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

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