The sun was shining and baseball was being played on Saturday afternoon in the Bell City.
In a major contrast to what had been a cool, dreary and wet month of April, the final day of the month was a beautiful one with mostly blue skies. It even wasn’t as windy as it had been the rest of the week.
Bristol Central baseball closed out a tough month with a much-needed win, a 6-0 shutout of Plainville, at its JV field. The Rams have yet to play a game on their still soggy varsity field (the outfield is the soggy part). Happily for Central, its next three games are scheduled for Muzzy Field.
Ok, so the game itself. The Rams rode the terrific 1-2 pitching punch of Oscar Kuzniar and Frank Spirito, along with the catching of battery mate Ryan Ring, to the shutout victory. Kuzniar went the first six innings and struck out 11 while yielding just three singles and two walks. Spirito struck out two and walked one in his inning of work. Fittingly, Spirito got Plainville’s final batter to ground to Kuzniar at first base. Kuzniar took it himself, tagged the bag and finished off the Central victory.
The Rams tallied two runs in the second. Spirito led off with a double, then Ring singled him home for a 1-0 lead. Ring later scored to make it 2-0. Central added a run in the third inning when JT Clark reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on another RBI single by Ring.
The Rams scored three runs in the sixth to put the game well out of reach. Spirito singled with one out and pinch runner Bryan Capezzone stole second base. After a pop out for the second out, Santilli, Kuzniar and Zachary Vanasse struck for back-to-back-to-back doubles to stretch the lead to 6-0.
Central snapped a three-game skid with the win and improved to 3-7. The Rams are scheduled to face city rival Bristol Eastern (3-6) on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Muzzy Field, weather permitting. After playing as the road team at Muzzy on Monday, Central is slated to host Middletown (7-3) and New Britain (2-8) at Muzzy on Wednesday and Friday.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from the end of Saturday’s game.
VIDEO: Here are some highlights from the game.
PHOTO CAPTION: Bristol Central catcher Ryan Ring did well behind the plate and at bat, where he drove in two runs in his team’s 6-0 win over Plainville on Saturday. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
