BRISTOL, June 24 – It took years for the Avon American Legion baseball team to beat Bristol for the first time. A year ago, Post 201 beat Bristol for the first time ever. Now, Avon has swept all three games from the defending Zone 1 champions.
Avon held on for a pair of thrilling one-run victories Sunday at Muzzy Field to remain at the top of Zone 1. Avon won the opener, 6-5 and swept the doubleheader with a 3-2 decision in the nightcap.In both games, pitcher Avon pitcher Connor Doyle earned the save. In both contests, he came in with no outs and the potential game-tying run on base.
Avon improves to 10-2 in the zone and 10-3 overall, extending its lead in the Zone to two games over Unionville (8-4) and Southington (7-4). Bristol slips to 7-6 in the zone.
Avon 6, Bristol 5: In game one, Avon took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on a booming RBI double from Doyle that scored Nick Sanderson from second base. Liam O’Connor moved to third on the Doyle double and scored on a balk. Doyle scored on a RBI single from his younger brother Cody Doyle.
Avon extended its lead to 4-1 in the fifth when Dan Sheiker singled, stole second base and scored on a throwing error. Bristol cut the lead to 4-3 with two runs but Avon again extended its lead to 6-3 in the top of the seventh. Noah Hahn reached on an error, Sanderson singled and O’Connor had an RBI single that scored Hahn. Connor Doyle’s RBI single scored Sanderson.
Bristol added two runs in the seventh to cut the lead to one but Connor Doyle struck out two and coaxed a line drive fly ball to right fielder Dan Lombard to clinch the win.
Avon 3, Bristol 2: Pitcher Noah Hahn flirted with a no-hitter for six innings. In that span, he struck out three and walked three. Hahn helped his cause with a pair of sacrifice flies that helped Avon take a 3-0 lead. O’Connor tripped a big triple.
But Bristol refused to yield. In the seventh, Hahn gave up a single and hit a batter. A RBI single cut the lead to two runs, 3-1. Connor Doyle relived Hahn in a tough spot.
The first Bristol batter grounds into a potential double play but threw the ball away, allowing Bristol to cut the lead to one run, 3-2 and placing the tying run on second base with no outs. The next batter lays down a sacrifice bunt, moving the potential game-tying runner to third base and the potential winning runner to second base.
The next batter hit a line drive to outfielder Sanderson, who made a great catch for the second out of the game. The next hitter grounded out to Cody Doyle to end the game.
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