The Barrington Little League Majors 12U All Star baseball team came up one win short of a trip to the state tournament. 

Barrington, which entered the weekend undefeated, lost to Bristol/Warren twice in three days — Barrington dropped the first game 9-3 on Friday, July 12, and the second 7-3 on Sunday, July 15. 

In the first game, which was played at Sherwood Field in Barrington, Bristol/Warren capitalized on timely hitting to outscore Barrington. Mahir Salahuddin pitched well for Barrington, which only trailed by one run (2-1) heading into the fifth inning. But Bristol/Warren capitalized on a few key hits to extend its lead — cleanup hitter Jackson Case doubled home three runs for Bristol/Warren and lead-off hitter Jackson Adams smacked three hits and scored two runs. 

Barrington managed six hits, the biggest was a blast by Salahuddin that bounced into the centerfield fence. Xavier Maddox put a charge into a blast to left field, but Bristol/Warren’s Jayden Larisa leaped up to make the catch with men on base. 

Salahuddin struck out 11 for Barrington and allowed seven hits, three walks and eight runs. Will DiSalvo came on in relief after Salahuddin reached his pitch limit in the sixth inning. Case pitched for Bristol/Warren, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out six and walking two. 

The series shifted to Bristol for the second game on Sunday night. Seb Hyams pitched well for Barrington and kept Bristol/Warren off-balance. Barrington led 2-0 entering the fourth inning, when Bristol/Warren grabbed the lead.

In the fourth, Hyams recorded the first out on one pitch, but Bristol/Warren’s second batter dropped a bunt and reached first. The third batter of the inning reached on a swinging bunt dropped down the third base line. Bristol Warren’s fourth batter of the inning hit a grounder to shortstop; Barrington recorded a force out at second base, placing runners at the corners with two outs. Barrington intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. Bristol/Warren’s Jude Francis then provided the key hit in the inning, with a bases-clearing double. 

When the inning ended, Bristol led 5-2. 

“My kids cleaned it up, defensively, in the second game, but the real story was Bristol’s bats,” said Barrington Coach Andrew Collins. “Timely hitting and strong defense.”

Coach Collins praised his team for a great effort throughout the District 2 tournament.

“This is a great group of kids with a collectively great attitude who enjoyed putting in the work and spending the time together growing as a team,” he said. “In the end, they taught me to keep my head up high, even in the face of disappointment, to move on from any regret that I couldn’t put them in a better position to win one more game.”