Out of the three completed battles between the in-state foes, two of them lasted over three hours, and all of them were decided by one run. With a go-ahead single in the seventh inning, the Bristol Blues beat the Danbury Westerners 6-5 at Muzzy Field to take round three of the battle for the Mayor’s Cup.
The Westerners are 4-6 with the loss, their third in a row and fourth away from home, falling to third in the West Division after being tied for first to begin the road trip. Bristol, who jumps up to second in the division with the victory, has won three straight and is back at .500 with a 5-5 record.
Danbury put Blues’ starter Randy Reyes in an early jam as Mike Becchetti walked on a full count and Brant Baughcum doubled on the very next pitch. Bobby Zmarzlak broke the ice with an RBI single, and Harrison Feinberg’s sacrifice fly doubled the lead as Baughcum beat the tag by leaping over Billy Sullivan’s glove at the plate. On that play, however, the Georgia Tech third baseman appeared to pull his hamstring and had to be taken out of the game.
Making his Westerners debut at the dish, Joey Rubin singled on an 0-2 count in the second inning, but Ali LaPread gunned the Rollins College infielder down as he tried to stretch the hit into a double. Bristol got two runners aboard on a single and a walk in the third, but a flyout and a groundout kept them off the board.
Danbury got two runners aboard in bizarre fashion in the top of the fourth. Feinberg appeared to reach base on a fielder’s choice that would have sent Luke Boynton back to the dugout, but the umpires appeared to rule interference on the play, awarding the Georgia State senior second base. That wacky play knocked Reyes out of the game, and although Joey Skarad walked to load the bases, Aaron Zenus escaped the frame unscathed with a lineout and a groundout to second.
For the second straight contest, the bottom of the fourth inning became the Westerners’ worst nightmare. Gavin Noriega blasted a 1-0 count 388 feet to deep right field to cut the deficit in half, and the hits kept coming as Cameron Maldonado walked and LaPread singled to put two runners aboard. Cal Parrillo bunted a ball right to Jordan Falco with nobody out, but the Adelphi University righty opted to get the out at third instead of at first.
When that throw sailed past Rubin, Maldonado scored the tying run while everyone else moved one base forward, abruptly ending Falco’s second start. Timothy Cianciolo got Chaz Meyers to fly out, but the UMass-Boston righty could not keep the game tied as Ryan Daniels cleared the bases with a two-run double down the right field line.
Having allowed eight runs in the bottom of the fourth over their last two games, Danbury retaliated in the top of the fifth. Becchetti singled to begin the frame, and even though he got tagged out on a fielder’s choice, Javon Hernandez reached second on a wild pitch before scoring when Zmarzlak ripped an RBI double to trim the deficit back to one. Boynton tied the game at four with an RBI single of his own, and Feinberg followed suit by getting all of a 2-0 count.
That pitch did not leave the ballpark or land in anyone’s glove, instead appearing to bounce off the top of the outfield fence and stay in the yard. Rather than a home run, the Northeastern outfielder hit a go-ahead RBI triple that gave the Westerners their first road lead after the fourth. Cianciolo maintained that advantage with a 1-2-3 fifth but loaded the bases on a double and two walks in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Daniel Hussey stood on the ropes with a 2-2 count and one away, but when Cianciolo slipped on the mound, the umpires awarded a balk that knotted the game at five. Hussey subsequently walked on a full count, and manager Conor Farrell ended Cianciolo’s outing by turning to Nolan Lincoln. The Eastern Connecticut State righty stood tall against the top of the Blues’ batting order, getting Vincent Bianchina to fly out before striking out Sullivan to strand the bases loaded.
Jason Claiborn got caught stealing in the top of the seventh, and in the bottom half, Parrillo whacked a go-ahead single to centerfield with Noriega on second as Bristol recaptured the lead. Both teams got a runner to third in the eighth, and still ahead by one, the Blues turned to Brent Francisco to close out the match. With Becchetti on first and one down in the ninth, Hernandez smacked a 2-2 pitch to right field, but the falling rain mixed with the bright lights at Muzzy Field caused three different fielders to let the ball drop in front of them. Despite no one making the catch, Becchetti got thrown out at second on the play, and Zmarzlak’s groundout to third shut the door for Bristol’s first one-run win of the season.
Lincoln took his first loss of the summer after surrendering the go-ahead run in the seventh despite striking out four. MT Morrissey grabbed the win with two shutout and hitless innings of relief ball, while Francisco recorded the save.
Danbury hopes to snap their three-game skid against the Sanford Mainers (3-6) in a doubleheader at the Roadhouse at Rogers Park, three days after they were supposed to play one at Goodall Park. The Westerners split their two regular-season meetings with the Mainers last summer but watched from the outside looking in as Sanford took the final spot in the 2022 NECBL playoffs. Jack Keenan takes the hill in game one at 5 p.m., while Braden Quinn gets the nod in game two 30 minutes after the first one ends. Both contests will be seven innings.
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