In the top of the seventh, Tyler Fote laced a game-winning two-run double down the left-field to grant the Blues a 3-1 victory over the Westerners at Rogers Park.
Danbury (21-22) snapped their three-game winning streak with the loss, and Bristol (32-12) finished the regular season 6-2 against the Westerners. Bristol clinched the no. 2 seed in the NECBL Playoffs, earning themselves a bye during Monday’s Wild Card Round.
Fote also walked and scored a run, so he accounted for every one of Bristol’s runs on Saturday night. Blues’ right fielder Billy Sullivan went 2-4 with an RBI double in the sixth, and Luke Broadhurst had a 1-3 night at the plate with a walk.
The Westerners recorded only three hits, and the 1-5 hitters went 0-17 with seven strikeouts. Mike Becchetti went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Jackson Taylor had a 1-2 night at the plate from the bottom of the lineup.
Danbury jumped ahead in a chaotic third inning of baseball. Mike Becchetti started the frame by legging out an infield hit, and Jackson Taylor smoked a base hit into center field to put two runners on base with nobody out. After the next batter was retired via the strikeout, Blues’ starter John Farley balked, allowing both runners to advance into scoring position. There was some argy-bargy from the Bristol manager after the call, but he decided to walk Sam Mongelli and load the bases with one away. After this intentional walk, the Westerners plated a run on a two-out error from the Blues’ infield. Alex Stone scorched a ball down the third-base line, but Dante D’Amore made a diving stop that saved an extra-base hit. However, D’Amore’s throw pulled first baseman Chris Baillargeon off the bag and allowed Becchetti to score the first run of the ballgame.
In his five innings of work, Westerners’ starter Braden Quinn (0-2) silenced the Blues’ bats. Bristol failed to hit a ball out of the infield, and only one player reached scoring position during his outing. Quinn’s final line was 5.0 shutout innings, two hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
Bristol stranded Sullivan at third base, but they claimed the lead in the top of the seventh. The first two batters reached base, and a swinging bunt from Calvin McCall put both runners in scoring position with one away. After the next batter grounded out to third, Tyler Fote came through in the clutch with a pinch-hit two-run double into left field. Fote’s two-bagger gave this a 3-1 advantage, and they would not relinquish this lead for the rest of the ballgame.
Tommy Hughes (2-0) earned the win after throwing a clean sixth inning, and Jack Bowery (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season after surrendering the two-bagger to Tyler Fote. Blues’ starter John Farley allowed a run on three hits over 3.0 innings of work, and the bullpen backed him up by throwing six shutout innings. The Westerners could not muster a hit after the third inning, and Peter Phillips recorded his third save of the summer by striking out the side in the ninth.
After a year of many ups and downs, the fate of the Westerners’ 2022 campaign will rest on tomorrow’s season finale against the North Shore Navigators. To earn the no. 6 seed in the NECBL playoffs, Danbury must defeat the Navigators at Rogers Park and hope the Keene Swamp Bats can take down the Sanford Mainers. Jude Zern (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will get the nod for the Hat City as he faces off against a familiar face in Luke Marshall (1-4, 3.60 ERA). The first pitch will be fired at 6:30 PM ET, so tune in to the NECBL Broadcast Network and hear Kyle DeSantis on the call.