Bristol baseball answers late to get past Plumstead Christian
BRISTOL BORO – Holding a 2-0 lead over Bristol in the fifth inning, visiting Plumstead Christian had a runner on second base with no outs. When Panthers infielder Austin Pfaff hit a rope to Warriors center fielder Chris Paci, head coach Dan Kantner sent the baserunner to third.
Paci made a running catch then whipped the ball into shortstop Devon Gonzalez, who relayed the throw to third baseman Xavier Corbin. The Bristol infielder placed the tag in time to nail baserunner Cameron Kantner and pitcher Austin Funair fanned Chris Roberts for the final out of the inning.
From there, the Warriors cruised to a 6-3 win over their Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) rivals for their third win of the season.
“Coach Ed (Rosado) said to me in the dugout, ‘that (double play) right there is going to turn the game around,’” said Bristol head coach Lou Persichetti III. “We came in and we got three (runs) that inning to go up by one. They tied it but we came back and got three more so that was definitely a momentum-changer.
After managing just three hits – all singles – off Plumstead starter Brock Hewitt in the first four innings, the Warriors erupted for three straight singles – all to center field – to open the fifth. Bristol plated all three baserunners, Devon Gonzalez, Jarett Wagner and Dan Padilla, the first of which scored on single to center field by Padilla.
An ensuing bunt back towards the mound by Adrian Ellerbe tied the score at 2-all and a sac-fly by first baseman Tyler Dyszel gave the Warriors their first lead in the game.
“We woke up, and put some pressure on their defense,” said Persichetti. “They made some mistakes and we were lucky enough to get some runs across.”
While the Panthers got a run back in the sixth inning on a run-scoring single to centerfield by rightfielder Josh Pritchard, Bristol answered with three more of its own to take the game away from the visitors.
The Warriors plated three runs in the home sixth on just a single hit and even that was a bunt single by Devon Gonzalez, who started the game on the mound and finished at short. With runners at first and second, catcher Jarett Wagner laid down a bunt toward the mound. Plumstead reliever Matt Dean grabbed a hold of the ball but he threw it into right field, allowing a pair of baserunners to score for Bristol.
Padilla then hit a grounder to short, scoring run number six.
And after making that doubleplay in the fifth inning and ending a third-inning attempted rally by the Panthers with a diving stab of a ball hit to center field by Artie Michael, Paci retired the side in order in the seventh to put this one in the win column for the Warriors.
“Chris did a nice job for us today,” added Persichetti. “He saved some runs for us defensively and then he came in and shut the door at the end.”
The way the game started, it was hard to imagine the happy ending. The Warriors handed Plumstead a pair of runs in the second inning on just a single hit. Two errors in the frame contributed to the gift-wrapping.
Michael started the visitors’ rally off with a one-out single to center then Dean reached on an error at third base. While Gonzalez got Pritchard to ground out to the mound, an error at second base allowed both baserunners to score, putting the Panthers up, 2-0.
“We’ve really been starting off slow in the beginning of games,” explained Padilla. “Usually, the first couple of innings we start off with a couple of errors and that’s how teams get on top of us.
“Then we try getting ahold of it in the late innings and it’s too late, sometimes.
“Today, we were just on top of things.”
With the win, Bristol pushed to 3-7 on the season, 3-6 in the BAL.
“It feels good to get a win,” added Padilla. “We played team baseball for all three of our wins we’ve had.
“But we need to keep it going.”
There’s no looking in the rearview mirror from here, said the coach.
“I told the guys it’s one game at a time now,” said Persichetti. “If you want to get to the playoffs, you gotta go one game at a time. You can’t make up four games at once.
“We have Valley Forge Tuesday and that’s all we’re looking at. If we’re going to have any chance of getting into the playoffs, we have to beat Valley Forge.
“That’s our focus right now and they seem to be buying in. Hopefully, we come out Tuesday, we get ahead early and we can finish it like we did today.”
Slapping multiple hits for the Warriors in this one were Gonzalez, who was 2-for-4 and designated hitter Connor Dugan, who was 2-for-2. Padilla was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Paci reached base twice, drawing walks on his first two trips to the plate.
Paci earns the win for Bristol while Dean suffered the loss for Plumstead after giving up three runs on just one hit in 1/3 of an inning on the hill. Hewitt, the Panthers’ starter, was solid, giving up three runs on six hits, while walking three batters and striking out four in five innings of work.
NOTES: Both teams stranded nine baserunners each in the contest.
Bristol 6, Plumstead Christian 3
(April 22 at Bristol)
PLUMSTEAD (3-7) 020 001 0 – 3 7 3
BRISTOL (3-7) 000 033 X – 6 7 3
WP — Chris Paci 2IP, 1R, 2H, 1BB, 1SO, 0HB.
LP — Matt Dean 1/3IP, 3R, 1H, 1BB, 0SO, 1HB.
MULTIPLE HITS: B — Devon Gonzalez 2-for-4, Connor Dugan 2-for-2; PC — none.
RBI: B — Danny Padilla 2, Tyler Dyszel; PC — Josh Pritchard.
