The Barrington 12U All-Star baseball team defeated Bristol Warren, 1-0, in an elimination bracket showdown on Wednesday night, July 5. 

Mahir Salahuddin and Sean Caldarella combined for the shutout victory — Salahuddin pitched five complete innings, struck out five Bristol Warren hitters, and allowed a few hits, while Caldarella pitched the sixth inning and closed out the game with a strikeout.

Barrington scored in the fourth inning. Caldarella singled and advanced to second on an overthrow by Bristol Warren. He reached third on a passed ball, but was unable to advance on a hard-hit grounder by Salahuddin to third base. With one out, Luchi Floriani stepped into the box and slapped a ground ball to second base — Bristol Warren threw out Floriani at first, but Caldarella scored.

Bristol Warren threatened to score a few times. Their best scoring opportunity may have been in the fifth inning. With a runner on second and two outs, a Bristol Warren batter roped a single to center field. Barrington’s Ous Auber fielded the ball and fired a throw to Barrington catcher Luke Fluet. The Bristol Warren runner stopped in his tracks and ran back toward third, but Barrington caught him in a run-down. Fluet tagged him out, ending the inning and the scoring threat. 

“Fluet did a nice job,” said Barrington Coach Andrew Collins. “Everybody did their job.”

Collins said his team showed a lot of composure in Wednesday’s game — they stayed calm and did not compound any mistakes, he said. 

“We’re already seeing them start to mature,” Collins said. 

Barrington advances to a game against Middletown on Saturday, July 8. The game will be in Barrington at 5:45 p.m.