The Bristol Blues took down the Danbury Westerners by a score of 11-1 Wednesday night at Muzzy field. 

After losing back to back games for the first time all season, Bristol was looking to get back in the win column and maintain first place in the South division while also remaining undefeated against the Westerners this season. 

Gabriel Tirado, (Connecticut U of) crushed a ball over the right field wall in the top of the third for a solo home run to give Danbury a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Blues took the lead thanks to a Gianno Merlonghi (Central Connecticut State) double that drove in two runs to give Bristol a 2-1 lead. 

After three innings, play was suspended due to a rain delay. The game resumed approximately an hour later in the top of the fourth inning with Bristol holding onto a 2-1 lead. The Blues came out of the rain delay and poured it on the Westerners. Bristol scored seven runs over the next three innings to take a 9-1 lead going into the seventh. Nate Lincoln, (Marist) singled in the bottom of the eighth to drive in two more and make it 11-1 which would be the final score.   

Lincoln and Merlonghi were huge factors in the offensive explosion, they combined for five hits and seven RBI’s. However, Bristol didn’t only do it with their bats. The Tirado home run was the only hit James Gilleran (Stonehill) allowed over his three innings pitched. Blayne Lyne, (Texas A&M) Aidan Cook (Xavier) and James Ellis (St. Peters) combined for seven strikeouts, zero earned runs and only allowed three hits and one walk in the remaining six innings. 

With the win the Blues improved to 8-4 on the year. Bristol will travel to Goodall Park to take on the Sanford Mariners for the first time this season for a Thursday night game at 6:30 p.m.    

Written by Ryan McKenna 

Photo Courtesy of Bristol Blues Instagram Page (@bristol_blues)