The Playoffs kicked off with a close one. Glastonbury’s Bill Eller held the Angels in check for 6 innings and Zach Cloft worked out of a jam stranding the tying run at 3b in the Pirates 2-1 win over East Hartford.

Elmer’s and Bristol opened the playoffs with a closely contested 7-6 win for Elmer’s. Bristol put the tying run on with a single by Scott Dickens in the 7th but a pinch runner was immediately thrown out on an attempted steal by Mike Cook. Ken Cook pitched a complete game for Elmer’s striking out 6 batters while the offense was led by Ken Cook and Ryan Carroll with two hits a piece.

Tues night the Loco Perro Expos eliminated the defending champion Bristol Knights 5-0 behind timely hitting and solid defense, and 3 early runs that the Knights never recovered from

Wed had the pitching matchup everyone waited for as Glastonbury’s Zach Cloft squared off against Albert Pienkowski and the 1st place Plaza Azteca Indians. Glastonbury scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the 6th before the Indians tied it on John Skinner’s sac fly to RF as the throw home sailed high. The game stayed tied and went to extra innings when Indians speedster Jordan Melendez hit a leadoff single. Pirates tried to get the runner at 2b on the Inturri bunt but the throw was high and late. After Clofts 11th strikeout of the game for the 1st out, John Skinner hit an infield single to load the bases for cleanup hitter Brian Pinney. Pinney grounded a single thru the drawn in infield and the Indians walked off with a 2-1 win to advance to Monday’s winners bracket.

On Wednesday Elmer’s bats exploded to mercy rule the # 1 seed Willimantic by a score 12-0 in 6 innings. This one was over pretty early as Elmer’s put up 4 in the first and 3 more in the second. Justin Swiderski was dominant on the mound, shutting down the Ridges’ bats by allowing only 2 hits and striking out 5 over 5 innings. The offense was led by Jordan Sanchez (2 hits and 3 runs), Nick Dinino (2 hits and 2 runs), and Sean Parker (2 doubles and 3 RBI’s).

On Tues the Angels had no problems beating and eliminating the Tri-County Twins, 8-2. Sean Cormier went the distance beating Mike Peck.

After being outscored 16-0 over 8 innings and looking at a long off season the Willimantic Ridges clubbed themselves back into contention with a 13 run explosion against the East Hartford Angels. For Willimantic, Justin VanGelder had 2 long doubles and 4 RBI’s, while Brian Robinson, Dan Samociuk, Kevin Meakem, and Pete Moulin had 2 hits each. Pete Moulin also was the winning pitcher, overcame a slow start to pitch a complete game with 11 strikeouts. The Angels Gott took the loss while giving up 9 runs in 3 plus innings. Mistretta and Courmier had 2 hits for East Hartford.

The Loco Perro Expos continued their Cinderella run in the playoffs by eliminating the Glastonbury Pirates, 5-1. Clutch 2 out hits helped the Expos build an early 4-0 lead as Glastonbury couldn’t put much offense together. Expos played outstanding defense to move on to Monday night against the Ridges.

Starting week 2, there are 4 teams left in the hunt for the Manchester Twilight League Championship. In the 6pm Monday winner’s bracket final we have a matchup of the #4 seed Elmer’s and the #2 Seed Plaza Azteca Indians. In game 2 Monday, we have the 2 teams left in the elimination bracket… the #7 seed Loco Perro Expos and the #1 seed Willimantic Ridges. The Finals are expected to start (weather permitting) this coming Wednesday, with a best of three series with the winner’s bracket champ playing the last team alive in the elimination bracket. Good luck to all the teams left alive.

Be sure to check out the SCHEDULE PAGE for updates to the playoff bracket and schedule.