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| The Bristol Blues saw their season end Thursday night in a 4-3 loss to the Nashua Silver Knights in Game 2 of their FCBL semifinal series at Muzzy Field. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
The Bristol Blues saw their season come to an end in a frustrating 4-3 loss to the Nashua Silver Knights in Game 2 of their FCBL semifinal series on Thursday night at Muzzy Field.
Former Chase Collegiate standout Kyle Bonicki went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored in the victory. Bonicki did make an error in the field.
Nashua advances to its fifth championship series, where it has won three times. The Silver Knights play the Worcester Bravehearts, who continued their mastery of the top-seeded Brockton Rox. Worcester never lost to Brockton this season.
Mitch Guilmette, a former Bristol Central standout, pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth innings for Bristol. He grounded back to the pitcher to end the game. The Blues end their season with a West Division title and the most runs scored in a single game in league history. Bristol also had the league leaders in stolen bases (Chris Davis), wins (Anthony Morrone) and saves (Tommy Curtin). Curtin was a former standout at Bristol Eastern.
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| Nashua’s Ryan Sullivan jogs around the bases after smashing a solo home run. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
Nashua struck first when Ryan Sullivan launched a solo homer to left field leading off the top of the second inning. Cleanup batter Anthony Meduri tripled home Ted Williams and Bonicki in the third to put the Silver Knights up 3-0.
Bristol got one back in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Josh Zbierski single, but couldn’t score again even with the bases loaded and two outs. The Silver Knights gave the Blues an extra out via a wild pitch on a third strike, but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the threat.
Leaving runners on was a major problem for Bristol, which had 11 for the game.
In the sixth, the Blues caught up at 3-3 on Logan Greene’s two-run single. Greene’s hit didn’t leave the infield, but he beat the throw to first. Zbierski, who had been running hard from second base, scored behind Alex Loparco to tie the game.
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| Former Chase Collegiate standout Kyle Bonicki at bat. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
Nashua immediately took the lead back in the seventh. Luke Tyree doubled with one out, then Williams came up with the key two-out single to bring him home.
Bristol loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back walks. A grounder to second base allowed the Silver Knights to escape, and the Blues went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
Collin Duffley took the win in relief for Nashua while Jason Johndrow recorded the save. John Natoli was the losing pitcher for Bristol.
PHOTOS: Click here for images from Thursday night’s Blues-Silver Knights game.
