American Legion team victorious over Simsbury

WINSTED — Already having locked up a spot in the state playoffs, the Winsted American Legion baseball team could not have been blamed for cruising at home against injury-ravaged Simsbury, in their penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday, July 11.

But that’s just not how this team operates.

Galvanized by a war of words with their opponent and still with playoff seeding to be decided, Winsted stepped up the intensity late to pull out a dramatic 2-1 walk-off victory, as Anthony Pucino’s two-out rip to deep center sent Winsted home with the victory.

The two teams met as Winsted hoped to stay hot and hopefully improve their standing heading into their as-yet-undetermined postseason matchup. Simsbury, despite lagging in the standings, stepped onto the field with a streak of their own, having won five of their last six.

A tight and hotly contested game from the first pitch, Simsbury mostly mitigated damage done by Winsted’s offense, while Winsted’s Jayson Reola had a spectacular outing on the mound, giving up just one run on a solo homer by Simbury’s Nate Eberly in the fourth. 

Plentiful jawing and heated words directed at officials by both players and coaches made sure there was never a dull moment, despite the fact that the game was essentially meaningless for Simsbury.

After leaving three runners stranded in the third, Winsted got on the board in a another bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth. Vinny Tancreti and Reola both smacked line drive singles to lead off, and a sacrifice bunt by Chad Closson put runners at second and third. 

Simsbury pitcher Pete Myers then beaned Winsted’s Cam Goulet to load the bases, which brought Simsbury head coach Tom Vincent to the mound for a talk with his pitcher.

This did not seem to have the desired effect of calming Myers down, when, after a strike call he didn’t like, the Simsbury pitcher walked toward the mound shouting his displeasure, using some family-unfriendly language.

Play was delayed for some time, as Winsted head coach D.J. Reese also came to the plate to protest Myers’ R-rated language.

The 2017 Connecticut American Legion Playing Rules prohibits “Undue use of profanity towards any game participant,” defined as a “minor infraction” that carries a two-game suspension.

Both Reese and Vincent were warned on other occasions during the game for arguing calls, another minor infraction, according to the rulebook. Earlier, an official had also approached the Simsbury dugout to warn coaching staff that a particular player’s behavior in the outfield was unacceptable.

When play resumed, Winsted only managed one run, as Mike Oley drove a sacrifice grounder to short and outran the double-play throw to score Tancreti. Connor Toffey would strike out to end the inning.

As Reola continued to mow down Simsbury batters, it looked like the game was headed to extras at 1-1. A burst of momentum in the bottom of the seventh evaporated after Oley struck out and Toffey was caught in a run-down after reaching first on a ground-ball single.

With two outs, however, another hustle play rallied Winsted, as Jacob Sphur outran the throw from third on a hard-hit grounder up the baseline. Simsbury’s first baseman mishandled the high throw, which allowed Sphur to advance to second and brought Pucino to the plate.

His towering shot to center made sure Winsted wouldn’t have to stick around any longer, and could start looking forward to greater things to come.

Pending other results from around the state, Winsted has a chance to secure a home playoff game, and could be either the third or fourth ranked team from Zone 1, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Bristol. 

State playoffs open on Saturday, July 15.