South Windsor Legion snaps Simsbury’s four-game winning streak

Bristol’s Jayden Castro (11) gets into second base with a stolen base before West Hartford’s Layne Heavey (20) can apply the tag in Monday night’s American Legion state tournament game at Palmer FIeld in Middletown. Bristol won, 9-1.

The Simsbury American Legion baseball team won their final four games of the regular season and six of their last seven contests but still fell one victory shy of winning a Zone 1 championship.

Torrington (15-5) won their first zone championship since 1981, beating out Simsbury, West Hartford and Bristol, who each finished tied for second in the zone with records of 14-6.

Post 84 has been doing their best to secure a championship by winning four of their five games in the 2026 American Legion state tournament. After spotting visiting Tri-County a 10-run lead, Simsbury rallied but dropped their opening game in the tournament with a 10-7 loss.

But Simsbury (17-8) won their next four games to be among the final six teams left standing in the 19-and-under tournament (19U). Post 84 dominated RCP (Rocky Hill/Cromwell/Portland) on Saturday, 13-3 and beat Zone 1 rival West Hartford on Sunday, 10-4.

On Monday night, South Windsor scored four unanswered runs after Simsbury had taken a 5-2 lead to secure a 6-5 win at Rotary Field. South Windsor (22-6) is 5-0 in the state tournament and has won eight straight games.

Simsbury faces Bristol (18-8) in an elimination game on Tuesday at Palmer Field at 5:30 p.m. while South Windsor will face Waterford on Tuesday night at Rotary Field.

Bristol raced out to a nine run lead after four innings on Monday to eliminate Zone 1 rival West Hartford at Palmer Field. Post 2 hurler Noah Molinsky pitched 5.2 innings, scattered eight hits, struck out six and walked four to earn the win.

Bristol teammate Brian Grabowski was 2-for-5 with a single, double and two runs scored. Jack Erickson was 2-for-4 with two runs scored while Luke Colter drove in two runs.

Simsbury took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Thomas Seidel’s two-run single into right field. South Windsor picked up a pair of runs in the first and second inning to tie the game.

Post 84 added another run in the third inning when Gabe Mainardi scored from third base on a wild pitch for a 3-2 lead. South Windsor threw out a Simsbury runner trying to steal home later in the inning.

Simsbury made it 5-2 in the fifth inning. Mainardi doubled and moved to third base on a bunt single from John Mascaro. Seidel’s two-run single to left field drove in both runs.

South Windsor tied the game in the fifth inning at 5-5. One run scored on a throwing error, one run scored on an infield ground ball out and the third run came across the plate after a solo home run from Ryan Grip.

In the sixth, South Windsor’s Torin Edwards led off with a walk before Simsbury reliever Will Vincent got a strikeout. With his brother, Brayden Edwards, at the plate, Torin Edwards stole second base and advanced to third base.

Torin Edwards scored the game-winning run on a deep sacrifice fly to center field by Brayden Edwards for a 6-5 lead.

On Sunday, Simsbury pitcher Jay Morales pitched six strong innings to help Post 84 beat West Hartford, 10-4 at Palmer Field. Morales scattered seven hits, walked four and struck out three for his second victory of the season on the mound. At the plate, he was 1-for-2 and drove in two runs.

Tim Beaulieu was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI for Simsbury while John Mascaro was 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

South Windsor 6, Simsbury 5
At South Windsor
Simsbury (17-9)                       201  020  0  — 5-5-2
South Windsor (22-6)            110  031  x  — 6-7-1
Noah Kraft, Will Vincent (5) and Gabe Mainardi; Bennett Durbois, Brandon Guduaskas (4) and Torin Edwards; WP: Guduaskas; LP: Kraft (4-1); 2B: Gabe Mainardi (S), Connor Michaelson (SW); HR: Ryan Grip (SW); Of note: Thomas Seidel (S) 2-4, 4 RBI; Durbois (SW) 2-4, B Edwards (SW) 1-3, 2 RBI; South Windsor, who is 5-0 in the tournament, has won eight straight games. Simsbury had a four-game winning streak snapped

Simsbury 10, West Hartford 4
At Middletown
Simsbury (17-8)               204  130  0  — 10-9-2
West Hartford (18-12)    002  000  2  — 4-7-2
Jay Morales, Will Vincent (7) and Gabe Mainardi; Grant Davidson, Sean Kavanagh (3), Kieran Fournier (5), Sam Weiss (6) and Ryan Cooney; WP: Morales (2-2); LP: Davidson; 2B: Declan Farley (WH), Ryan Cooney (WH), Tony Gattinella (WH); Of note: Morales (S) 6 IP, 7 hits, 3 strikeouts, 4 walks; Tim Beaulieu (S) 2-4, 2 runs scored, RBI; John Mascaro (S) 1-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, Morales 1-2, 2 RBI; T Gattinella (WH) 2-4, 2 RBI; Simsbury won their fourth straight tournament game and remained undefeated in the double-elimination portion of the tournament

Simsbury 13, RCP 3 (5)
At Middletown
Simsbury (16-7)             125  50  — 13-12-0
RCP (20-6)                     012  00   – 3-7-4
Tyler Sandquist, Aaron Ciarleglio (2), Zachary Baldwin (4), Brady Holzmiller (5) and Ethan Wells, J. Milano (4); Tim Beaulieu and Gabe Mainardi; WP: Beaulieu (2-2); LP: Sandquist; 2B: Wyatt Bernabucci (S) 2, Gabe Mainardi (S), Liam Almon (S), Beaulieu (S), Ethan Wells (R); Of note: Beaulieu (S) 5 IP, complete game, 7 hits allowed, four walks, 5 strikeouts. Hallam (S), Juan Morales (S), Bernabucci and Will Wincent (S) each had two hits. Beaulieu 1-4 at plate with 3 RBI. Bernabucci 2-4, 3 runs scored, 2 RBI; RCP combined to walk 8. T Bonnelli (R) 3-3, 1 run scored