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Burlington Hunters cap 24-3 season with their 1st Tri-State Baseball League championship

By Kevin Roberts,Staff Writer CTInsider Aug 19, 2026

When the Burlington Hunters began its first season in the Tri-State Baseball League in 2005, there weren’t many thoughts of championships.

Jason Pelletier, a member of that first squad, was “part of some rough teams,” according to Burlington player/manager Andrew Bunger. If you check out the Facebook profile picture of Pelletier today, you’ll see a man with a big grin on his face and a championship trophy firmly gripped in his left hand.“For al l the Hunters past and present (and many I’m sure I forgot to tag) … we finally brought the championship home,” Pelletier wrote in an Aug. 16 post. Burlington captured its first Tri-State title by sweeping the Wolcott Scrappers in a best-of-three World Series. The Hunters won the first game 3-0 on Aug. 14 at Torrington’s Fuessenich Park, then clinched the series with a 2-0 shutout on Aug. 15 at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium. A strikeout by complete-game winner Derek Duffy (8-0, 0.86 ERA, 89 strikeouts, 2 walks in 57 innings this season) ended the series and set off a celebration.

“For me personally, it means everything,” Bunger said in an email. “We used to be a 3- to 4-win team every year for a long time, maybe one or two playoff appearances when I first started playing back in 2009. I love stories of people overcoming adversities, so it’s cool to be able to say we finally climbed the mountain.” Ty Morin (.299, 14 RBIs) joined Burlington a year or two after Bunger and also reveled in the championship. Bunger was happiest for Pelletier, who served as the third-base coach this season. “I know for a fact it meant everything to him,” Bunger said.

Burlington has many players on the roster who played in college.

Bunger went to Elms College and Duffy to Franklin Pierce. Others include Anthony Izzo (Union); Chad Lavelle (American International); Tim Krol (AIC); Sean O’Donnell (Mitchell); Dave Kerlejza (AIC); Tommaso Tollis (Sacred Heart); Josue Lopez (Becker); Jeff Osak (Central Connecticut State); Jacob Paschetto (Dean); Taylor Donofrio (Western Connecticut State); Zack Rinkavage (UConn-Avery Point); and Justin McCulloch (Eastern Connecticut State, WCSU). What were the ingredients in Burlington’s 24-3 season — including an 18-2 regular-season record and its first championship? The Hunters, who have always been solid on offense, recommitted to pitching and playing defense. Burlington won three straight road games against Tri-State contenders — the Tri-Town Trojans (1-0, May 28), Bethlehem Plowboys (4-2, May 31) and Wolcott Scrappers (2-0, June 2). “We won all three by either one or two runs each where we pitched extremely well, committed zero errors on defense and then got a few big hits when we needed it,” Bunger said. “After that stretch, I had a feeling of if we can consistently play like that, we can compete with anyone.”

Burlington also was a complete team.

Duffy led in wins, but Izzo (7-1) had a microscopic 0.38 ERA and struck out 104 in 55 innings. Lavelle led the team in batting average at .435 while O’Donnell stole a team-best 19 bases and was caught just twice. As a team, Burlington batted .344, walked more than it struck out (156-154), stole 74 bases in 80 attempts, and posted a 1.31 ERA. Above all, the Hunters rooted for each other’s success. “We have a talented roster, but we also have one of the closest teams I feel. I’ve been on teams in other leagues where guys show up, play and leave,” Bunger said. “Everybody on this team talks with everyone and wants to hang out after games. We all want to see each other succeed and you can see it in the excitement the bench has when someone hits a homer or a big hit.”

There were key hits aplenty for Burlington this summer:

  • Jacob Paschetto’s solo home run in the top of the seventh inning gave Burlington a 1-0 win over Tri-Town. Paschetto hit .431 with a team-high five home runs for the season.
  • Jeff Osak’s two-run single in the top of the ninth inning gave Burlington a 4-2 win over Bethlehem, its first against the Plowboys since 2010. Osak hit .371 for the season.
  • Paschetto’s three-run homer provided all the Hunters’ runs in a 3-1 win over the Waterbury Mountain Boys in the team’s playoff opener.
  • Bunger’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Burlington the lead in a 9-8 series-clinching win against Waterbury. Bunger hit .397 and led the team with 31 hits.
  • Krol’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning gave Burlington a 1-0 lead over Wolcott in Game 1 of the World Series. Krol hit .345 with a team-high 32 RBI.
  • Taylor Donofrio’s two-run single gave the Hunters a 3-0 cushion in Game 1, a game they won by the same margin over the Scrappers. Donofrio batted .371 on the season.
  • The biggest hit of all came from Donofrio in Game 2 of the World Series. Locked in a scoreless duel with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Burlington finally broke through when Donofrio smacked a two-run double. That was more than enough for complete-game winner Duffy.

“It was a tight game, we got a few guys into scoring position but just couldn’t get the big hit. However, always had faith in Duffy that he was going to keep them off the board. He’s great, but seems to elevate his game in big spots,” Bunger said. “When Taylor Donofrio hit the go-ahead, two-out double in the top of the ninth the entire bench erupted. The final out, a strikeout, was just fitting with how dominant Duffy had been all day and season.”