BETHEL — The fourth time was the charm. Zone 5 South Division-leading Bethel, after losing a trio of close games to Shelton Valley, won its final meeting of the summer American Legion wood bat season between the foes. Post 100 Bethel, which includes several Newtown players, shut out visiting Shelton Valley 3-0 at Hunt Field on July 14.

“I really don’t like to admit it, but it feels good,” Bethel Admirals Coach Josh Hull said of his team beating an opponent that has picked up half of its wins against the Admirals. “Their pitching tends to hold us down. It’s a good group over there. We enjoy playing them.”

Brett Melchionno returned the shutdown pitching favor and made sure the Admirals came away with a win with a complete game, two-hit performance. Melchionno walked three and struck out five.

After walking the leadoff batter, Melchianno promptly erased the base runner with a pickoff, and Shelton Valley mustered few opportunities as the night unfolded.

Shelton Valley pitcher Chris Oliwa was solid in 5-1/3 innings, ultimately surrendering three runs. Oliwa allowed five hits, walked three, and struck out three.

Newtown products and St Joseph High School of Trumbull players Luke and Aaron Kirby play for the Shelton Valley team. Luke Kirby played right field, then pitched in relief, notching the final two outs, and Aaron Kirby was the catcher in this game, making for a brother/battery connection.

Melchionno started one of his team’s two double plays to erase a leadoff walk to Luke Kirby in the seventh. The other double play occurred when Bethel catcher Brian Ridzik barehanded a foul popup on a bunt attempt and threw to first to catch the base runner off the bag. Damian Caruso walked with one out in the second but was doubled off first when Ridzik made the play on Jake Cook’s bunt attempt. That was the Bethel-based team’s web gem of the game.

Sammy Smith’s RBI single plated the game’s first run. A wild pitch scored a run for a 2-0 lead, also in the fifth.

A leadoff walk to Kyle Platt, Shawn Sato’s sacrifice bunt, a Grayson DeFelice single, Cole Strang hit by pitch, and sacrifice fly off the bat of Nick Vieira produced the final run, in the bottom of the sixth.

Hull noted that, after Melchianno issued a leadoff walk in the seventh and the coach visited the mound, Melchianno said he would get a double play. After starting the DP, he induced another comebacker, snaring a hard-hop liner and throwing to first for the final out.

Public Address Announcer John Quinn lifted the hearts of Admirals fans when he triggered Frank Sinatra’s “Summer Wind” the instant the last out was recorded, Hull noted.

Bethel, which had lost 10-3 to Washington earlier in the afternoon, improved to 13-10, and Shelton Valley fell to 6-16.

The Admirals had a good final week on the whole. They edged Torrington 4-3 in eight innings on July 10. Righty Bryan Vander Have pounded the zone, allowing only a pair of runs in 7-2/3 innings under the lights at Bethel High. He whiffed seven batters and only walked two. In the bottom of the eighth, Cole Demirjian ripped a game-winning line-drive to left, scoring DeFelice. The Admirals’ nine-hit attack was fueled by Vieira (2-for-4), Josh Taylor (2-for-4), and DeFelice (1-for-1, three walks).

On July 13, the host Admirals blanked Oakville 4-0. Orlando Swift struck out 14 and only walked a single batter in a midday contest against hard-hitting, second-place Oakville. It was a scoreless tie until the fifth, when a lead-off double by DeFelice (2-for-2, walk) ignited a two-run rally. Demirjian and Smith each contributed an RBI.

In the July 14 setback to Washington, a committee of four Admirals pitchers couldn’t dampen the offense of the top team in Zone 5. At the plate for Post 100, Tyler Davis (1-for-2, two walks) scored a pair of runs, Smith doubled and drove in a run, and Demirjian went 2-for-3 with a double. The Admirals split their two-team twin bill with the win over Shelton Valley.

Playing under an eerie full moon at Bethel High School in their last regular season contest, the Admirals’ 4-2 come-from-behind win over Danbury ensured that they would play at home in the opening round of the state tournament on Saturday, July 20, at 1 pm. Vieira delivered a gutty 107-pitch two-hitter on the mound, and Ridzik came through with the big blast of the night, a stand-up triple in the fifth as the Admirals closed out the regular slate with a record of 14-10.