Burlington Hunters having a strong Tri-State season

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copyright Kevin Roberts Republican-American 7/11/23

The skies around Lewis S. Mills High School’s baseball field threatened, and did drop some rain, on Sunday afternoon. There was occasional thunder, and the dark gray skies foretold trouble, but the rain held off for the most part, and the Burlington Hunters and Canon Crushers were able to play their Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League game. Burlington rallied for a 9-4 win and improved to 11-4. The Hunters went 8-10 in the 2022 regular season and needed to win a wild card game to reach a best-of-three first round series. Burlington’s win Sunday moved it a step closer to a top three, possibly top two, seed. The Hunters are whole this season, and that’s a big deal.

“It comes down to just guys showing up, 100%. Getting our guys to show up consistently,” said Burlington player/coach Andrew Bunger. The Hunters have won four straight games since a 7-2 loss to the Bethlehem Plowboys on June 25. “We’re just playing great baseball for the most part,” Bunger said. “We’re hitting, everyone’s kind of hitting right now. I think it’s just everyone playing consistently and all the time that helps.” Having mostly the same lineup consistently has helped the Hunters to more success this season. Being fundamentally sound hasn’t hurt.

“Our pitchers are throwing strikes. This league is real simple. If you throw strikes, you don’t walk anyone, give anyone free bases, you make the plays, you’re going to win games,” Bunger said. “Everyone in this league hits. Everyone can hit, everyone’s got hitters. It’s who can make the plays and play clean baseball for seven innings. That’s what it comes down to.”

Burlington came up with some big hits against Canton and also benefited from the wildness of a pair of Crusher pitchers. The Hunters have gotten solid pitching from the likes of Taylor Donofrio, Alex Stackpole, Dave Alarcon Jr., Ty Morin and Alex Hansen, just to name a few. Offensively, a slew of players have contributed, including Josue Lopez, Tommaso Tollis, Chad Lavelle, George Zaruba, Zack Martin and Bunger.

Burlington appears to be well-positioned to avoid its wild card game fate of a year ago. If they can stay in second place, the Hunters will be able to avoid playing the top-seeded Tri-Town Trojans until the World Series. Burlington’s last deep run into the postseason came in 2009, when it lost in the semifinal round to the Brass City Brew.

Dunkin run was fun: The Hunters enjoyed their first-ever game at Hartford’s Dunkin Park, home of the Double-A Yard Goats. The Yard Goats are an affiliate of MLB’s Colorado Rockies. Burlington played Canton and won, 7-3. Bunger wants to do it again in 2024, and he would love to play twice. “We’re going to do it again next year,” Bunger said. “We want to play (Canton) again because we know all these guys, and the (Valley) Ducks, we’re real close with all those guys.”

Burlington was able to raise the $2,000 needed for the game by going to small businesses in town, along with places where the players work, to ask for donations. The Hunter enjoyed their time in the ballpark, with Bunger pointing out the beautiful playing field and nice backdrop for hitters. “When you’re there, you feel like you’re playing real baseball,” Bunger said.