 foe. The game was deadlocked until the top of the seventh inning, when Matt Leopold singled with two outs to drive home Chris Boudreau with the only run of a 1-0 Post 2 loss. Matt Beaucar pitched a terrific game in defeat for Bristol, which finished with an overall record of 20-6.